Change your mind to achieve public speaking success
Easier said than done! I can (almost) hear you say. Let's walk our way through those two ideas.
- Extremely powerful and helpful idea number one: change your way of thinking and you can easily achieve public speaking success.
- Extremely powerful and very unhelpful idea number two: "I can't just change my mind. I'll always have a fear of public speaking."
Let's deal with an irrefutable fact - always a pleasant change on the Internet. The neurobiological fact is that, magnificent though it is, the human mind doesn't know the difference between a 'real' experience and an imagined one.
You know that already. Think about the last time you recalled how terrified you were at that public speaking event! That's right, my sweet, just thinking about it, just recalling that event brings all those feeling of terror back.
Your memories (thoughts) evoked the panic reaction and a huge dose of adrenaline was immediately pumped into your body, getting it ready to react to 'danger, danger'. Your mind caught in the middle didn't know that there was nothing to fear at that moment. You were safe and sound in your dining room when you recalled that last event. In fact, there was no real danger at that public speaking event itself but we're just talking about you remembering, thinking about, how afraid, nervous, upset and downright terrified you were.
Just the memories, the thought, of that event brings on the automatic boost in adrenaline and with it, the fear symptoms. That's the hormone you'd need to race out of the way of real and present danger so it's a useful reaction. It's just not at all helpful when all it does is produce panic attack symptoms such as:
- dry mouth...particularly unhelpful when you're just about to speak to a few thousand people.
- quivery voice...again, not the best help when you want to appear cool and calm;
- racing pulse... feeling like you'll pass out is enough to make the best of us feel even more nervous;
- upset tummy...that urge to rush to the bathroom due to...well, this is a polite blog so we won't mention diarrhoea. Did you know that in the First World War nervous diarrhoea was a huge combat problem and an indication of (in those terrifying trenches) of appropriate reactions to the environment.
All those fear symptoms are related to the extra huge dose of adrenaline coursing through your body. And they are all directly related back to your thoughts.
I've written a whole e-book Calming Words about how to escape from anxiety and panic attacks, but the most powerful way to react to fear of public speaking and any anxiety or panic attack is this: Accept your reactions. Float with them. Do not tense up and fight them.
Welcome them. They're just part of a not-so-helpful way you reacted to certain cues in your environment. Now fear and anxiety are habits. Welcome your fear feelings. Look at them, as if you were observing someone else with those feelings. Look at them and realise the truth that will set you free from them: your fears are only reactions to your thoughts.
You can easily change your thoughts and hence your feelings.
Instead of "I'm so scared about that next presentation", deliberately say out loud to your self: "I'm well prepared, the audience wishes me well and I'll be wonderful".
You may find that hard to believe right this very minute but rehearsing for success is the core of my e-program. Why? Because it works.
You've spent too long rehearsing for fear and failure. Together we can change that around.
To your continued public speaking success.
