Steve Pavlina’s Blog: Education Kills Fear A great way to overcome fear is to educate your fear into oblivion… You’re unlikely to fear what you’re good at, so a great way to conquer a fear is to make the commitment…

When you have to speak in public, risk is very weak. So fear is more a fear of the unknown situation that a real reaction to a risk.

And sometimes, benefits of acting is more important than a small fear that is not really justified.

So if this small fear paralyse you, you have to fight against. In fact, fear shouldn’t paralyse you.

Nevertheless, when the risk is really heavy, so you reason must stop your action. Yes, your reason, not your fear.

PS : sorry for my english

And if you stop fearing, it will eventually kill you or lead to situations which is destructive to your personality.

Fear is a normal defensive reaction. Person shall understand hes fear, and control it. Completely losing it is not the best way of deal with situations, both in martual arts and public acting. Stanislavski said, that if actor is not nervious before the acting, even after 30 years of acting — he is not an actor. I knew the guy, who was “Sport’s master” in Sambo (russian adaptation of Djiu-Jitsu (sp?)) and was killed by knife in a fight, which he could easily avoid if he had not such a confidence, and if he would run instead of fighting.

My martual arts teacher said, that person shall learn martual art perfectly, to know and feel every move by heart, and then make it the way that he never use it. I know, that it sounds like a paradox, but it makes a perfect sence.

I won’t argue that confidence is a great thing, but probably as in everything, key is in ballance between fear and confidence.