Does your forehead perspire at the mere thought of speaking in public? Public speaking anxiety is one of the most common fears afflicting people.

It stems in large part out of concern we may have of how other people think about us. Will we screw up? What if we forget what we were going to say? Or lose our place in our script. What if our voice breaks, or we freeze in our tracks.

Well the truth of the matter is that any of these things could happen. And if you’re lucky a meteor will fall though the roof and relieve you of your agony. The “what if” game can be paralyzing. If you have a serious problem you may need to seek professional assistance just as you would if you were actually paralyzed. But for most people, the “what if’s” are manageable. The key is to focus less on the “what if’s” and more on your message.

In most circumstances, you need not memorize every word of your speech. Instead focus on the content of your material. Know what you want the audience to get from your presentation, and memorize your outline rather than the words.

Practice explaining each of the points in your outline over and over, out loud or just in your head. Each time you do this it may be different. But you will discover a variety of ways of saying the same thing. Then when actually in front of the audience, you can cover each point in succession talking not from memory, but from a reservoir of memories which will remove the fear of loosing your place in a script or forgetting a line.

Perhaps the best tip about dealing with public speaking anxiety is to point out that the most important participant in a speech is not the speaker, but the audience. They are the empty bucket that must be filled with the ideas you are presenting.

If you will know people in the audience, imagine giving your presentation to them individually. Then think of them in a group of other friends, and then in a section of your audience. See them with a smile on their face and an encouraging attitude. Imagine yourself giving the perfect presentation. This is one time when positive expectations will do wonders. Your own positive thoughts can go a long way is quieting public speaking anxiety.

And while you may imagine yourself giving a perfect presentation, the odds are you won’t. And that’s okay. Accept the fact that even professional speakers stub their toes on occasion. Don’t sweat the small stuff. If you lose your place in a prepared text, just pause, take a deep breath and take a moment to find it. The audience isn’t going anywhere. They will wait. Then carry on.

Public speaking is like any other skill. The more often you give presentations the easier it will be to overcome you public speaking anxiety.

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You’ve been tapped to give an address to your annual horseshoe club’s banquet and find yourself experiencing high anxiety speech fears. What do you do?

Here are six quick tips.

Decide on one main message you want to deliver. If they forgot everything else, what one item would you want them to take away. Once you decide on that, you can build your entire presentation around it.

Focus on your audience, not on how you perform. Think about how they well benefit from the information you are going to provide. How they will use it, why it will be important for them. Even if it’s not earth shatteringly important, your message will help them expand their appreciation of your theme. You are giving them a gift of your insights. They will be pleased to receive your input.

Your not going to be perfect, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Even is you have a big gaff, forget a key line or loose your place, so what. Your audience has seen it before and if anything will feel more embarrassed for you that you will. And what’s more they will forget it a lot sooner as well.

Before during and after, keep in mind positive thoughts. This is one area where positive mental attitude really does help, and the converse hurts.

Take some deep breaths before it’s your time to speak. A couple of positive self affirmations before hand help many people. Something like, “I like Myself” or “I’m going to knock them dead,” etc. can help give you that mental boost just before you walk on stage.

In general, I recommend against memorizing any but formal speeches. But do memorize your beginning and ideally your end. For the rest of it, remember your key topics. Keep a note card with the outline in bullet points, if necessary. And then just discuss each point from the heart in your own words. This can help give your presentation a nice natural flow.

Of course you will want to run though those thoughts a number of time and try out different ways of saying them. During your actual speech, you will borrow those points that flow together the easiest.

Another key ideas is to harness the power of your high anxiety speech. Convert nervous leg twitching into an excuse to walk away from the lectern or podium to approach the audience. On the other hand, if its trembling palms you need to combat feel free to anchor one on the deck, podium or lectern, but keep the other free to make gestures. Ideally, switch hands after a while or let go altogether. With practice the natural adrenaline rush of speaking in public can be used to give you an “edge” in your presentation. Try to focus the anxiety speech events cause you into a productive force.

Finally, identify a few friendly faces in various sections of the audience. Move your eyes from one to the other. And visualize them smiling at you, even if they aren’t. This will cause you to have good eye contact with your audience and will allow you to see positive feedback as you scan the room

In the long run, the best cure for high anxiety speech fears is to get experience giving talks. Each additional speaking occasion will reduce the anxiety level, until you actually look forward to your next speech.

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