Public speaking can feel daunting, especially in a classroom, training, or coaching environment where all eyes seem to be on you. But here’s the good news: overcoming stage fright in public speaking is absolutely possible. Better yet, it doesn’t have to be miserable. Many people say that working with John Bates quickly becomes fun! 

With the right approach, overcoming stage fright in public speaking become one of the most rewarding parts of your growth as a communicator and leader.

In this article, we’ll explore ten creative and effective strategies to help you overcome stage fright, build real confidence, and shine in your public speaking classes, media training sessions, or 1:1 executive public speaking coaching.

1. Visualize Your Success

Take a moment to picture yourself standing calmly and confidently in front of your audience, delivering a message that truly lands. Visualization helps build confidence because it gives your mind and body a more empowering script to follow.

Don’t just imagine yourself saying the words. Picture the room. Feel your feet grounded. Hear the strength in your voice. Notice the audience leaning in, smiling, connecting with you. When you mentally rehearse success, you begin to make it familiar for yourself. As Chevy Chase said in the venerable classic Caddyshack: “See your future. BE your future.”

Studies on mental imagery have shown that visualization can improve performance, and speakers can use that to their advantage. Spend a few minutes each day imagining your ideal speaking moment. The more clearly you can see it, the more your nervous system starts to believe it’s possible.

Over time, this helps shift your internal state. What once felt like dread can begin to feel more like readiness. And that’s a powerful change.

2. Engage in Deep Breathing

Before you speak, pause and breathe.

Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a moment, and then exhale slowly. Do this a few times. It sounds simple because it is — and it works.

When we get nervous, we tend to breathe high and shallow, which increases tension and makes it harder to think clearly. Deep breathing does the opposite. It calms your body, settles your mind, and helps restore a sense of control.

This is especially useful right before a presentation, media interview, or classroom speaking exercise. Even two or three minutes of intentional breathing can help you feel far more composed.

And the more you practice this in advance, the easier it becomes to access calm when you need it most.

3. Practice with a Friend

One of the best ways to reduce anxiety is to practice in front of someone safe.

Invite a friend, colleague, or supportive family member to listen to your speech and give you thoughtful feedback. Rehearsing in front of one friendly face can make a big difference because it helps bridge the gap between practicing alone and speaking to a real audience. Most TED speakers run their speeches for select audiences for months! (When people give you feedback, always say “Thank you,” and then be very judicious about what advice you actually onboard…) 

This also gives you a chance to refine your delivery in a lower-pressure setting. Your practice partner may notice places where you could slow down, clarify a point, or bring more energy.

Even better, they can help you remember that speaking is about connection, not perfection.

Choose someone who wants you to do well and who will be both encouraging and honest. That combination is gold.

4. Embrace Positive Affirmations

What you say to yourself before you speak matters.

Create a short list of affirmations that help shift your mindset. Phrases like I am prepared (of course, you need to actually be at least a little bit prepared if you use this phrase! LOL), I can connect with this audience (actually, you already ARE connected), or I have something worth saying (which you do) can help interrupt the negative self-talk that often fuels stage fright. (That negative self talk isn’t you. It’s your Monkey Mind.)

The goal isn’t to pretend you feel no fear. The goal is to give your mind something more useful to focus on.

Try writing your affirmations on sticky notes and placing them where you’ll see them regularly — your bathroom mirror, your desk, your laptop, or your phone wallpaper. Repetition matters.

Over time, this kind of positive internal language can help build a more grounded, confident self-image. And that inner shift tends to show up in your speaking.

5. Use Humor to Lighten the Mood

Humor can be a wonderful way to break tension — for you and for your audience.

A light, appropriate joke or a funny personal observation can help you settle in and create connection. It reminds everyone, including you, that this is a human moment, not a courtroom trial.

When people laugh, they relax. And usually, so do you.

Humor also helps the audience feel like they’re with you. That sense of alliance can be incredibly calming, especially if you tend to feel like the audience is there to judge you. Usually, they’re not. Usually, they want you to do well.

A little humor can help you remember that public speaking can be enjoyable, engaging, and even fun.

6. Focus on the Message, Not on Yourself

This one is huge.

One of the fastest ways to reduce stage fright is to stop making the moment about how you’re being perceived and start making it about the value you’re there to give.

Your audience is not there waiting for you to fail. They’re there for something useful, meaningful, or inspiring. They’re there for the message. And they want you to succeed.

So instead of asking, How am I doing?, ask, How can I help them?

That shift changes everything. It moves you out of self-consciousness and into service. It gives your nerves somewhere better to go.

When your focus is on helping, teaching, encouraging, or moving the audience, you become a far more powerful speaker. And often, a far less anxious one.

7. Know Your Material Inside and Out

Confidence grows when preparation is real.

The more familiar you are with your material, the less mental energy you’ll spend trying to remember what comes next — and the more you’ll be able to focus on delivery, connection, and presence.

Knowing your material deeply doesn’t mean memorizing every word. It means understanding your message so well that you can speak about it naturally and clearly. My colleague, Navy SEAL Diego Ugalde, whom I work with at Warriorside.org, says: “Memorize scenes, not scripts!”

Try practicing in different ways. Talk through your ideas out loud while walking. Explain your topic to a friend. Record a rough version on your phone. Present it to a family member. Each version helps deepen your command of the material. If you write your speech out word for word, turn it into a bullet point outline, and let go of the word for word as you internalize what you’re saying… The scenes, not word for word. 

Preparation won’t eliminate every nerve, but it dramatically improves your ability to stay steady under pressure.

8. Join a Supportive Community

You do not have to work on this alone.

Joining a public speaking group, communication workshop, or supportive community can make a tremendous difference. When you practice around others who understand what it feels like to be nervous, the whole journey becomes less isolating.

These groups give you a place to get reps, receive encouragement, and build confidence over time. They also help normalize the experience of stage fright, which is important because many people assume they’re the only ones struggling.

They’re not.

Whether it’s Toastmasters, a professional speaking group, a coaching community, or a trusted circle of peers, being around people who are working on the same skill can accelerate your growth in powerful ways.

9. Record Yourself Practicing

Recording yourself can feel uncomfortable at first, but it is one of the most useful things you can do.

Use your phone or camera to record a practice run. Then watch it back with curiosity, not judgment. It can help to pretend it’s a dear friend of yours, not you. 

Pay attention to what’s working. Notice your strengths. Then look for one or two things you can improve, maybe your pacing, your posture, your vocal variety, or the clarity of your transitions.

Seeing yourself objectively (not overly harshly!) helps close the gap between how you think you come across and how you actually come across. That kind of feedback is invaluable.

And the more often you do it, the less strange it feels.

10. Celebrate Your Progress

Finally, remember to acknowledge your wins.

If you only focus on how far you have left to go, you’ll miss the momentum you’re already building. Every time you speak up, practice, improve, or stay in the room when you used to want to run, that matters.

Celebrate it.

Consider keeping a journal of your progress. Write down what went well, what you learned, and what felt different this time. These small reflections can become powerful evidence that you are growing.

Confidence is rarely built in one giant leap. More often, it’s built one brave moment at a time.

And when you recognize your progress, you make it much easier to keep going.

Final Thoughts

Stage fright is real. Public speaking is dangerous! See what I have to say about that, here. But it doesn’t have to run your life — or your leadership. 

Whether you’re in public speaking classes, preparing with media training, or working through 1:1 executive public speaking coaching, the path forward to overcoming stage fright in public speaking is not about becoming someone else. It’s about becoming more YOU! More grounded, more prepared, and more connected to the value you’re here to bring. 

Use these strategies consistently, and you’ll not only reduce anxiety. You’ll become a stronger, more present, more compelling communicator.

And that doesn’t just help you speak better. It helps you lead better, too.