3 Tips to Conquer Your Fear

Public speaking is my biggest fear. The anxiety from being under the spotlight gets my heart pumping and makes the right words hard to find. For someone who wants to be a lead spokesperson one day, this is a problem…

To battle my fear of public speaking, I attended a few media-training seminars hosted by EMMY Award winning producer and national PBS host Shawne Duperon. Shawne has trained many business owners, professionals, and executives to be better on camera and grow their fame – and she’s damn good at it. While Shawne’s seminars are geared towards PR people and those who want to better promote themselves in the media, her tips apply to many areas of life. Here are just a few of them to help manage fears:

Get out of your comfort zone. Engage the uncomfortable situation head on. Suck at interviewing? Attend interview-training sessions on campus or call employers to chat about their company. Having trouble approaching that girl on the other side of the bar? (Yeah, me too.) Make an effort to go strike up a conversation. Remember, shame is overrated. You’ll be surprised as you open yourself to others how they reciprocate your openness. Living out of your comfort zone will give you the strength to overcome your insecurities.

It doesn’t matter what you say – it’s who you are being. Smile. It’s all about your attitude and personality. If you convey confidence, the people you are speaking to will feel confident. Practice this wherever you go, even if you’re not speaking to a group or interviewing for that big job. Practice does make perfect.

Everyone messes up. And people relate to that. Whether you’re nervous or just make a mistake, people are forgiving – it’s how we’re designed. Don’t let it affect your confidence or routine. Acknowledge your misstep, then quickly recover and get back on track.

Whether it's public speaking, interviewing, or influencing others, living in discomfort will prepare you for pressure situations. While easier said than done, overcoming your fears will open up new opportunities and make life a lot more enjoyable.

Tim Tebow Brings His Message to the Super Bowl

So there’s a storm of controversy surrounding a Super Bowl ad starring Tim Tebow and his mother Pam Tebow. The ad illustrates how Pam ignored the advice of doctors, who feared she would die during labor, to terminate her pregnancy. Instead, she chose to have Tim.

Much has been said about why or why not the ad is appropriate for CBS to air during the Super Bowl. One of my favorite talking points against airing the ad comes from sportswriter Dave Zirin. In his NYDailyNews.com article “How Tebow’s ad corrupts the Super Bowl,” Zirin writes-

“The cultural power of the big game cannot be overstated, and that's exactly why CBS' decision to air an anti-abortion ad funded by Focus on the Family was so terribly wrongheaded.”

Yes, the shining beacon of American sports and culture - The Super Bowl. A pristine event full of wardrobe malfunctions, commercials objectifying women to sell products, teams whose players shoot themselves in the leg and are convicted of dog fighting, and maybe some more objectification and steroid use. The sanctity of professional football - unmarred by the fringes of our culture who believe in the inspirational story of how a woman’s decision to go through with her pregnancy led to the career of one of the greatest college football players and role models of our time.

Considering no one in the general public has even seen the 30-second spot yet, it’s interesting to see all the vehement opposition to the ad and their labeling of it as “anti-abortion.” From what has been reported, the ad asks people to choose life, not ban abortion.

The outrage comes from the fact that the ad’s storyline goes against the opposition's assumptions and narrative of reality. If the people who oppose the ad were genuinely pro-choice, they would celebrate this inspirational story of Pam’s choice and the hope that it brings to women everywhere. The tolerant pro-choice group who oppose the ad are showing their true colors and looking more like an intolerant pro-abortion group.