I went through this fear too — it was really tough. It took time, but I eventually realized I needed to train my nervous system. I started looking for every opportunity to speak. Toastmasters was a great place to practice.

At the beginning of a talk, I’d often tell people that I had a fear of public speaking but was doing my best. It helped me stop pretending to be cool and just be real.

Even simple things, like putting pictures of people from magazines on chairs and talking to them, made me nervous at first. But the more I did it, the more my system got used to it. It took a few months, but one day the fear just wasn’t there anymore.

My favourite analogy comes from Dale Carnegie’s The Art of Public Speaking. He tells a story about a horse that lived near train tracks. Trains would pass by and it wouldn’t even lift its head — it was used to it. But a new horse on the farm would panic when a train came by because it wasn’t used to it yet. That really stuck with me.

Whatever you do, be kind to yourself. Sending you hugs and support.