Glossophobia

Hello There,

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the fourth week of an eight week stand up comedy class I'm attending, it all culminates with an actual stand up routine, in front 75 (+ -) people, at Flappers Comedy House in Burbank, California December 16th. Of course I aspire to having an HBO special and will stop at nothing to make that happen! I Love the exchange of energy while in front of a crowd. (I sure I'm funny on December 16th).

Public speaking, giving presentations, speaking to groups, etc. has never been a problem for me but I do understand some people have "back-off" when it comes to public speaking. I thought I'd try and make the case that we can all enjoy something that is surveyed to be one of the biggest fears - Glossophobia, fear of public speaking.

While I was on a speaking tour of western Canada I made a stop in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada. A woman came up to me and said she had a product, a new invention, she wanted to bring to market and wanted to know how to go about presenting her idea to industry; she said she was afraid to speak in front of people and that she was basically a shy person. I asked her about her product and she told me - She didn't just tell me about it, she was animated and emotionally driven in her explanation. Believe me when I tell you, this was not a shy person standing in front of me.

I think the problem isn't that people have a fear of public speaking, rather they either have nothing to say or are simply not prepared. I know that anyone with a passion for something will stop at nothing to be heard by as many people as will gather around, so it got me thinking.

How can a person develop a story, how can they either "have" something to say or "create" something to say? Then attach an emotion to that "something?" The point isn't simply to speak, the point has to be speaking on or about a subject that has emotion attached to it. That emotion is either  coming from the speaker or being evoked/elicited out of/from the audience. Whether it be selling something or whipping a group into a frenzied agreement about a cause, there must be some degree of emotion on both sides of the conversation.

So, I ask you - What are you most concerned about? What drives you emotionally? What do you want to tell people? What cause or causes are you ready to rally the troops around? The list of questions is almost endless but the point is to find that "something" that has emotion attached to it, or that you can attach an emotion to. So, put on your hiking boots, climb to the top of the mountain and start talking your talk, speaking your speak - Stop at nothing to be heard!

Below are a couple websites that list out top fears.

SelfHelpCollective has their list:
01. Fear of flying
02. Fear of public speaking 
03. Fear of heights 
04. Fear of the dark 
05. Fear of intimacy 
06. Fear of death 
07. Fear of failure 
08. Fear of rejection (my own)
09. Fear of spiders 
10. Fear of commitment

TotallyTop10 has public speaking at #2 as well:
1) Snakes
2) Public Speaking
3) Heights
4) Enclosed Spaces
5) Spiders and Insects 
6) Needles
7) Mice
8) Flying
9) Dogs
10) Thunder and Lightening 


All the Best,
Scott Evans