How to overcome stage fright during public speaking?

Question:1. Know your material well before presenting it to other people. This will boost your confidence and will eliminate any fear of sounding like a dumbass if your facts aren't straight.

2.Try not to cram like, two hours before you have to present--this will only raise the possibility of a mental blackout and may cause you to stutter, freeze, etc.

3. One hour before you have to be on stage, listen to your i-pod and relax... First listen to whatever calms your nerves, and then--something that pumps you up. This is another smart confidence booster.

4. When you are finally up on stage, or platform, act as if you're the professor and everybody in the audience paid to see you--this mental set may slightly make your voice more dominant and help set a powerful argument or cause for whatever you're speaking for!

Hope I helped! Good luck and Break a Leg!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: 1. Know your material well before presenting it to other people. This will boost your confidence and will eliminate any fear of sounding like a dumbass if your facts aren't straight.

2.Try not to cram like, two hours before you have to present--this will only raise the possibility of a mental blackout and may cause you to stutter, freeze, etc.

3. One hour before you have to be on stage, listen to your i-pod and relax... First listen to whatever calms your nerves, and then--something that pumps you up. This is another smart confidence booster.

4. When you are finally up on stage, or platform, act as if you're the professor and everybody in the audience paid to see you--this mental set may slightly make your voice more dominant and help set a powerful argument or cause for whatever you're speaking for!

Hope I helped! Good luck and Break a Leg!

To overcome stage frights, mostly is not about other things, it is about experience. When something, you do it for long, you'll find it easy. So, one way might be to get more experience.
Try make "friends" with them, by doing that, you'll find that its much more easier than you think.
But it won't be completely gone. The fright is still there. What you have to do is to be brave and face it.

I wear glasses, so before I give a speech, I take off my glasses, this helps me because I can't see people's faces.

That's a toughie! I've been doing presentations for more than 7 years now, and I still get nervous! You should make sure that you are very well prepared (practice!), take deep breaths, and if your voice gets shaky or high, don't be afraid to take pauses. (It makes you seem like you're really thinking about what you're going to say.) :-)

Good luck!

I've been through some vocal training and was instructed to watch my breathing before a performance (or in your case a public speech). As you get nervous, you oddly enough stop breathing some and as a result you become more nervous and jittery. Take nice slow constant deep breaths before your speech, and it will do you wonders. It's not hyper-ventilating (fast-breathing), but constant controlled breaths.

You'll feel much better once you get in front of the crowd. I hope this helps

take speech and debate!

i just joined speech and debate
and a speaking class
hopefully that'll help me overcome my fears too
and writing/speaking skills

Join Toastmasters International there people will help you with all of your speaking needs

when i first got on stage to do my first solo, i was wondering exactly that! then i just focused and did my job. After you do it a couple times, it's really not that bad. So, here is my advise:

Before you have to preform, practice in front of people.
You can do this by asking people you know to come over and listen to your speech.
After you get comfortable with that, go in public, like to a mall, or somewhere that there are people that you don't know, but you can be comfortable in that area. Then just preform for complete strangers! It will work. Trust Me....all you have to do is get comfortable around a wide audience.

I do suggest taking someone with you when you go to the public place. Although you need to preform in front of strangers, you do need someone there that you do know.

TIP: Don't be afraid of a critic. Everyone will have their own opinion. Just remember this: most of the people that come to hear you, have absolutley no idea what a good speech sounds like. If you sound confident and prepared, you will do so much better. Just loosen up........