Can I do it? "Overcoming my fear of public speaking."

How do you explain why some people are able to achieve things that seem impossible? Do want to know the secret? Maybe most of you will say yes. Right? In the next few more minutes, I will be talking about something that can change you and your entire life.

4 years ago, there was a girl who feels a little bit insecure and struggled to come out from her shells in front of other people. But it wasn't that anything severe or something that was out of ordinary. In fact, she thinks that everyone also experiences these kind of feeling. But she had the best kind of family and set of friend so she never has any reason to feel this way. Don't get her wrong. She really loves her junior high school years, but looking back, she became very paranoid that everyone dislikes her, became very sensitive to criticism and acted defensive about everything. She also struggled to make decisions, overanalyzing every single thing that anyone said to her. Eventually, it developed a bad feeling towards her physical appearance and usually appear as timid and shy towards other people in her surroundings especially in school. And that girl was me. A kind of girl that lack of having self – confidence. Until years has passed by, I've realized the importance of fighting against my fears and developing my weaknesses to become strength.

I’ve usually noticed that there is a strong link between public speaking and leadership skills. If I want to become a good leader, I need to master the art of public speaking. Which became a difficult and challenging task for me because of growing up with a having a fear of public speaking that was also known as glossophobia. It is like an uncontrollable trembling, sweating, racing heartbeat and an overwhelming urge to run out of the situation. According to the study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, it affects 73% of the population. Throughout the primary school, it is easy to be the student who sits in the back of the classroom and avoids raising hand to dodge such situation. But why is it important in leadership and achieving success? Leaders usually need the skills of public speaking because they’re the one who set direction for their teams, build a vision and drive innovation. Therefore, it goes without saying that if you want to be a good leader, you also must be an excellent communicator. Right now, I will give you 5 reasons why is it important for a leader to be also public speaker. First, it can unite people for a single goal. Before they start speaking, they already know the motives of their message. Your voice, tonality and body language are all leads you towards uniting the crowd and making them believe into one single goal. Second, it can also drive positive changes. Do you want to bring out a major change in your team? If yes, you need to gather your team at a one place and you need to influence them by delivering a convincing message about the changes that you want to initiate. Third, connect with your people. Because if you’re unsure of how to communicate with your group, you’ll never be able to establish a good connection with them. You must be a leader who envision the success of not only him/herself but also the success of his/her group members. Fourth, it can make people follow you. A leader without followers is same with a guitar without a string that is useless. As your members become used to you standing in front of them to convey a message, your visibility and authority steadily increases. Fifth, you can win people’s heart. When you are presenting in front of other people, all eyes in a room are trained on you. As a leader, public speaking is a good advantage to win the hearts and mind of people. A good speaker can break down all those barriers to what is being considered as impossible. Public speaking improves your leadership skills that will make you more worthy as a next candidate to succeed in your chosen field. As Bill Gates once said, “as we look ahead into next century, leaders will be those who empower others. But how to become a good public speaker? My advice is not very exciting and I don’t have any secret recipe. And there is only one thing that makes me in front speaking to all of you. It’s mostly just a lot of hard work and practice. Each time you speak, you get better and better. So get out of your comfort zones and make your voices be heard.

While you can’t do all of these without having self – confidence. When you have genuinely believe in yourself, no task or goal seems insurmountable. Even if you come up against something you don’t know how to do, you have enough faith in yourself to learn how. Similarly, even if you encounter a difficult decision, self - confidence means you trust your ability to choose the best path for you. If you are confident, everything will follow including people believe in you and will put their trust in you. It can be a bit of a long road to get there, but it’s worthy journey every step.