Death or Public Speaking?

The Book of Lists claims that fear of public speaking is #1 on peoples' list of fears, higher than death. This old claim is often repeated in articles about public speaking. Some students of mine are presenting original research in front of their classmates this week, and I must say I thought of them while reading this humorous post from Scott Adams' blog about a presentation that didn't go well. My claim would have to be that you can learn to speak well, but you do have to practice. Practice in front of a mirror, practice with a clock, practice while you are driving to work, practice until you like the results. Watch everyone else's presentations and think about how they could be improved. I always tell my students to also remember that their audience (the other students and me) wants them to succeed, and I've had students tell me this does help them to be more confident.