Speech: Stage Fright and What to Do About It (1949)

[Music] this is the strange story of Fred strong a normal happy man who usually enjoys life he's someone you know perhaps someone like yourself but suddenly without warning Fred comes face to face with one of life's problems a new one for him the high-powered chairman of the local luncheon Club asks him to speak at a club meeting who me asks Fred oh no I'm not much of a speech maker but the club man is persistent sure you can do what he says we want to hear all about your trip to Alaska Fred's protests are to no avail we'll count on you for next Thursday says the club man and he's gone Fred whether he likes it or not is committed to make a speech Fred's trapped he feels as if he just agreed to make a parachute jump or ride a rocket to the moon and this is just the beginning for Fred is on his way to all the terror all the worry all the pain of an ailment commonly known as stage fright as time passes and Thursday approaches Fred will be jolted from his reading by the awful recollection that the day is near his deepest Slumbers may be interrupted by the harrowing thought of what's to come and even food is hard to force into a stomach that feels as if it were loaded with hot bricks yes sir Freddy is scared just plain scared and on the day of the speech he's really a sight the Toastmaster gives a glowing account of Fred's experience as a traveler and of his upstanding qualities as a man he mentions how Fred is considered a leader of the community and how proud he is to introduce him but look at Fred he's not even sure he can stand up let alone walk to the rostrom he's trembling and weak in every joint his feet are cold his hands are hot and shaky and Fred wishes he were someplace else diagnosis stage fright yes and Fred's ailment is common to you to you and to you yes you've all had stage fright and you know how bad it can be be but what can you do about it first you must recognize stage fright for what it is stage fright is fear and what are you afraid of Are You Afraid someone in your audience will stand up and take a pot shot at you are you afraid there will be a snake on the stage or that you will fall off the platform no you're afraid of what people will say and think about you as you stand before them you're afraid of their ridicule you're afraid they'll see your faults and your shortcomings because the thing you're really afraid of is yourself you're afraid of faults that are products of your imagination when you get up to speak will you say the right thing the thing you mean to say will you make grammatical errors will you mispronounce words will you look all right to your audience will you forget will you be able to speak at all let's see what can be done to help you ER stage fright we'll go back to Fred at the time he was notified that he would speak on Thursday the minute Fred found he was elected to speak he became a little frightened a Perfectly Natural reaction so Fred should have begun to say to himself well they want me to speak at the luncheon Club quite an honor they must think I'm really somebody Fred is building up his self-confidence next Fred carefully plans his speech so that when Thursday comes he'll be absolutely certain of what he will say to the luncheon Club he writes down his ideas he's laying the Stepping Stones of his talk by using facts examples stories illustrations reasons and conclusions that will make up his speech by putting it down in black and white Fred is sure he has something important to say he knows where he is going when the essential points of his speech have been outlined Fred may try it out just to be sure he imagines he's in front of the luncheon club and is making his opening remarks again he assures himself that he is confident and that the members of the club want him to speak by practicing his speech he is taking an important step that will help him control stage fright now to be sure of his appearance Fred has his suit pressed and decides exactly what he will wear the day he speaks perhaps Fred's not the best speaker in the world but he certainly won't leave himself open to ridicule because of the way he looks good appearance is most important in making a good speech because your audience will judge you partly on your appearance if you know you look good to your audience you will feel good another help in controlling your fear even such a small thing as wearing your favorite tie can have an effect on your mental attitude and so on your speech so you see in preparing himself for the speech Fred has accomplished the one thing that will help him most in controlling stage fright and mastering his fear he has built up his self-confidence he has done this by convincing himself that he's to be the honored guest at at the luncheon club that by his achievements he has earned the right to speak he has planned his speech and practiced it so he knows exactly what he will say and finally he has made sure of his personal appearance now let's see what happens at the lunch and Club this time again the chairman of the club describes Fred's exploits in the Alaskan wilds and welcomes Fred to the group this time the words of Praise do not fall on deaf ears Fred is prepared and confident the fear that Fred experiences now is good because he has control of it it's Nature's Way of keeping the body and mind sharp and alert yes Fred is alert and instead of a growing fear he's ready and eager to get into a speech the introduction completed Fred walks to the speaker's position with confidence and although his legs may be a little shaky he starts his talk with the same forceful words he planned in his office he speaks with a full strong voice and stands straight and Tall Fred's smart enough to know that his talk will not interest everyone so he picks out the sympathetic faces in his audience and talks to [Music] them he picks out the friendly faces and pays no attention to the unfriendly ones Fred is determined not to let little mistakes bother him now he's lost his place is his audience uncomfortable and embarrassed for him not in the least he has made them see the humor in the situation they're on his side as Fred continues speaking he thinks of what he says not how he says it and so in making a good speech Fred has raised himself in the estimation of his friends and neighbors more than that he has raised himself in his own estimation he feels more qualities of leadership and accomplishment than he has ever felt before he is proud of his ability to overcome the fear that would hinder his speech Yes Fred's talk is a success and Fred's success can be your success you can learn to master your fears about yourself you can learn to control stage fright and make it work for you just remember how Fred prepared himself by convincing himself that people wanted him to speak by preparing his speech and practicing it by creating confidence in himself Fred did it you can do it [Music]