The fear of public speaking doesn’t come from the act of speaking itself. It comes from how we imagine the people listening. We inflate them. We turn them into critics, panels, juries. We imagine them with sharp eyes and impossible standards.
And when the spotlight turns on us, we try to perform, impress, and win them over with polish.
But the truth is, audiences are very rarely hostile. They are, more often than not, simply tired, distracted, under-caffeinated, or sometimes quite literally hungover.
If you're wondering how to overcome your fear of public speaking, the secret might not lie in performance. It might lie in empathy and in creating a dialogue, because no one enjoys being lectured by an orator who pretends to know it all but ends up saying nothing new.
Imagine a morning talk at a conference or industry summit. It’s the third event of the week. The audience has already endured a networking breakfast and four panels with acronyms in the title.
Are they expecting a showstopper? No. They’re hoping you won’t read from your slides.
Whether you're presenting, giving a keynote, or running a client meeting, your audience likely shares one thing: a short attention span, not judgment.
So if you're asking yourself, “Why am I so scared of public speaking?” try flipping the question. Ask instead, what does this audience want right now?
Once you realise your listeners are simply trying to follow, not evaluate, the way you speak naturally shifts. You're likely to:
Simplify complex ideas, because clarity is a form of generosity.
Slow down, giving them space to stay with you.
Focus on creating a dialogue, not a monologue performance. This isn’t Hamlet.
Reach for imagery which is familiar to both you and your audience. Nothing sparks curiosity and connection like a dash of nostalgia.
These are skills that support confidence in communication across any industry, whether it is design, finance, healthcare, insurance, or anything else.
The key to overcoming stage fright isn’t rehearsing until you shift into automatic and your voice becomes robotic. It is recognising that your audience is full of real, imperfect humans just like you.
Fear feeds on imagined scrutiny and scenarios where you imagine yourself failing. But when you picture your audience not as judges but as colleagues hoping for clarity, you disarm your fear and make room for real connection. It becomes the kind of engaging, conversational delivery that truly sticks.
Whether you're pitching to a client in Zurich, leading a workshop in Zanzibar, or sharing research findings in Zhengzhou, one thing remains true. People don’t need you to impress them. They need you to reach them.
We’ve coached founders, facilitators, scientists and speakers across the EU and the US. And the most effective communicators, the ones who leave a lasting impression, are not always the most polished.
They are the ones who respect their audience’s attention, who prioritise clarity over complexity, and who speak like someone you would actually want to listen to. Even on a Friday afternoon. Even with a mild headache and an inbox bursting at the seams.
Fabrizio Mifsud