Public Speaking nerves? Good! Put them to use!

If you have public speaking nerves, chances are you are running adrenalin.

Forget the other symptoms for a minute – the shaky knees, the dry mouth, the sweaty palms.

And that awful feeling that you want to run away? Good. You’ve heard of “fight or flight”? Good … because what you have is “flight”, the need to escape. And that is a symptom of your pumping adrenalin. You have a speech to make, so escaping is out of the question, so you might as well to turn it around and make use of the adrenalin.

Channel it so that you create excitement and enthusiasm. Use these in your presentation to speak quickly with enthusiasm, or hold attention with power pause. Use them to communicate passion for your subject.

And that channeling, that conversion of your nervousness to passion, combined with other techniques, will build an incredibly strong confidence.

What caused your fear of public speaking?

Looking at your fear/nerves and identifying their sources will certainly help you overcome them.

Often people don’t articulate what it is they fear, or where the fear comes from.

If you can do that, then you have something concrete you can tackle. This way of using logic is, I think, what is meant by the process called “cognitive therapy” – looking at the fear or the nerves, identifying their sources and logically dealing with them. So, for example, if you were teased at school about your public speaking, then you can look at why you were teased and decide, perhaps, that it was irrelevant to your skills and you can go ahead anyway and develop the skills further. Or, if you were teased because you did not have the skills, then try to remember what you were being teased for, and work methodically on those skills. (If an adult methodical approach doesn’t work then use a childhood emotion and improve your skill just to spite your tormentors!!)

Public speaking nerves – poison or power?

Do you see a glass half full, or a glass half empty? – It’s a matter of attitude.

What are public speaking nerves – poison or power? – just another matter of attitude.

Poison or power, friend or foe. How you see your symptoms can make life so much easier … or harder.

Look at them negatively as something to be feared in themselves, as a negative, as a poison, or a foe, and they take over, draining your confidence, intruding on your thoughts and your presentation.

See them instead as a force for good. This is the adrenalin you need to be alert, to do your best, to be able to transmit the energy and enthusiasm of your presentation to your audience. Harness it. This is the friend who will work to make you a success. embrace it. It is not poison that is running through your system, but the energy you need to do your best.

Think about it!

What does your family think about public speaking?

Your family yes, the one you grew up in.

What did they think about public speaking? What did they say about it? Did they participate in public speaking? or did they talk about how awkward it was, about how they would avoid it if possible, and about how much they feared it?

If you are comfortable with public speaking, or if you fear it, you may be able to trace that reaction back to your family.

If it is fear, and this may be the cause, then you have a great basis for overcoming the fear. You are not your family, and the reasons they feared pubic speaking may not apply to you. If you can acknowledge that you have this source for the fear, then you can create a whole new replacement set of attitudes about public speaking that belongs just to you. Replace fear with confidence (if only to learn!), replace discomfort with comfort (if necessary through practice), replace awkwardness with cool (again through practice) and you are on the way to overcoming the nerves.

One mental trick to use on your fear of public speaking

 

One of the basic steps on the way of overcoming public speaking nerves is to acknowledge that the fear is normal. 

 

A huge range of successful people like Helen Hayes, Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Lisa Minnelli and Sydney Poitier are known to have suffered from nerves. 

 

The published survey that identified public speaking as Americans’ number one fear also shows that you are not in a minority, you are not a freak or a failure, but part of a huge group. 

 

Seinfeld quipped that if people fear public speaking

more than death, then they would rather be in the coffin than making the eulogy.  It is so common that Seinfeld jokes about it!  It is a natural, normal response – the body’s way of coping with a challenge. 

So having acknowledged that it’s a common problem, you can feel confident that it can be tackled, that there are solutions.