Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking in Ministry

One tip that’s helped me over the years

As a leader, you need to talk.

As I talk with a lot of leaders, the common refrain is how nervous they feel about public speaking. 

It can be crippling. Especially if you have a performance-oriented personality.

Recently I’ve been doing more preaching at Frontier Church. Here’s a recent sermon:

I’ll be the first to admit… it can be really nerve-wracking to speak in front of people. 

I think about…

What will people think about me?
What if I forgot what I’m going to say?
Will people even listen to what I have to say?
What if I just stand there and look clueless?

I’m not sure if those questions ever come into your head when you speak but they can creep into mine very easily!

How do you overcome public speaking?

Let me share a tip that’s really helped me (although not totally removed!). 

Think about what you have to say as a gift to people.

Imagine that the word that God has put on your heart is a gift wrapped up in a package. And during your time speaking, you have the opportunity to unwrap it. And that message does its work and creates the godly effect that it intends in your hearers.

Oftentimes when we’re nervous, we’re thinking about ourselves.

But if we can change our frame of mind to thinking about what we say as a gift, our eyes and frame of mind are less on ourselves. 

We’re not thinking about ourselves, what we’re wearing, or whether we’ll have the right words.

To think about our message as a gift transitions us into becoming others-focused. And it reframes the heart to be service-oriented. (p.s. isn’t this Biblical??)

It moves us from performing to serving. 

We’re thinking about benefiting others, not ourselves.

It isn’t about us, our renown, or how we look. It is completely on thinking about the person (or people) in front of us and what needs to be said so that they can walk towards God. 

I have found when I have this as a frame of mind, a lot of nerves around public speaking go away. In addition, it actually makes the speaking way better because it’s not about me! 

Think of your message as a gift. And the message will take care of itself.

You were made for goodness,
Phil