5 of the Most Common Myths about Public Speaking Debunked

Doug Staneart  |  09/03/23

Myths about Public Speaking Debunked There are a number of myths about public speaking out there. Well, it’s time to set the record straight. ANYONE can be a fantastic, world-class speaker. It just takes a little bit of training, a little bit of coaching, and a little bit of practice. By the way, it doesn’t take years of study and practice. And it also doesn’t take thousands of dollars of investment.

One of the hardest things to get across to new presenters is the immutable fact that just about everything that you have ever learned about public speaking and creating good business presentations is flat-out WRONG! I like to tell people to do the exact opposite of everyone else, and you’ll do a lot better as a presenter!

So, in this post, I’m going to debunk some of the biggest whoppers that are told about public speaking. Once you understand how wrong these public speaking myths are, it is much easier to reduce the fear of public speaking. You’ll also avoid terrible habits that actually increase public speaking fear.

The following are some of the biggest myths about stage fright and public speaking training:

The Top Five (5) Biggest Myths about Public Speaking Fear and Stage Fright — Debunked!

Myth #1: Good Speakers have a Natural Talent (Born Speakers)

Natural Born SpeakerThis one always makes me laugh because no one comes out of the womb speaking. In fact, for the first couple of years, our entire speech is “gaa gaa, goo goo”.

Now, granted, if you have a nice sounding voice, you might have a distinct advantage in front of a large audience. Or if you are stunningly good looking, you might command attention better. However, most good public speakers become good at presenting because they really work at it.

Here is the real secret that the Universities, toasting clubs, and presentation seminars won’t tell you. Public speaking is learned skill. And it is EASY to master if you practice the right way. However, instead of doing things to decrease their nervousness, the novice speaker work really hard to try to hide the nervousness.

Motivational speaker Brian Tracy, wrote an article about what he learned from his speaking career. He says that you have to train to be a great public speaker.

His advice is to give “300 presentations as hard and as fast as you can”. I know what your thinking… 300? Man, that is a lot of speeches. Exactly! If you want to be a good presenter, you really have to practice.

In fact, that is one of the main reasons that our presentation skills classes are so popular. Because our class sizes are so small, each participant gets to deliver at least eight presentations in just two days. This fast pace helps the presenter establish good habits and experience a series of successful speeches in a short period of time.

For additional venues to practice your presentation, see Find Venues to Practice Your Speech.

Public Speaking Myth #2: I’m Way More Nervous than Everyone Else.

Im a Way More Nervous Speaker than Everyone Else Surveys show that 90% of people fear public speaking or experience stage fright. However, most of the symptoms of nervousness are invisible to the audience.

For example, or stress response may cause our heart beating more quickly and forcefully. Or, some people will get sweaty palms. Some feel the butterflies in their stomach. We might even feel lightheaded. What do all of these things have in common? They are things that we FEEL, but the audience members won’t see these things in our body language.

So, a presenter who experiences these symptoms can begin to feel very alone. The presenter assumes that the audience is well aware of the nervousness. But when that same presenter watches others speak, these confident speakers all look poised and in control. The nervous speaker will begin to think, “Why am I the only nervous speaker?”

The truth is that even professional speakers get nervous. Years ago, I was asked to speak at a conference of other professional speakers. I was honored to be asked to speak at the conference. The day before the conference, I looked at the agenda for the first time and saw who the other speakers were. These were big-name guys who had been in the industry for a long time.

Then, it hit me that I was the only presenter who specialized in public speaking fear. If I got on stage and looked nervous… my career was over!

In the green room, though, a calm came over me. A couple of these top speakers practiced their speeches repeatedly. They were flubbing lines and stumbling over their words. The nerves were getting to them, too. But when these dynamic speakers went out on stage, the audience just saw their nervous energy. The audience never knew about the backstage nervousness.

Myth #3: Constructive Criticism (Critiques) is the Best Way to Improve.

Coaching Builds Confidence-Constructive Criticism Builds Public Speaking Fear Constructive criticism or critiques cause more speech nervousness than any other thing! Let me repeat that. If you get nervous speaking in front of a group, this fear most likely stems from someone trying to “Help” you. Literature teachers, your local Toastmasters club, and speech teachers all use this technique. But it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work at all.

The only way to get constructive criticism is to first have a failure. And failures lead to nervousness.

A good coach won’t use this technique. Instead, the coach will show the person how to succeed in public speaking. Then, the coach will praise the presenter for moving toward that goal.

My wife likes to watch cooking shows. One thing I noticed is that these shows will often have three judges. If the dish that they are judging is good, two of the judges will give a compliment to the chef. However, no matter how good the dish is, at least one of the judges will criticize it.

(I guess that makes for great TV.) My point is that no matter how well something is done if you ask someone to be a critic, the person will find something wrong. Remember, “Nobody’s perfect.” We can always find something to criticize. And every time we do, we will be harming that person’s confidence.

I’d rather see Gordon Ramsey watching the participant cook. Then, when he sees the person about to make a mistake, offer a piece of advice that will keep the person from failing in the first place. That little bit of proactive coaching leads to more of a success.

That is the difference between being a coach and being a critic. Coaches help people succeed, while critics wait for the person to fail so that they can critique the person.

For additional details, see The Difference Between Constructive and Destructive Criticism.

Myth #4: Video Feedback for Presentation Skills Training is Valuable.

Video Feedback for Presentation Skills Training is Valuable Speaking of criticism, you are your own worst critic. So if you record yourself on your phone and use that video as a self-coaching tool, you might just get more nervous.

I have to admit that I fell into this trap for years. As I’ve mentioned before, my public speaking self-confidence developed when I practiced with a great public speaking coach. The process worked so well, that, a few years later, I started working for the company. While I was training to teach for that company, they used video coaching to help me grow.

This video coaching added significant improvement and helped fine-tune my performance. I got better and better. Since the process worked so well for me, I made it a part of my first presentation skills classes as well. That was the trap.

The reason why the video coaching helped me year before was that I had already spent a couple of years developing confidence. By the time I saw myself on video, I had delivered 30-40 successful speeches. My coaches didn’t use this process right away. They waited until I had developed solid confidence speaking in front of a group. Then, they used it to fine tune.

So, the public speaking myth is that video feedback reduces public speaking fear. The opposite is true. Video feedback ADDS nervousness. So, only use this tool once your confidence is high and you want to fine-tune your skills.

I’d suggest waiting until you string together 10 to 30 great speeches before using this tool. You’ll get much better results.

Myth #5: It Takes Years to Become a Good Speaker.

Myth-It Takes Years to Become a Great Speaker Public Speaking is just like other skills in that when you practice in front of an audience and have a success If one practice speech is a flop, though, your nervousness may increase. So, the key to becoming a better public speaker fast is to have a series of successes quickly.

Most people take a long time to develop public speaking skills because they take too much time between successful speeches. If you only present once every few months (or years,) it is hard to build momentum.

Toastmasters International is a great organization. But a lucky speaker might get a chance to one speech in a month. (Granted, each member gets to deliver an impromptu speech each week. But a 60-second table topic isn’t the same as a formal speech.) There is also a good chance that not every speech is going to be a winner. So, if the club is really big, it could take years to conquer your public speaking fear.

When you go to a class at a College or University, you might get to speak three times in a 12-week class. Then, after each speech, you’ll get the dreaded constructive criticism. So, instead of stringing together a series of successful speeches, you’ll string together a few subpar speeches. Most people come out of these sessions more nervous than they went in.

We are big fans of public speaking classes. In a two-day presentation skills class, you can deliver six to eight presentations. Since participants can give so many speeches in such a compressed period, it’s literally like using a trampoline to dunk a basketball.

The “magic number” of speeches seems to be ten. If you can deliver ten successful speeches in less than a month, you will become a great speaker and eliminate stage fright.

How Can I Be So Sure that These Public Speaking Myths Are False?

Just as a fun way to test these public speaking myths, let’s replace “public speaking skills” with “driving a car.” (You can insert any skill into this example, by the way.)

  • Myth #1: Good Drivers Have a Natural Talent. If we sent every 16-year-old kid out onto the freeway with no training. A few of them might do well, but most are going to have crashing failures. The few that do well will be seen as “Born Drivers,” but the rest would be terrified to try again.
  • Myth #2: I’m More Nervous than Everyone Else. If you’re one of the 90% who had a failure on the freeway, but you still see a lot of people driving, you might believe you are the only one who is scared.
  • Myth #3: Constructive Criticism is the Best Way to Improve. Again, you’re still one of the 90% who just had the hair-raising experience on the freeway. Now you sit down in a classroom as one of your peers (or a teacher) rips apart your experience and tells you every little thing that you did wrong. Feeling better about the experience now?
  • Myth #4: Video Tape Feedback for Driving is Valuable. Now you go back and watch the video of your fiery crash. I wouldn’t blame you if you never drove again.
  • Myth #5: It Takes Years to Become a Great Driver. If, after you had the above experience, you only attempted to drive once every three months or so for about two minutes at a time, guess what? It will take a LOOOOOONG time to get better. Sadly, you probably never will.

The solution is obvious. To be one of the world’s best speakers, do like you did to learn to drive a car. Get a good coach and practice.

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author Doug Staneart
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