Nervousness in public speaking is often caused by being overly concerned with what will happen once you start speaking. Here's how to cure a very common fear: what if someone asks you a rude question?

Here are 3 proven methods to handle any "heckler" or rude-questioner you may encounter in your public speaking or seminars:

WHEN THEY ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS!
How should you handle it if you get someone in your seminar who seems to ask too many questions? Every once in a while, you get someone in your seminar who keeps interrupting with questions. I'm making a distinction here between people asking good questions, and a disruptive person who's trying to "hijack" your seminar. I'm generally a fan of being polite - at least to begin with. Before you resort to more "drastic measures" and have to shoot this person down, try saying "You know, you're actually out of question coupons right now - I'm sure everyone here wants to hear the rest of what I came here to speak about, so I'm going to have to answer the rest of your questions after we're done" and then go on with your presentation. Handing a disruptive person in this manner means you stay on the good side of the group - plus, they expect you to be running the show!

STOP RUDE QUESTIONS BEFORE THEY START:
Ready for another strategy to handle a person that tries to "hijack" your seminar"? Stop them before they can even get started. Here's how: before you start into the meat of your presentation, lay down some ground rules. Make ground rule #1 something like this: "I've got a lot of great information I know you're going to be very excited to hear about - so I'm going to have to ask everyone here to please hold your questions until I'm finished - I'll stay around afterwards and answer each and every question". That way, if someone tries to hijack your seminar, you can interrupt them and say "I'm sorry, but as I mentioned before I started, you'll have to hold your questions until the end".

THE LAST STRAW HECKLER-HANDLING TECHNIQUE:
What if you've tried the "polite methods" of handling someone who's trying to hijack your seminar, but they keep on interrupting - and just won't shut up? Now you're going to have to resort to "more drastic measures" and shut this person down completely. But, how do you do that without turning your group against you? Here's how: address your group and say, "Ladies and gentlemen, I still have a wealth of information to share with you, so let's take a vote: raise your hand if you came here to listen to him/her (no one will raise their hand) and how many came here to hear what I came here to share with you? The group will side with you and they'll be VERY glad you shut the disruptive person down!

More ways to conquer nervousness in public speaking forever:

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