You’ve probably heard of the line stipulating that a big portion of communication is non-verbal. You’d probably agree that your body language, eye contact, hand gestures, and tone of voice all provide texture to the message you are trying to convey and, in many ways, contribute to its impact. Have you ever noticed that no matter who it is; a principal delivering a speech to their students or a head of state addressing the military or maybe even someone delivering the eulogy of a loved one, communicators always try to make their audience laugh? That’s because a well-positioned comic relief helps the message get through even better because it gives the audience an emotional break from the tension and heavy mood of any serious topic. Learning how to better handle spoken comedy will most definitely make you a better communicator. Getting on stage and delivering a practiced speech that is meant to be funny will greatly improve your confidence in properly getting your point across regardless of the subject matter you’ll be discussing.

Have you ever been at a stand up comedy show and as you’re enjoying the show, you get this urge to participate and put in your two cents? Here’s a piece of advice, DON’T DO IT! Let the person on stage do their thing and get through their material. However, this urge to partake in whatever is going on on-stage is indicative of a greater human aspiration. I once read an article about a survey that was conducted on people in their death beds. As morbid as that might sound I think death has a way of putting life into perspective. I say that to say this, I was surprised to see a recurring theme in the answers people had to the question; “What do you wish you had accomplished during your lifetime”. An overwhelming majority of these people said that they wished they had put on a performance for other people. Bear in mind that public speech ranks very high in human fears, so this was puzzling to me to say the least. In many ways, reading that article was a catalyst to me finally getting on stage and then I understood why it’s such a deeply rooted human aspiration. This is one of those things that can only truly be understood by actually doing it. I believe that there’s a reason why we get this urge to give our two cents whenever we’re watching someone speak many of you might even be like me and talk back at the television or while listening to a radio show. It is a human NEED to have our voices heard. I say that we should fulfill that wish to get on stage now while we still can.

So, I Googled: “is it normal to be nervous about public speaking” and this is what Google told me; “It’s normal to get nervous about public speaking. When you stand up in front of people and open your mouth, you’re making yourself vulnerable. Public speaking involves risk. So, aiming for zero fear is unrealistic.” At that moment I saw Google as a wise presence in my life. Because I couldn’t have said it any better. Indeed, you feel exposed when you’re in front of other humans trying to convey a message or simply communicate some random things to make them laugh. However, here’s the thing, the wall to get through in order to become someone that can confidently convey their message is a lot thinner than you think. And much like toothpaste where once it’s out you can’t put it back in the tube, fear is the same in that once you’ve gone through to the other side of it, you will not feel that fear any longer. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you will no longer feel any kind of fear or get nervous when speaking to an audience, as a matter of fact being nervous about the outcome of your performance prior to getting on stage is very normal and I’d even argue welcomed because it keeps you in line and prevents you from getting over-confident. But the paralyzing fear of public speaking can be remedied with the practice of stand-up comedy.