You don't fear public speaking. You fear being judged.
Everyone who's ever spoken in public has felt that split-second fear of being judged. Here's what happened when I said the risky thing anyway.
Public speaking is strange because you can't hide. Not behind a screen, not behind anyone else. Whatever you say is imprinted into people's minds, and that permanence is terrifying!
When you're speaking, or even just thinking through what you'll say, ideas pop into your head. Something different, something bolder. And almost immediately, a second voice kicks in asking how the audience will take it. Will they judge you for it. So you play it safe, and the idea disappears.
I remember prepping a speech for my first ever competition, about something from my teenage years. There was one line where I wanted to say the word "mother" in this deep, dramatic voice, like this looming fear I had of her, even though I love her so much. Every time I rehearsed it, I thought, this is going to sound ridiculous.
Here's how it actually sounded. Tell me if you think.
I almost cut it, right up until the moment I walked on stage. But I said it anyway.
I took the risk. And It won!
And afterward, people kept coming up to me asking me to do the voice again. They'd never heard anything like it in a speech.
The strange part is, nobody in that room was thinking about my fear. They were just waiting to see what I'd do next.
The real question isn't whether you should take the risk. It's why you're so sure the audience will judge you for it in the first place.
Hey, you aren't the only one scared of looking silly or being judged up there, honestly, everyone is, at some point. So stop cutting the idea. Say it anyway. You'll be surprised how people react. I guarantee it.