How I Overcame Paralyzing Fear of Public Speaking

A couple of years ago I was asked to present at a women’s business conference. I was terrified of public speaking and I stressed for several weeks leading up to the event.

You see earlier that year I was diagnosed with breast cancer … I had undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and my treatments only finished about 4 weeks prior to the big event, when I was at my weakest.

I had many valid reasons why I couldn’t do the presentation, but I realized it was a big opportunity which would not only help me overcome my fear of public speaking, but that could potentially open many doors for my website design business.

And I figured if cancer didn’t kill me, public speaking probably wouldn’t either.

So I started preparing for the presentation … every day I spent at least an hour on it — initially preparing it and later practicing.

I doubted myself every day and wondered if I could pull it off:

I decided I needed to work through each challenge to make sure I was as prepared as I could be

Finally the presentation day came … and I got through it without too many problems. I was so relieved at the end, but also very happy that I pushed through my biggest fear at a time when I was at my weakest.

Why I’m telling this story is that sometimes in business you will face challenges that seem so overwhelming. Whether your business survives past its first 12 months depends on you and your courage to overcome challenges and solve problems.

Whenever you are faced with a big project, break it into small pieces, then tackle each one at a time and you will be amazed at how much you can achieve and how strong you really are.

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