Nervousness associated with public speaking is extremely debilitating for so many people. It is a real fear and needs to be addressed. It’s easy for colleagues, friends and family to say, “You’ll be great. Stop worrying.” or “You need to get over it.” But many times these well-intentioned words of encouragement do more harm than good. Someone who is suffering from this hears these words, wonders why they can’t get over it and doesn’t believe they will be great. Often, this individual may have had a bad experience and that is what they remember. He or she may be afraid of repeating it. Your words are no guarantee that fear won’t control them. The only voice they listen to is their own. The best advice I can give to someone who is looking to be helpful is to encourage your friend, colleague, or family member to seek out assistance. To let them know that conducting a presentation is, for many people, their number one fear. It’s common and they are not alone. They need to know they can learn to control their nervousness and that there are many available resources to help them achieve it.
What’s Wrong With Our Communication?
“We need to work on our communication skills.” “We have a communication problem.” “We need to fix our communication.” As an expert at the intersection of people/organizations and communication for over 20 years, I have heard these comments many times. But what does it mean to solve communication problems, or to make the communication in your company “better”? To share information about a major change successfully? To manage that one employee who can’t get along
