How to Overcome Public Speaking Anxiety: 10 Practical Tips from a Coach
Ed Darling | 7 min read
Last updated: 29/03/2026
Public speaking anxiety (also known as glossophobia) is incredibly common — with studies suggesting up to 63% of people are impacted by anxious feelings when speaking.
As a public speaking coach, I’ve helped hundreds of professionals turn their nervous energy into a confident delivery. Before that, I spent years struggling, and eventually overcoming, my own battles with anxiety.
Here are 10 practical tips that actually work, starting with simple actions you can take right away.
A Quick Preface On Public Speaking Anxiety
Anxiety before speaking isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s your body’s natural response to being in the spotlight. Our goal isn’t to eliminate it completely (you need some nerves to achieve a state of peak performance) but to reduce its intensity and use it to our advantage.
With that said, our first tip begins this process…
1. Reduce Audience Fear by Chatting Beforehand
One of the fastest ways to lower anxiety is to stop isolating yourself before you speak. Instead of hiding away rehearsing notes, spend time chatting with organisers, other speakers, or audience members.
Introduce yourself, ask a few questions, and take the focus off yourself.
This simple act humanises the audience and reduces the “them vs me” feeling that can creep in. The more people you’ve chatted with beforehand, the less daunting it’ll feel to address the whole room.
2. Make the Stage Known Territory
When I worked as an actor, I always made a point of walking around the stage beforehand and visualising the theatre filled with people. It helped me to get comfortable in the space.
Unfamiliar environments feed anxiety. If you get the chance, always arrive early and take a few minutes to orient yourself with the stage / meeting room.
Test your microphone, check your slides, gauge where to stand, and practise walking onto the stage and delivering your opening lines – it makes a huge difference.
Even for virtual presentations, log in early, check your setup, and get comfortable with the camera and lighting.
Turning the stage into “known territory” removes one of the biggest unknowns and helps you feel more confident.
3. Memorise Your Introduction for a Confident Start
The first 60 seconds are often the hardest. It’s when your adrenaline peaks, and your audience are forming their first impressions.
So it’s one thing we definitely don’t want to leave to chance.
Write out your opening 3–5 sentences and memorise them thoroughly. Rehearse them out loud until they feel natural — not robotic. Knowing your opening lines helps you deliver them with confidence, and a confident start creates positive momentum that carries you forward into presentation.
Once you’re past the introduction, the rest of the talk usually flows more easily, and typically, your nerves will settle down.
4. Use Audience Interaction to Ease the Pressure
When all eyes are on you, the anxiety can be overwhelming. I’d often feel like the pressure was ratcheting up, dragging me to a full-blown panic attack that I’d be helpless to stop.
One way to break this cycle of intense panic, is by involving the audience.
Plan a simple interaction such as:
- Asking for a show of hands
- Posing a rhetorical question
- Starting a quick group discussion
- Playing a short video
This works because it momentarily shifts some of the attention off yourself, and makes the experience feel more like a conversation than a performance. While people are chatting, thinking, or looking at the screen, you can have a quick breather, and regain composure.
5. Focus on Giving Value, Not Getting Approval
Much public speaking anxiety comes from worrying about what the audience thinks of you. Because we’re wired for negativity bias (focusing more on what might go wrong), we tend to imagine the worst case scenario:
“They must all be thinking I’m terrible…”
The counter this, it’s crucial to focus on what you’re there to give — ideas, insights, solutions, or inspiration.
When your primary goal is helping the audience, the pressure to be liked (or to be perfect) decreases significantly. This small perspective change is one of the most powerful mindset shifts I teach my clients.
6. Always Have Water on Hand
I once began a 20-minute keynote and immediately every bit of moisture evaporated from my mouth. It became physically hard to speak. I had to struggle on to the end, hoping it wasn’t obvious! 😬
A dry mouth is a classic anxiety symptom and can make you feel even more self-conscious.
Keep a small bottle of water nearby (avoid large glasses that risk spilling), and take a sip during a planned pause, after a question, or when changing slides.
7. Channel Adrenaline into Movement and Energy
Your racing heart and shaky hands are caused by excess adrenaline, but the worst thing you can do is try to hide it from the audience.
Instead, we want to direct that nervous energy outwards, into your delivery. Move purposefully on stage, use broad gestures, and project your voice.
It’s trickier to do this if you’re sitting down, or speaking on a virtual call, but you can still benefit from sitting up straight, being more expressive, and increasing your volume.
Instead of suppressing your nerves (or letting them suppress you) we need to harness that energy, and put it to use.
8. Breathe Deeply and Slow Your Pace
When anxiety spikes, most people unconsciously speak faster, and breathe shallowly from the chest… the opposite of what’s helpful.
Instead, practise diaphragmatic breathing (slow deep breaths into the stomach) before and during your talk to temper the fight-flight-freeze response.
At the same time, slow your speaking pace deliberately — especially in the first few minutes. Taking deliberate pauses after key points not only calms your nervous system but also gives the audience time to absorb what you’ve said.
As the military saying goes: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
9. Share the Limelight with Strong Visuals
When I struggled with glossophobia, being the sole focus of attention was my primary anxiety trigger. An easy solution to this, is diverting the audience’s gaze with well-designed slides.
Use interesting images (not stock photos!) minimal text, short videos, relevant graphs, or even a curious prop. Good visuals should always support your message, but as an added benefit, they provide natural moments to pause and regroup while people are looking at the screen.
10. Embrace Strategic Pauses
If you struggle with public speaking anxiety, pauses are unlikely to happen naturally. Instead, we need to plan them in deliberately, for 2–3 seconds, after important points.
Mark your script if you have one, and practise out-loud with pauses included, so the muscle memory is built by the time you’re doing it for real.
Pauses can feel longer (and more daunting) to you, but to the audience it projects calmness and authority. Start with a pause right after your opening line, and it’ll set a composed tone for the entire presentation.
My Best Advice For Public Speaking Anxiety...
These 10 tips will give you immediate relief from the pressures of presenting — many of my clients feel more in control after applying a few of them.
But to truly overcome public speaking anxiety, the best path is combining self-practice with professional training where you can practise in a low pressure environment.
I used to worry I’d be stuck with my anxiety forever. Now, I speak to audiences for a living, and I genuinely enjoy every moment. No matter how helpless it feels, know that this is something you can 100% overcome.
Speaking of which, if you’re interested in working together, feel free to book a free 30-minute intro call, and I’ll be on the other side ready to talk things through.
To your speaking success,
Ed
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For a few things we missed, here’s a quick FAQ:
How long does it take to reduce public speaking anxiety?
Many people notice improvement immediately from our training. Deeper, lasting confidence usually develops over 1–3 months with regular practice and guidance.
Is some anxiety normal?
Yes — even top speakers feel nerves, but it’s the intensity which matters.
Are these tips enough on their own?
They’re an excellent starting point. For faster and more reliable results, combining them with personalised coaching works best.
Can introverts overcome public speaking anxiety?
Absolutely. Many great speakers start off as introverts, and learn to make it work for them.
When you're ready, 3 ways to work with me...
Coaching Programme: Follow a proven system to build confidence, find your charisma, and step-up as a speaker in your niche.
1-Day Masterclass: Learn everything you need in 1 day to face your fears, and begin speaking with confidence.
Corporate Team Training: Bring confident communication to your team. High impact workshops, events talks, and leadership training.
