In my experience, courageous people are courageous because they know they can do it and are prepared to do it, or they feel the fear and do it anyway. It's not a way of being, and it's not about who you are; it's a decision.

Most fear is unfounded; unless you are hang-gliding or bungi-jumping, what you are contemplating doing is most likely going to cause you to be embarrassed briefly at worst. Think about how wonderful a state-change like that would feel!

Perhaps you fear failure; I say welcome it. Each time you fail, you learn something new. Most people learn more from failing than they do from succeeding anyway. Edison tried 2000 different materials before he was successful at creating a working filament for the first light bulb. When asked, "How did you keep going in the face of so many failures?", Edison replied, "I didn't fail 2000 times; I found 2000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."

Now I'm not saying you need to fail 2000 times to make this work; I am saying that a change of perspective can work wonders.

A brief story, from my own experience:

As you may know, studies show that most people are more afraid of speaking in front of a crowd than they are of dying, which means that, if you are at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than delivering the eulogy.

Several years ago, I worked for a company that made a specialized product for industry (doesn't really matter what the product was). I worked for the support department, and I was good at my job. One of the salespeople knew me and liked me; we'll call him Dave (because that was his name). One day Dave came into my department and asked me if I wanted to go on a field trip with him. He explained that he had a couple of people that he wanted to talk to about the product, and he wanted me to give them a technical briefing. I said, "Sure."

You should know a couple of things about Dave. First, he knew that I was knowledgeable enough to give a proper briefing, and second, Dave was a bit of a jokester.

So we went to this large, very nice looking business complex, got in the elevator, and made our way to the office where the two people I was supposed to discuss our product with were. Finally, we approached a door and Dave said, "They're in here." He opened the door, and I walked into a large conference room. Along one wall of the room was a white board. The remainder of the room was filled with one of those long walnut power-conference tables, with about a dozen people sitting on each side, and a man sitting at the end wearing a very expensive suit.

Dave said, "This is Robert; he's going to explain our product line. Go ahead, Robert."

So I did.

There really wasn't time to be fearful or nervous; I just did it. Since then, I have never feared public speaking. Oh, sure, I still get the butterflies, but I channel that energy into enthusiasm about what I am going to say, and excitement about getting to speak in front of a group, because it is something that I truly enjoy. I also make sure that I am fully prepared for what I am going to speak about.

Thank you Dave, wherever you are.