Why are we scared of Public Speaking?

In 2014 my business was going so well I was asked to share my lifestyle story with an audience of aroung 300 people. My first reaction was Fear.

I said Yes and didn't sleep for days before it, you see I am normally a confident person on a 1-1 basis and in certain circustances, can you relate to that?

What causes fear of public speaking? Mine came about when back in 1992 I was asked to speak at Hewlett Packard about retirement planning. No problem I thought it was to be to an audience of 8-12 people, when I got there 55 people had turned up to hear me, I was paralysed and didn't do a very good job at all.

For years this has been a block in my head, it will happen again, what if, etc, etc, and yet some of the people had messaged me to say thank you and that I had helped them understand retirement.

For many years this held me back I kept thinking about what had happended and what could go wrong, never what could go right.

Fast forward 20 years, this photograph was taken by one of the photographers at our Success day event, I love the black and white picture and what he has captured here, although what I do love best is how it makes me feel, I did it, I didn't breathe for 10 mins whilst delivering the talk, at the end someone came up to me and said you made me cry I so connected with your story.

We all know that stepping out of your comfort zone is hard, why is that? If you really connect with your why and focus on what you really want to achieve you will overcome it and as they say life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Do you have any stories to share about Public speaking and how you overcame your fears?