the watch of time

As a long-time Toastmaster, here are some suggestions for addressing a common anxiety…

• Don’t go out in public
• Learn from dealing with pets: use an encouraging voice, repeat main themes, and have treats handy
• Develop multiple personalities, and practice speaking to them
  
• Schedule a speaking engagement right before a dental appointment, so it will seem a lesser dread
• Pretend you’re delivering a talk in your underwear ensuring you’ll hold the audience’s attention
• Break your speech into 30 second segments and check to see if you’re still breathing
• Learn some snappy heckling comebacks
• Watch videos and listen to tapes of great speakers to develop the time-honoured tradition of plagiarism
• Remember that only a small proportion of what we fear actually happens, so get into some trouble before the talk to improve your odds
• Keep in mind your audience is pulling for you to do well unless they really know you