Blog – Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

Today, I will tell you tips I have learnt for overcoming public speaking, which was once my greatest enemy in life. If public speaking currently makes you want to disappear into the floor, this one is for you.

If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be giving talks to full audiences, chairing sessions at international conferences, or organising large scale dementia related events, I would have laughed. Then, probably panicked.

This is because for a long time, public speaking was something I feared most. Not data analysis, not academic scrutiny, but public speaking. That moment before you begin: standing at the front of the room, suddenly hyper-aware of your hands, your stance, your voice and your breathing. This is the moment when your brain decides now is the perfect time to forget every word you’ve ever known. I know that feeling too well.

Now, public speaking has become a huge part of my life. I’ve given research talks to neuroscience-heavy audiences, and I’ve also spoken at public-facing events. I’ve chaired sessions at major international conferences in Toronto and Washington DC. Being a Global Ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Association has also pushed me to become a much better speaker across very different settings and audiences. Somewhere between all of that, public speaking became something I genuinely enjoy. Not because the nerves disappeared (they didn’t), but because I learnt how to work with them. Here are some tips I’ve learnt along the way.

1. Nobody starts good at this

Some people are naturally more comfortable being seen and heard. However, strong public speaking is a trainable skill. The biggest shift for me was realising that good speakers are rarely “naturals”. They’re usually just well-practised.

They’ve learnt how to structure a talk, how to read a room, how to pause, how to recover, and how to sound confident even when they don’t entirely feel it. That’s not talent, it’s just practice and experience.

2. Be creative. Most talks are forgettable.

This is the easiest way to make your talk better, and what most people overlook. A lot of academic talks blur into one. This is not because the science is bad, but because they are delivered in such a similar way that very little stands out. People do not just remember what was said; they remember how it was said. They remember the talks that felt engaging, clear, and enjoyable to follow.

Most people focus entirely on what they need to say and not enough on how they are saying it. But delivery is very important. A good talk is not just good content. It is good communication and that means thinking beyond simply explaining what you did. Focus on what makes the work interesting. Make the audience feel like they are being guided through a story, and not talked at for fifteen minutes.

It is knowing what to emphasise, what to leave out, and how to make something complex feel engaging without losing the science. People are far more likely to remember your work if they enjoy listening to you explain it. Your audience should immediately understand why they should listen. The first minute matters more than most people realise. People decide very quickly whether they’re paying attention, so give them a reason to care.

3. Don’t just show tables and graphs

I love a graph, as all scientists do. However, so many talks are just data thrown at people in different formats. A graph is not automatically a good slide. A table is not automatically useful. Slides should support what you’re saying. If your audience must choose between listening to you and decoding your figure, they will lose concentration on both.

Use fewer panels and highlight the one data point that matters. Build your figure so the audience knows exactly where to look, and if a graph needs two minutes of explanation just to understand the axes, it probably needs redesigning for the talk. If a table has several numbers with different stats and a plethora of P values, the audience won’t read them. A good slide makes your point faster and bad slide makes your audience tired.

4. Less writing

If your slide is a long paragraph of text, no one is listening to you, as they’re busy reading. A slide should not be your script, as it should only be a prompt.

Think about the following: one message per slide; short phrases, not sentences and clean visuals. When you’re not reading walls of text, you sound more natural, more conversational and more in control.

5. Speak with confidence

I am still working on this one myself. One of the easiest habits to underestimate is simply speaking loudly and clearly. If people can hear you properly, they are much more likely to stay with you. It is the small things that help such as good stance, taking a breath before you start, speaking into the microphone properly, and not rushing your sentences. These small tips make you sound more settled. I still get very nervous before speaking, but I have learnt that sounding more confident helps you feel more confident.

6. Don’t talk too slowly, talk with energy

People often get told to slow down. Although this is useful advice for some people who naturally speed talk when they are nervous, the goal is not to slow down, it is to sound clear.

It is important to speak with energy and with variation. It is good to change your pace and change your tone. Let important points land better. A flat, overly careful delivery can make even brilliant work sound lifeless. Energy is contagious; if you sound engaged, your audience is far more likely to be engaged too.

7. Practice, practice and more practice

It is important to practise your talk out loud and not just in your head. This is where you catch awkward phrasing and strange pacing. Practising aloud also makes the real thing feel familiar, and familiarity is one of the best antidotes to panic.

Audiences do not need perfection. There is no pressure to deliver the most technically immaculate talk of all time.

You should keep it simple and aim to be clear and useful with your words and slides. That’s what people remember. Finally, if public speaking makes you nervous, that only means you care. The trick is not to eliminate nerves, its just to not let them take over.

Rahul Sidhu

Author

Rahul Sidhu is a PhD student at The University of Sheffield, focusing on the effects of heart disease on dementia in preclinical models of Alzheimer’s disease. His research aims to uncover how cardiovascular health influences neurodegenerative conditions, potentially leading to novel therapeutic strategies.​

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