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We have covered so many skills that are important to becoming a successful instructional designer. There is one arena that an instructional designer will, at some point, be thrown into that has not yet been covered in this text…that is public speaking.  Many people suffer from glossophobia…speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking. Do you suffer from this fear or anxiety? Did you know that according to the National Social Anxiety Center statistics, seventy-three (73) percent of the population suffers from public speaking anxiety.

You will be involved in so many forms of public speaking as an instructional designer. Whether it is the small business meeting, to a full blown training presentation, or providing information on the latest, greatest instructional technology at an academic conference.  You are bound to, at some point, be required to speak publicly.  Public speaking is a practiced skill and so many professionals could use tips on improvement.  In order to be a successful public speaker, you must first consider your audience and tailor your presentations to that audience, then, you must be able to tame your wildest anxiety and fears of public speaking in order to deliver a polished, well organized presentation. In the following sections, we offer tips on speaking in various venues such as an the academic setting and business environments and on taming your anxiety.  All these tips will prove valuable to you during your professional design career. As you begin to look toward planning your career in instructional design and determining what environment or area suits you best, you will begin to see how all these skills discussed in this text will combine and work together in improving upon your performance as an instructional designer.  As you prepare to leverage your newfound leadership skills, your professional dreams are just within reach.