Fear of Public Speaking

I've always had a huge fear of public speaking. I dreaded and felt physically ill before every speech in speech class in college. I also dreaded class presentations in college. I'd rehearse and work on them a lot, but fear and anxiety plagued me.

After college, I still had to speak in public within my first job. The scariest speech was a very short one that was part of several other presentations. It was at Fort Riley with the General, top leadership, my boss, my supervisor, and coworkers. There were roughly 75 people there. I'd written up what I needed to say, but was very nervous. So, I knew my material, but my nerves killed my voice and made it sound like I was about to cry which I wasn't. I was happy to have that done!

When I changed jobs, I don't think I realized how much I would be presenting. In the the first two weeks on the job, I talked to roughly 17 classes, ranging in size from 45-400. Yes, 400!!! Most went okay, but I had to take anxiety meds to make it. Even then, I was still very much out of my element. The worst of those 17 presentations was when I was going to talk to a class of 45. I had to cross the street, walk uphill, and climb stairs from the basement to the 2nd floor. I was rushing to make it on time and was nervous. Once I climbed the stairs, I took a minute, took a deep breathe and then entered the class. Immediately, the instructor introduced me and I started talking. Soon, I realized I couldn't breathe. The walk, uphill climb, and stairs had killed me. So, I started taking some pauses and trying to get some breaths in. I kinda tried to joke about the stairs and how they'd killed me, but the class just gave me blank stares. The instructor thankfully jumped in for a few minutes to let me catch my breath and continue.

In my job, I'm still asked to give presentations a lot. While my gut reaction is to say no, I always make myself say yes. I know that I won't become a better speaker if I don't do more of it.

Here's what I've done to try to improve:
-Communicate why the information is important for the audience. Framing it like that, helps the listener know why they should listen and how that info should help them.
--I spend a lot of time prepping for my presentations. I make sure I have enough content and type up my notes sheet.
-I try to have helpful PowerPoint slides for the audience to follow along with
-When appropriate, I bring handouts for the audience to be able to take with them for future reference
-I literally write down everything I plan to say word for word. This helps me get a flow to my speech, so when I'm nervous I won't have to think of the wording, I'll have a flow to it all. I print my notes and highlight or underline key words or phrases. I spend a lot of time reading over my notes sheet. That way, if I forget what's next I can glance at my notes and find my place.
-I also imagine myself speaking calmly to the class. Visualization helps me remain calm.
-I pray and take some deep breaths also

So far, this semester, I've spoken roughly 25 times. I can definitely see the improvement in my speaking, but I still have room to grow.

Here's something I found on Pinterest:

Any speech tips you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them!