Public speaking is a way of life for me. I am a recruiter for the Air Force and do public speaking every day, all day. I never knew that salespeople were engaging in public speaking until I started doing it, but that is really what it is, IMHO. BTW, I also do the traditional lectern, stage, and radio speaking on a daily basis as well. Like some others, I speak and present very well, but do not get a buzz from it. I’s just my job.
This reminds me of the time I was trying to convince a colleague to come and speak to a group of my trainees. The conversation went something like this:
Me: So we’ll need you Tuesday at two p.m.
Colleague: Spoons, I can’t.
Me: Okay, how’s Wednesday at nine?
Colleague: No, I can’t. You don’t understand.
Me: What’s the problem? Are you out of town those days?
Colleague: No, I simply can’t speak to groups.
Then I understood–my colleague was terrified. :smack: But like your boss, I never considered that somebody couldn’t speak to a group.
Good responses, folks–thanks, and keep them coming.
I hate it. Hate hate hate hate hate it. I’ve been known to have anxiety attacks as an alternative. (And yet I won a state championship when I was in 4H for a demonstration speech once. Go figure.)
I used to find it very difficult, but I’m getting better at it. It all depends on whether or not I’m prepared enough and really know what I’m talking about, and also on how formal the event is. I have no problems talking about stuff in my field in front of a group of my colleagues in a conference room, but I’m not sure how I’d handle something like a lecture hall, or a very important presentation. It definitely does get easier with practice, though.
I’ve no problem with it and have been very successful in giving sales presentations resulting in tens of millions in business. I know my stuff and I have no problems with being challenged. I’m also pretty good at matching my mannerisms to my audience, and reading from them cues as to whether I’m succeeding in getting my message across… and adjusting accordingly.
As far as advice goes, the nice thing about speaking, presentations, etc is that it is your agenda. You’re in control, so pace yourself and take charge. Have fun with it - in addition to being informed, people want to be entertained as well: being able to mix information and personality successfully is the linchpin of a good speech/presentation. Oh, and smile.
Well… I’m rambling. But speaking in front of people is something that I, too, enjoy.
Prior to entering college, I couldn’t stand being up in front of a group speaking on any subject.
In college I joined a fraternity, and developed the talent.
Post college, it’s been a great help in many of my work related roles, and I’ve had the opportunity to speak to large groups at short notice, in addition to providing training for many of my co-workers.
My #1 fear is actually making telephone calls. I hate the phone, as I can’t feed off of the non-verbal cues of the audience I’m addressing.
It is my biggest fear. If I had to present to a large group I would have nightmares about it all night before, be cold and shaky and sick to my stomach ahead of time and almost paralyzed to have to speak. My brain would empty and I would be incoherent.
Luckily my current bosses are OK with this. I hope to have a chance to get over it but I would have to be speaking about something I knew very very well.
That’s right up there too. If I could support myself and have some happy social contact only, I’d become a virtual hermit.
When I’m not on the Dope it means we’re out on tour. Strangely, playing music in front of people, no matter what size crowd (which includes the innevitable four people and the bartender nights) has never made me nervous or uneasy. But I hate public speaking. Get shaky and weird and talk too fast.
It’s funny, I actualy enjoy more extemporaneous public speaking as opposed to a prepared speech. Although I don’tmind either one.
DOH. I checked the wrong box in the above post. My reply shouldn’t have quoted the text above by JohnT :smack:
In Toastmasters, most of my speeches were extemporaneous – even the ones that were supposed to be prepared. 
My worst speeches were the ones that required research and included lots of dates and specific facts (if I was unfamiliar with the topic).
I wouldn’t say I ‘like’ it, but it’s not a drop dead terrifying experience for me. I’ve done it a few times and I’m ok with it as long as I’m prepared.
I’ve never had a problem with it and I’ve never understood why people did. But it’s not something I enjoy, so to speak - it just sort of happens. I’ve never looked forward to it, nor have I ever dreaded it. I don’t really think of it as a big deal.
I’ve also never prepared for something like that - I have a sinking feeling that if I were to give a prepared speech I’d get a lot more nervous.
~Tasha
I do not like it at all, but it’s something I have to do sometimes, so I’ve been trying to practice lately. I’ve been getting better, and am much less nervous about it now. It’s odd: I find it harder to give a more informal presentation to a small group of people that I know than to give a more formal presentation to a large group of people that I don’t know.
I like doing speeches. The best speeches for me are the ones where it’s 50% speech presentation, 50% fielding questions. Love the dynamics of the audience response.
I’d much rather speak to 1,000 than make small talk at a cocktail party. At conferences my ratings feedback is good, and people come into the room before I speak and leave after.
There is nothing better to have a joke connect in front of a big crowd. Ah, bliss. (orgasmic smiley here. )
The funny thing was, I was the one who got us involved in giving this talk. (It was an invitation from my professional organization). The topic was an easy one for me, so 2 months ahead of time, it didn’t seem like a big deal. As the day loomed closer, it became terrifying for me. I didn’t want to tell the boss about my fear, though, because I had committed both of us, and I didn’t want her to think I was going to have a nervous breakdown or bow out at the last minute or whatever. So, I just dealt with it. When I told her later about my mental state, she was really surprised. She had asked me why I wasn’t eating my dinner that night, so I told her I still had nausea from being pregnant…good built in excuse. Too bad for me, because it was delicious middle eastern food…my favorite! 
What everyone says about preparation is really true…I got to know my material backwards & forwards, and that was the key to being successful. The thing that was worrying me more than anything was that practicing was difficult…it was hard to sound natural, and I couldn’t get through the whole thing without forgetting parts of what I wanted to say. I was afraid that when I got up there my mind would go blank. So I printed out my PowerPoint presentation and wrote the first thing I wanted to say for each slide in bold marker on top of that page. It worked really well…once I got started on each page, the rest just flowed. I realized that even though the practice didn’t SEEM like it was helping, it really was.
Another person who doesn’t really know what stage fright is, checking in. I lead meetings with leadership teams of multi-billion dollar corporations, give presentations almost daily and play and sing in a mid-life crisis rock band for fun.
Observations:
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public speaking / performing, like anything a human wants to do well, takes practice. When I was younger, I never shied away from public appearances, but often did poorly - simply because talking/performing in public is different that doing the exact same act in private. You use the same muscles, you execute the same familiar acts - but it is different for a bunch of reasons. As a result of the, well, failures, I assumed it was something I wasn’t good at and didn’t pursue it a lot. Only after ending up in a normal set of public situations that anyone would fall into as part of work, etc., did I realize that I had the basic desire and some skills, but no practice. It was all downhill from there.
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preparation is everything - even if I am talking or performing extemporaneously, which happens a lot, getting my head into the right spot and making sure that the things I can control are under control helps immensely in terms of allowing me to focus on the task at hand in front of the public.
I have other thoughts - but I gotta go lead a meeting!
I don’t mind public speaking, but I don’t seek it out, either.