Dangerous Communications: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
by
Sheryll Hirschberger
interview with Eleanor Lopez

"Public speaking is a more powerful stimulus because it is more dangerous for the speaker. An almost physical act, it demands projecting one's voice, hurling it against the public ear. Writing , on the other hand , occurs at one remove. The writer asserts herself from behind the veil of the printed page."
Susan Faludi, feminist author, from Speak for Yourself , published in The New York Times Magazine, January 1992

Being both a public speaker and a writer, I know something about the dangers Susan Faludi is referring to. As I sit to write this article, I am aware of communicating with you, my audience, yet you are nameless and faceless. Furthermore, I am armed with a powerful computer which allows me to type, cut and paste, type some more, cut and paste some more, until I feel complete. Under many layers of protection - from my computer to the editor's computer to the printer's press to the final proofing and reproofing - I am shielded from the embarrassment of ineloquent errors.

You, my audience, will never know the silly and clumsy things I've thought and written on the way to sounding wise and polished. I do not have to face your horrified or grimacing faces when I get it wrong. I am comfortably, as Faludi puts it, "behind the veil of the printed page."

Public speaking is another story. There I am, standing in front of an ocean of faces, at risk in any given moment of making a complete fool of myself. Immediate product. No cutting and pasting. No expert editor to cover my mistakes. Open mouth and out comes, hopefully, words that do not betray me. Blessedly, most of the time, my brain and my mouth make a pretty good team. Thoughts flow out in coherent fashion. My audience smiles, nods, and offers me encouragement. They appear pleased. Emboldened, I forge on. At some point, usually about halfway through, I start to feel really good. I'm having fun. My audience is having fun. I'm swept up in a kind of euphoria. I could go on talking like this forever. Fortunately for my audience, I also value ending a speech on schedule. Like a smooth plane landing, I enjoy bringing it on home at precisely the time I said I would finish. At the end of most speeches, I leave with a profound sense of satisfaction and well being, ready to prepare for the next time.