this is the strange story of fred strong a normal happy man who usually enjoys dr he someone you know perhaps someone like yourself but suddenly without warning fred comes face to face with one of mike's problems a new one for him the high powered chairman of the local luncheon club asks him to speak at a club meeting to me asks fred no i'm not much of a speech maker but the club manager persistent sure you can do it he says we want to hear all about your trip to alaska read protest sign to no avail we'll count on you for next thursday says the great man and he's gone fred whether he likes it or not is committed to make a speech read scrapped he feels as if he just agreed to make a parachute jump all right a rocket to the moon and this is just the beginning for fred is on his way to all the terror all the were a all the pain of an ailment commonly known as stage fright as time passes and thursday approaches fred will be jolted from his reading of the awful recollection that the day is near is deepest slumbers may be interrupted by the harrowing thought of what's to come and even food is hard to force into a stomach that feels as if it were loaded with hot toastmaster gives a glowing account of fred's experience as a traveler and of his outstanding qualities as a man he mentions how fred is considered a leader of the community and how proud he is to introduce him but look at fred he's not even sure he can stand up let alone walk to the rostrum he's trembling and weak in every joint his feet are cold his hands are hot and shaky you yeah as you have all had stage fright and you know how bad it can be but what can you do about it first you must recognize stage fright for what it is stage fright is fear and what are you afraid of afraid someone in your audience will stand up and take a pot shot at you are you afraid there will be a snake on the stage or that you will fall off the platform no you're afraid of what people will say and think about you as you stand before them you're afraid of their ridicule you're afraid they'll see your faults and your shortcomings because the thing you're really afraid of is yourself your afraid of faults that are products of your imagination when you have to speak what you say the right thing the thing you mean to say what you make grammatical errors when you miss pronounce words well you look all right to your audience will you forget will you be able to speak at all let's see what can be done to help you conquers stagefright we'll go back to fred at the time he was notified that he would speak on thursday the minute down he was elected to speak he became a little frightened of the perfectly natural reaction so fred should have begun to say to himself well they want me to speak at the luncheon club and quite an honor they must think i'm really somebody building up his self next read carefully planned says speech so that one thursday comes he'll be absolutely certain of what he will say to the luncheon crowd he writes down his ideas he's laying the steppingstones talk by using facts they exempt roads stories illustrations reasons and conclusions that will make up his speech by putting it down in black and white  sure he has something important to say he knows where he is going when the essential points of his speech have been outlined read may try it out just to be sure he imagines he's in front of the luncheon club and is making his opening remarks again he assures him self that he is confident and that the members of the club want him to speak by practicing a speech he is taking an important step that will help him control stage right now to be sure of his appearance fred has his suit pressed and decide exactly what he will wear the day he speaks perhaps but it's not the best speaker in the world but he certainly won't leave himself open to ridicule because of the way he looks good appearance is most important in making a good speech because your audience will judge you partly on your appearance if you know you look good to your audience you'll feel good that another her up in controlling your fear even such a small thing as wearing your favorite tie can have an effect on your mental attitude and soul on your speech so you see in preparing himself for the speech fred has accomplished the one thing that will help  right to speak he has planned his speech and practiced it so he knows exactly what he will say and finally he has made sure of his personal appearance now let's see what happens at the luncheon club this time again the chairman of the club describes fred's exploits in the alaskan wilds and welcomes fred to the group there's time for words of praise do not fall on deaf ears fred is prepared and confident the fear that fred experiences now is good because he has control of it it's nature's way of keeping the body and mind sharp and alert the air spread is alert and instead of a growing fear he is ready and eager to get into a speech the introduction completed fred walks to the speaker's position with confidence and although his legs may be a little shaky he started to talk with the same forceful words he planned in his office he speaks with a full strong voice and stands straight and tall fred smart enough to know that his talk will not interest everyone so he picks out the sympathetic faces in his audience and talks to them he picks the friendly faces and pays no attention to the unfriendly ones fred is determined not to let little mistakes bother him now he's lost his place is audience uncomfortable and embarrassed for him not in the least he has made them see the humor in the situation there on his side as fred continue speaking he thinks of what he says not how he says  it so and making a good speech fred has raised himself in the estimation of his friends and neighbors more than that he has raised himself in his own estimation he feels more qualities of leadership and accomplishment than he has ever felt before he is proud of his ability to overcome the fear that would hinder his speech yes fred's talk is a success and fred success can be your success you can learn to master your fears about yourself you can learn to control stage fright and make it work for you just remember how fred prepared himself by convincing himself that people wanted him to speak by