The #1 Fear: Public Speaking

"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy." -- Jerry Seinfeld

Public speaking used to be my #1 fear in life. When I was a kid in class, I would always avoid eye contact with my teachers so they wouldn't call on me to answer a question.  Whenever it was time to do a speech in school, I would pretend to be sick and stay home. There were many times in my life where I let this fear hold me back. I even had to pass up career advancements and salary increases in my last company because of it.

Today, I find myself in a job where I have to speak in public quite often as a technical trainer for Shoppers Drug Mart.  Yes, I still have a lot of fears around public speaking.  They haven't completely gone away.  The difference is is that now I have the courage to step outside of my comfort zone. I now see public speaking as an opportunity to grow myself and continue to work on overcoming this fear.

How did I finally gain the courage to speak in public? I immersed myself in it. I joined a Toastmasters public speaking club.  It's probably the best thing I have ever done to advance my skills and increase my self confidence.

Toastmasters is an international non-profit organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills.  In every meeting, you get the opportunity to speak by performing various roles, participating in impromptu speaking sessions or by delivering a prepared speech. You also receive valuable feedback and formal evaluations every time you deliver a speech.

To find out more about Toastmasters or to find a club in your area, go to their international website at http://www.toastmasters.org/

If you had one lecture to give before you died, what would it be?

This is a long one but worth the watch. The first time I watched this video, it made me really appreciate what little time we have on this earth. It reminded me of the main lesson I learned when I was going through chemo and the reality of my own mortality was hitting me like a ton of bricks: Appreciate every single moment!

Randy Paucsh is a professor who was asked to speak at his university as part of an ongoing series of lectures called "The Last Lecture" where professors were asked,"If you had one lecture to give before you died, what would it be?"

Ironically, at the time of this lecture, Randy Pausch (who had liver cancer) was told by his doctors that he only had approximately had 3-6 months of good health left. Sadly, Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008 at the age of 47 but he leaves behind a touching, witty and extremely inspiring video (and now book).


Randy Pausch Last Lecture (1 hr 16 mins)