Royane Real

Author of    “Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”

For nearly twenty years I worked at a job that involved doing a lot of public speaking. 

I have always loved public speaking, so I really enjoyed this aspect of the job.  It filled me with adrenaline. I particularly enjoyed improvising my speaking presentations to large groups, without any notes and without any advance planning. I only knew the presentation would be something about the Ice Age, or about animals in winter, or some other science related topic. 

Most people would be terrified of doing this kind of public speaking, getting up in front of a group of people and talking for half an hour without a plan.   You probably know that in several polls that have been done, a lot of people say they are more afraid of having to speak in public than they are of dying. 

During my nearly twenty years as a science educator in a museum, I delivered over 20,000 public speeches to many audiences.  I also trained hundreds of people to give science presentations to visiting school classes.

A big part of my job at the museum involved working with people who wanted to improve their public speaking skills.  I was able to help many people become less nervous and more confident about speaking in public.

With all this public speaking experience, I feel well qualified to help others overcome their fear of public speaking. 

What advice would I give anyone who wanted to improve their public speaking skills? 

The first, and most important piece of advice I would give is to get a lot of practice speaking in public.

The more you practice, the better you will be.

The more you speak in public, the less nervous you will be.

It’s normal for our brain to fear that which is new and unknown.

By speaking in public as often as you can, the brain will 

In many cases, the fear of speaking in public will completely disappear if you practice often enough.  In fact, you may even come to love it, even if you are currently terrified of speaking in public.  I have seen it happen many times to people who thought they would always be afraid.   

Speaking more often will also give you a chance to improve your presentation skills.  When you know that your public speaking has improved a lot, you will actually look forward to having the opportunity to display your presentation skills.

This article was written by Royane Real, author of the popular book  “Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”  Learn more about how to use your brain and keep it healthy.  Download it today or get the paperback version at   http://www.lulu.com/real 

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