The Fear of Public Speaking

I found this post about the fear of public speaking on the “Unconditional Confidence” website. Nancy Tierney’s ranked #4 blogger on public speaking (I spoke about it in a recent post).

I decided to have a look at her website as I’d made a recent post on the fear of public speaking.

What I find interesting is that I have heard a lot of my actor friends saying the same thing as Molly Shannon. They find it hard just being themselves in front of an audience. Here’s a quick extract:

“Even Saturday Night Live comediennes can be horribly afraid of pubic speaking.Molly Shannon comedy film star and well-known contributor to Saturday Night Live, was a guest co-host on ABC’s The View today (damn, I miss Rosie on the show sooooo much), and she talked about how extremely nervous she gets if she has to make a toast at a wedding or speak in public in any way.

“I get so nervous that I can’t enjoy myself until it’s done,” says Molly, “It’s one thing to be a character where you’re disguised, but I’m much more nervous and shy as myself.”Read the full aritcle by clicking here. Great stuff! cheer Nancy.

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  1. I think this relates to your previous post, Jason, about how it’s a matter of focus. When an actor is focused on creating a character they aren’t able to really be self-conscious. They are focused on their “work” rather than on what people may or may not be thinking of them.

    As I say in most of my speeches, people aren’t afraid of public speaking; they’re afraid of public humiliation. Unfortunately, a lot of people equate the two.

    You can’t give a rip about what your audience thinks of you. Instead, give a rip about what you are offering them, your message, your purpose in being there. It doesn’t make any sense to worry about what others may think because there’s really nothing you can do to change that. But you can change what you are thinking about, what you are focused on. So get focused on what you can control: your message or what you want to give your audience.

  1. […] I just want to touch upon some things that Nancy Tierney from Unconditional Confidence  posted in my comments section relating to a previous post I made about the fear of public speaking. Re-read that here. […]

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