I just saw a blog post put on a LinkedIn group to which I belong. It followed the correct marketing structure to grab people’s attention – “5 Ways to…” – and had a title that pulled in attention: “5 ways to Take the Anxiety Out of Public Speaking.” Now, since I coach clients on this every day, I was intrigued to see how someone else would do it. Was it different than my work? Effective?

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. The author suggested that a nervous speaker simply make sure to include standard speech components, like a strong structure, to alleviate nervousness, and to only make eye contact with the “friendly” faces. But to someone who’s nervous, this false reassurance does bupkus (Yiddish for “zilch”). They’re still freaked out.

Part 2: How can we address core issues, rather than a polite nod toward them? How does true transformation happen?