Remember to condition your mind and vocal cords. Speak on familiar topics and you will gain confidence to channel your fears into delivering a great speech.

Your palms are sweaty, your heart is pounding and your tongue feels like sandpaper. Your voice is squeaky, your legs are wobbly but you seriously want to run away. You are worried. What is happening to you?

These are classic signs of the fear associated with speaking in public. Without an antidote, this fear can turn you into a nervous wreck and dash all your hopes of becoming an accomplished public speaker. The question for which you must find an answer is how to get rid of the fear.

Often I am asked whether I feel nervous or afraid when I am about to speak on a stage. When I answer “Yes”, this response often perplexes the person who asked the question. “After all these years, shouldn't the fear have gone by now?”

26. Embrace your fears
Actually a bout of the nerves before a major performance is a normal sign that you are healthy. If you are motivated, you want to do an excellent job. You also don't want to mess up on the big stage. It is natural to feel tense before a major moment. That is why top athletes and footballers jump up and down and roll their necks from side to side before the starter's gun goes off or the referee blows her whistle.

27. Calm your mind
As a public speaker, your mind is a major tool for success. To deal with the fear of failure, condition your mind by repeating short affirmations like the following:

“I do a great job every time.”
“I always give audiences a great experience.”
“I am excited to share my stories with these wonderful people.”
If you are religious, you can also pray to God to be with you. That seems to work for some speakers as it gives them the sense they are not alone.

28. Control your voice
Afraid that your voice will fail you at the moment you are invited to talk?
Practice some vocal exercises. Make these sounds with exaggerated lip movements: ay-ah-eh-oh-eye-or.

Minimize the chances of a cracked voice by drinking a glass of room temperature water before speaking. It will keep you hydrated and ensure that your vocal cords and tongue are promptly called into action when the need arises.

29. Speak knowledgeably
How about the content of your talk? Can it strike dread into you? Of course, especially if you agree to speak on an unfamiliar topic. Without mastery of a subject, you cannot be expected to speak confidently and with assurance about it. The cardinal rule for banishing fear from your public speaking is
this - speak only about what you know.

30. Practice often
Speaking often is another way to deal with anxiety, nervousness or fight. Constant, regular practice will allow you to accumulate experience so that nobody or nothing can intimidate you. Even if you don't have a real speech to deliver, give yourself a topic, prepare a speech and practice it ten times by yourself. The effort will show when the D-Day arrives.

31. Ignore the naysayers