Let me start this off by saying there is one fear I have not overcome and will never overcome. And that is my fear of spiders. Legit arachnaphobia. I have a lifelong partner in that fear.
When I first started this blog, I wrote about how I’m Afraid of the Dark. I still kind of am. So, that’s not one I’ve completely overcome either.
While I don’t know that I was every truly afraid of public speaking, I’m going to go ahead and say I’ve gotten over that. Lots of people are afraid of getting up in front of people and talking. I have never liked being the center of attention, not even at my own wedding (I Should Have Smiled). That probably contributed to the anxiety I used to feel when I knew I would have to have multiple people look at me while I spoke.
Now though? I still get a few little butterflies if I have to do it, but it’s really not that big of a deal. The most recent time that I had to do it was last November when I led the graduation ceremony for one of the programs I supervise at work. Again, it was no problem. I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I don’t ever use a script (except for that one time a few months ago when I filmed a commercial for another program I supervise and I was literally reading from a teleprompter). I tend to just jot a few notes to help me remember what I want to say and the points I want to make. Then, I get up there and talk. Once I’m up there, I don’t feel nervous. Always a little before, but not during.
The simplest way to explain how I overcame the fear of public speaking is that I just did it. It’s really only because I have experience doing it. I was a teacher. I had to get up in front of the kids every day and “perform”. I got comfortable in my school environment and the people I worked with. Eventually, that meant speaking up in faculty meetings. Then came all the committees I chaired. As the chairperson, I had to lead meetings. It’s just what I had to do. That led me to volunteering to be a lector at Sunday Mass. I had to regularly get up in front of the congregation and read the first and second readings.
Then came being a principal and any fear that still lingered pretty much disappeared. Leading award ceremonies, speaking to the parents at open house, opening and closing the Christmas performance, introducing the band and chorus at the spring concert, I did a lot of speaking in front of large groups of people. It was my job. After that, presenting projects during grad school didn’t phase me. While some of my cohort members were visibly nervous and relied heavily on the script they had prepared, I just got up there and talked about my project. No big deal.
I love the whole “Just do it” Nike slogan. That’s what I did to get over my anxiety about talking in front of people, I just did it. A lot.
That strategy will not work with everything though. I will throw hands at anybody who tries to lessen my fear of spiders with some of that exposure therapy where they put a whole bunch of whatever it is you’re afraid of in front of you and make you sit there with it until you’re not afraid anymore. Seriously. Hands…will…be…thrown.
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