Glossophobia. A cute name for a frankly crippling problem – the fear of public speaking.

There’s a theory that it’s rooted in evolution. At one point, if you found you had 20 pairs of eyes staring at you, chances are you were either going to be eaten or beaten . . . so feeling scared was definitely the correct response!

Depending on which source you believe it affects anything from 25% to 75% of us (me included!).

So how do you deal with this anxiety?

I asked my network on Linkedin what they do when they’re scared of public speaking. Their messages and advice was brilliant and included:

• Chewing gum before you stand up/go on stage to help regulate breathing
• Visualising success – run through the scenario in your head where the presentation goes well and the audience loves you
• Focus on the content of the presentation and not the audience (although I’m not sure about this one, surely the audience are the important people here?)
• Use the adrenaline and nerves to make you better (!)
• Create your own confidence by REALLY knowing your stuff
• Mindfulness
• . . . and of course the classic tactic of picturing the audience naked.

The main piece of advice though was practice, practice, practice.

How do you handle public speaking?