If you are afraid to speak in public, don’t feel bad you are not alone. Over 40% of the adult population is. In fact, fear of speaking in public is the highest ranked fear that all people have. Mostly this is due to a feeling that you won’t succeed but rather fail and be ridiculed or laughed at and no one wants that. Some people avoid it at all cost, including the potential to succeed or excel in their field. It doesn’t have to be this way for you. We’ve got some tips for you here which, if implemented should help you tremendously.

For most people, the most common place where they need to speak in public is in the workplace. Usually, you either need to inform your coworkers of the project you are working on or you need to sell an idea across to people higher up in the company. Don’t panic yet. If you take some time to plan it out you’ll do ok. Preparation is key.

One of the most important things before speaking in front of others is to know your material thoroughly. Make sure you’ve covered all areas of what you will be discussing. If you know what you are talking about, you won’t feel as nervous or flustered. Try to anticipate what questions others may have and be ready with an answer. If it’s at all complicated, try to think of different ways to say it, so everyone will understand. Diagrams may help you here to illustrate your point. Once you’ve done this, practice out loud somewhere by yourself if possible at first then in front of a friend or coworker later if it’s important.

If it’s appropriate you may want to hand out either an outline or a few illustrations. It may help to have some eyes looking at these occasionally and not all of them looking at you all the time.

As much as it’s humanly possible, try to relax. Breathe deeply. Since most people fear public speaking, others know it’s not easy and will be rooting for you not against you. If you are the type that can make small jokes, you can try one if appropriate. It helps your audience to relax as well.

If someone asks you a questions you don’t know or aren’t sure about, you can say something like “that’s a good question” and think for a few seconds, then if you know the answer great, answer it, and if you don’t you can say something like “I’m not sure about that, I think Bill might be able to answer that for you”. Make sure you name someone who you think would definitely know the answer. Other wise, you can tell them you will check into it and get back to them.

Arrive early to your meeting or presentation to make sure everything is there that you need and working properly.

Don’t say anything about being nervous to your audience, some people may not notice and you don’t want to bring it to their attention if they don’t. You may do better than you expect.

Try not to speak to fast, semi slow and clear is the way to go. Try not to speak in a monotone voice either. Add some inflection to your speech.

Keep things simple and to the point. Try not to drag on if at all possible. You don’t want to bore your audience.

A lot of people in sports use visualization to imagine themselves accomplishing their goal. This can work for you too. Visualize yourself succeeding with your public speaking.

Public speaking is a valuable tool you can learn and use throughout your life. The more you practice it and gain confidence the better you will get.

Famous Actors Who Never Went to Acting School

Cameron was born and raised in California. During her salad days, she was repeatedly approached by smooth talking guys who inquired if she wanted to become a model and promised help. But she was put off by their overtures and politely refused.

One day, at a Hollywood party in L.A, a photographer by the name Jeff Dunas asked her what agency she was with. When she told him she hadn't understood his question, he asked again, "You're a model, aren't you?" He gave her his business card and requested that she think it over and that if she decides to become a model, that she ask her parents to give him a call.

Cameron consulted with her parents and decided to become a model with an agency named Elite. For almost four years, she enjoyed traveling to different countries on modelling assignments. Then, one day, her modelling agency sent her to audition for a film assignment. The film was The Mask and the producers were looking for the main actress. Cameron auditioned and won the part.
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While at school, Brad briefly toyed with the idea of acting in films, but like we all do when we dream up great ideas, he quickly abandoned it after he had derived the maximum amusement from it. Two weeks before graduating, when he saw that all his friends had signed up for jobs and he hadn't, his fascination for being an actor reared its head again. This time, he said to himself, "Hell, why not? Let's try it."

So, just for the hell of it, he loaded up his truck and with $325 in all, set off on a drive from Missouri to Hollywood chasing the scent of his whim.

When he made his final stop at Burbank, he had $225 left. Being hungry, he walked into a McDonalds. While waiting for his order to arrive, he saw an advertisement in a local newspaper for work as an extra in a movie. He paid the required $25, auditioned and got the part by the Friday.

For the next 4 years, he continued auditioning for and winning small roles as an extra or in television productions. To support himself financially, Brad took up odd jobs such as waiting tables at restaurants, being a chauffeur to strippers, and dressing up as a clown to sell some knick-knack.

Today, Brad is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood.
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If you ever find yourself in the grip of a desire to be or do something, before you dismiss the idea, remember to ask yourself, "Why not?" You'll be amazed to find that there is no real obstacle standing in your way.
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James Stewart. And this guy too never had any formal training in acting. Yeah, he never went to any acting school or took any acting classes. He just started acting. Just like that.


Johnny Depp.  Johnny Depp’s parents were gypsies. They moved into and out of more than 20 houses before Johnny was 12 years old.

When he was 12, he shoplifted a chord book, learnt to play the guitar and joined a music band. He moved from Florida to California to become a musician.

He and his fellow bandsmen lived hand-to-mouth. To support his habit of being a musician, Johnny took up his first job as a telemarketer selling ink pens over the phone. He jokingly refers to this as “his first acting job.”

While Johnny was selling ink pens to irate customers over the phone, his friend Nicolas Cage asked Johnny to meet his agent. Johnny met the agent and auditioned for the role of Glen Lantz for A Nightmare on Elm Street. He got the part.

And that’s how he got into the movies. Johnny Depp never went to any acting school.


Eddie Murphy. Different people have different reactions to extreme pain and distress. It turns some people into stand-up comedians. That is what it did to Eddie Murphy.

Eddie’s parents divorced when he was 3 years old. Immediately afterwards, his mother got hospitalized for tuberculosis. Eddie and his brother were sent to foster care and lived there for over a year. That wasn’t such a great experience for a little child, to put it gently.

For young Eddie, watching television became the escape, the runaway from reality. He was an unruly, unstudious child who watched television most of the time, did different voice characters, and cracked jokes. He knew it in himself at that tender age that he wanted to be in the show business.

He started performing as a stand-up comedian when he was studying in the 8th grade in school. His school brief-case/bag had no books but his notes and stand-up comic scripts that he wrote.

When he was only 3 months into college, he auditioned for and got selected by the Saturday Night Live (SNL) team. Eddie Murphy played several parts in the show. Saturday Night Live aired 67 episodes between 1980 and 1984.

By the time Eddie was 20 years old, he was a famous stand-up comic and a household name because of his TV appearances. During 1981, his agent, a female, was dating the director of a movie called 48 Hours that was going to be made. She referred Eddie to her director boyfriend, who agreed to try him out. 48 Hours was a huge success, and so was Eddie Murphy.

In later years, he was to team up with the SNL team to do many of his most famous films such as Trading Places, Coming to America, Nutty Professor, The Klumps and Beverly Hills Cop III.

That was how Eddie Murphy got his first movie. Eddie Murphy never saw the insides of any acting school.


Drew Barrymore.  Drew Barrymore's parents separated when she was a babe in her mother's arms. Her mum, a promising but not yet established actress took Drew to the shoots with her. Little Drew got her first acting assignment when she was 11 months old. From then on, her mum encouraged her to act in films.

Separation played a significant part in shaping drew's psychological make-up. First, the separation of her parents and then separation from her friends after every shooting schedule. She confesses that even after all these years, she hasn't been able to come to terms with the fact that people come for some time into our lives and then they go.

Not astonishingly at all, pain is what shapes great artists. All good actors draw from their painful experiences.

Drew Barrymore never went to an acting school.

AUTO DRIVER WAS MY TEACHER!!

I was waiting around 9 PM at a bus stop opposite to ISBT,  Delhi with my luggage.   The busses were little crowded and I did not want to stand and travel with my luggage.  I was single and hence also not inclined to engage an Auto spending more than hundred Rupees to ITO where I should catch my bus to Preet Vihar.

The sky was cloudy and dusty winds just started.  I waited for 10 minutes and almost all the busses were found crowded.  There was oscillation of thoughts between comfortable travel and expenditure going on in my mind.  I lost my patience – you will agree my dear friends in the fight between emotion and intellect, the winner is always emotion.  I stopped an Auto and asked the fare which was as expected Rs.150/-… and when I was silent for a while, the driver drove away even without waiting for my reply.

Suddenly an Auto stopped right in front of me.  “Sir, get in get in… it is going to rain heavily” – the autorikshaw driver yelled at me.  Unable to resist his ‘command’, I made a feeble attempt to fix a rate.  “What is the fare, tell me that first”, I yelled back.  “How can I charge more from a person like you, Sir.. give me just 120 and I bargained for 100/-. Finally he settled for 110/-.

Normally I don’t talk to the drivers but this time I just wanted to ask why and how he stopped the auto on seeing me.  His reply was quite interesting “sir, I have been driving auto for 20 years, don’t I know my prospective customer?”.  As a trainer specialized in body language, I was taken aback from his reply.  Who taught him Body Language? To my astonishment, he went ahead and said, “Sir, I also knew when I stopped, you would settle at lesser fare than what would I ask”.  I became more curious to know how he found this also.  To my question he replied “sir you were keeping your luggage between your legs and I know those who stand like that will be very cautious in spending”.

Till we reached the Bus Terminus he talked on many things, which I should share in parts and it was a very good learning experience for a Trainer.  The following are the learning points through my 30 Minute-interaction with that driver.

• Be focused on your job.  The focus, he said, would empower you with intuition.
• Learn everything that are needed for your job
• Look for the opportunities and be optimistic.
• Never remain idle with pre suppositions – one has to approach positively – “did I not identify you as my prospective customer, I would have lost this opportunity had I not approached you with positive frame of mind” he said.
• When asked about driving during peak hours with traffic jam all around, he said - it will be like that only Sir, our job is just to drive.  Love your job ignoring the hassles attached to the job – how many people keep lamenting about their jobs and remain in the same job??
• Talk a lot and talk friendly – as a matter of interpersonal relationship – he said he never demanded more than what he indicated as auto fare but always got more as tips just because of his polite behavior.
• He said he never took liquor during duty hours.  Never took meals outside home!!  He would take food only at home served by his wife – he balances his profession and family which many executives do not adopt but suffer.

I also paid him more, not only in appreciation of his qualities but as a fee for what I learned from him!!