Fear has a very important role in public speaking. Those who could overcome this eventually become good public speakers. Those who can´t and are afraid end up trembling every time they are asked to go in front. Public speaking phobia is normal. A number of people have it. It is universal and is widely written.

For the people who have public speaking phobia, they are advised to study their speech. This is a communication task that they should work on. They view speeches as some kind of performances. It does not have to be daunting. Whenever they view this as a performance, they put more pressure on themselves because they view their audience as critics or judges.

It is true that when one speaks in public, one is judged and criticized, but that does not mean one should be afraid of this. Also, if they have this mentality, then they are only pulling themselves down. This mentality explains why public speaking phobia is along with the fear of death.

Those who are afraid to speak in public tremble as much as those who are afraid of dying. Both have the same level of stress inflicted on the individual.

The problem with those who have public speaking phobia is that they tend to view the ordinary communication encounters as public performance. This might prevent them from conveying their messages. But this approach is also a good stepping stone when one is being advised to overcome public speaking phobia.

He can be reminded that speaking in public does not have to be a performance. He can imagine that the audience is a close friend he is talking to. If he pulls this off, then he will be more confident and can finally say that he has overcome his public speaking phobia.

They have to also realize that speaking in public is just another communication orientation and they shouldn´t be afraid of it. They must regard it as a daily conversation so they can just be as normal and as natural speaking in public as they are speaking to a good friend.

Once they change their whole mindset then they wouldn´t get all the signals that make them nervous when they speak in public in the first place. It takes some practice. Just advise the person to talk as much as they can in intimate settings.

Then when he gets the hang of it, maybe then he can eventually speak in public.