In the podcast this week, I interview Cody Smith who is the author of the book Stage Fight — How to Punch Public Speaking Fears in the Face. It is a hilarious interview where Cody tells about all of the trials and tribulations that he experienced trying to overcome public speaking fear. Have fun listening to and learning from Cody Smith.Cody Smith is a young entrepreneur who realized very early in his academic career that public speaking fear has the ability to hold people back. His new book, Stage Fight, How to Punch Public Speaking Fears in the Face is a very funny and informative outline of all of the steps that Cody took to eliminate his nervousness.Early in the conversation, I asked Cody about his background, and he surprisingly told me that he didn’t write the book to become a professional speaker. Instead, he wrote it because he noticed that a number of his colleagues, who were technically exceptional in their jobs, were getting passed over for promotion by less technical people who could present well. He wrote the book as a way to pass along the tips that he uncovered in his journey to confidence so that other people his age could benefit as well.Public Speaking Failure is Just an Opportunity to Grow and LearnCody spent a lot of time telling us how when he was a nervous speaker, he saw himself as a victim. It wasn’t his fault he was nervous. The fault was someone else’s. So the first step that he had to take in eliminating the nervousness was to stop hiding behind the “victim shield”. He started to look back on those “failures” to see what he could of done to eliminate the bad results. Once he started to see his past failures as opportunities for improvement, he grew much more quickly.How Long Does It Take to Eliminate Public Speaking Fear?After Cody changed his mental state, he needed practice. So, he set out to speak at least one time per week for 90 days. He said that it worked like a charm. By the end of his 90th day, his confidence was soaring. However, he mentioned that if you follow the step-by-step plan in his book, you can cut that time to just 30 days. He mentioned that unlike what he did, when he coaches people now, he has them practice that presentation each week with a couple of peers. In addition, he also has them go speak on an impromptu basis at least once per week. This increased practice speeds up the process dramatically.To download Cody’s book on Kindle, just click this link: Stage Fight Kindle Version.