Next to the fear of death – the fear of doing public speaking is top of the list. In fact, more people are more fearful of public speaking than they are of dying, perhaps this is because dying is something that most people cannot really think of happening to them, whereas a speech is must more “REAL”.

It is good to add humour to your speech where you can and if the circumstances are appropriate, but never force it and if you don’t feel up to making jokes then steer clear of trying to become the instant comedian!

Don’t worry about the fact that you will feel nervous just before speaking, as everyone does – even the likes of Elvis Presley did his 1,000 steps before a show to prepare himself and to help calm his nerves! So do whatever it takes to prepare yourself beforehand. Being nervous is natural and is a good thing so use this to your advantage.

Practice your speech beforehand is a good thing and doing so in front of a mirror might help and if you can run through your speech with a loved one so that they can do some “constructive” criticism for you.

Always remember that most people will be feeling for you and will quite understand the feelings you are going through and they will not be expecting a professional speech – so relax and try to enjoy it.

The way that I have dealt with this in the past is to do lots of positive thinking and to go into a separate room and let out my fears by shouting as loud as I dare depending on the location and who is around.

This does work for me, but it would be good to hear how others control their fear of public speaking, which is a fear that more have higher up than death! Which when you think about it is crazy – speaking in front of people will not kill you and yet we fear it so much.

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Your speak could be for a wedding best man speach, father of the bride speech or a birthday speech or perhaps a business speech! It does not matter whereever you heard it or gave it we want to know.

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Whether you are retiring yourself or raising a toast to someone who has been a colleague for all these years, you’ll find appropriate retirement speeches, fit for the occasion here. It’s often the case with retirement speeches that they tend to get drawn-out and rambling in view of the fact that so much needs to be said for all the experience that one has accumulated. Acknowledging these factors while giving that memorable retirement speech is a great balancing act. speeches4u recognizes the difficulties and has taken care to post retirement speeches which you would appreciate.

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• how to write a speech – This section provides a step-by-step, easy-to-learn approach to writing retirement speeches.
• jokes and poems – A retirement doesn’t have to be doleful. Choose appropriate jokes and poems to make a lasting impression.
• famous speeches – Analyze the speeches of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill.
• sample speeches – Get your ideas for retirement speeches here.
• presentation skills – The ultimate key to effective speaking lies here.

If you are given to make a retirement speech for the retiring colleague or teacher or senior, give him a glowing tribute with speech ideas from speeches4u.

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