By Yow Kia

As a committee of a Toastmasters Club, I always try to invite my friends and colleagues to visit my club. Sad to say that, until now, majority of them do not turn up for the meeting. I tried to understand the reasons and I found FIVE common reasons that why people don’t do public speaking.

Reason #1 – I have stage fright
=> I have stage fright too. I realized that the more you go on stage, the better you are to fight against your stage fright. The degree of stage fright will be diminished tremendously.

Reason #2 – I am not a sales person
=> Not only sales person needs to know how to speak effectively. Everybody has to learn how to speak effectively. Guys, you need to convince your lover when you are proposing to her, don’t you? Girls, you need to persuade and influence your lover when you are requesting for a DIAMOND ring, don’t you?

Reason #3 – I am very busy
=> I had read an article saying that the secretary of United States – Dr. Condoleezza Rice spends an hour everyday to do exercise to keep her stays healthy. Do you think you are busier than a person who is handling country issues? It’s just the matter of how you arrange your time.

Reason #4 – I am not a born speaker
=> How do you define a born speaker? You couldn’t talk when you were born. You couldn’t walk when you were born. But, look at yourself now, you can talk and walk whenever as you like. How could that be done? It’s through practice!

Reason #5 – I am afraid that people will laugh at me
=> What is the problem if people laughing at you? If there are people laughing at your speaking skills, you should improve it! Prove them in the future that you will speak better than what you speak today.

Are these reasons excuses? It’s totally up to you to decide. My job is just to do my best to persuade and influence people who don’t appreciate my invitation to visit my Toastmasters Club to polish their communication skills.