In my blog, I occasionally mention that I have been a teacher of public speaking.  Going from teaching children to adults was, as a teaching friend put it:
"From conscripts to volunteers."
As the courses rolled on, I became more and more fascinated with the psychological and human aspects of public speaking.  In frequent global polls on phobias, public speaking consistently tops the list.  People fear spiders, snakes, even death less than speaking in public - which logically means that if you are delivering a eulogy at a funeral, you would prefer to be in the coffin!


The usual reasons given for people's fear of public speaking are:
"I'm shy."   Or
"I'm afraid of being humiliated."
These reasons sound perfectly human and understandable, but if we look closer, the underlying message is "I'm vain."
Being shy and being afraid of making a fool of oneself are excuses.  Public speakers are, in a supreme sense, messengers.  They are there to deliver a message, be it informative or persuasive.  Of course, it's natural to check one's appearance before speaking, but after that it is the speech and not the speaker that is important.
If a speaker drops his notes, or even falls off the podium, it is human and forgivable. Audiences often warm to a speaker if a blunder is dealt with in good humour.  The one thing that audiences cannot tolerate is when a speaker wastes their time, usually by the tedium of the content and delivery, or by telling an audience things they already know.


An amusing speaker once said:
"I don't mind if members of the audience look at their watches while I'm speaking, but I do mind if they tap them to see if they're still working!"