For this third part of the series (part one, part two) on Overcome a Fear of Public Speaking the Easy Way, we focus on performance and how to counter any jitters that you might have just prior to speaking.

Last minute jitters

No matter how much you prepare you cannot be 100% certain of how you will perform on the day of your speech. Your mind will play tricks on you. You might feel physical discomfort in your belly (it has recently been discovered that the gut has neurons, i.e. brain cells, within it, so a gut reaction might have some intelligence to it). You will begin to focus on ‘What ifs’ that will generally have a bleak and negative conclusion. The age old survival responses that evolved over the millennia are at work here.

It is far better to avoid risks than to enter into them and have to deal with the consequences. However, you are here for a purpose. There is no physical danger here (unless you are speaking to a hostile crowd and I really don’t recommend that when starting out). The danger is all imaginary. The very best thing that you can do is switch your present moment attention to the process of speaking.

Focus on the process

If your nerves are really getting to you then try the ‘square breathing cycle’ this is a yoga technique that quickly brings calm. Inhale slowly for a count of five. Hold your breath for another count of five. Exhale slowly over a count of five. Hold for another count of five and then inhale over a count of five and repeat.

Once you feel more calm, look at your notes, or even better, close your eyes and remember how the speech starts. In your mind, go over the section where you introduce your speech and give the listeners a context. Next think about the body of speech. You will probably have about three key points to convey, so remember each one and how you will communicate those points. Remember the stories that you will tell, or the metaphors that you use to convey the meaning easily. Finally remember how you will finish up the speech; how you will summarize it and the emphasis that you will give to your final point.

As you do this you will remember how you practiced the speech in front of the mirror until you got it repeatedly right. This will remind you that you can do the speech and that you have prepared thoroughly, developed a good structure, got the timing right, practiced standing and gesturing confidently. This focus on the process will keep you in the right state of mind and readiness to prepare you to carry out the speech competently and confidently.

Remember:
They want to hear you
They want a good performance
They want to see a competent and confident speaker

When you stand up and speak you will still feel some butterflies but through preparation and practice you have given yourself the best possible structure and support to give a good speech. The moment has come and you are ready for it.

If you falter, it’s okay, because you have prepared for the worst. A focus on the result (a desire for rapturous applause, but a creeping feeling that it’s going to turn into a disaster) will not help you. It is the process that creates the result and a good result can only come from a competently performed process. Rather than have the speech turn into a disaster, you can recognize what’s happening and recover it before that happens. Keep focused on the process. Keep focused on the sequence of the speech. Soon enough, you will have reached the end of well-executed speech - well done!

Additional tip for the chronically shy

If you find doing things in the public eye intimidating then go out to a restaurant or cafe and have a drink, or even better a meal, alone. A lot of people think that when you eat alone that everyone is going to stare at you and wonder who the freak is, but I can assure that this doesn’t happen. Take a book or a magazine to read, so that it looks like you have a purpose and it will distract you from noticing other people. Do this a few times and you’ll wonder what the fuss was all about. Because I often traveled alone, I got used to doing this years ago and it just doesn’t bother me now. In fact the reverse now happens.

I go into a busy restaurant with a book, or often a notebook (I sketch out a lot of ideas for blog posts in restaurants), sit slap bang in the middle of the establishment and quickly get absorbed in what I’m doing. Sometimes I look up and I get glances from people around me who, from their body language, appear to be wondering something like “Who’s the confident guy writing in his journal?” Most people would be too intimidated to do such a thing and so it’s intriguing when someone does that.

The same thing happens with public speaking. Once you get practiced at it, you realize that it is you who has the position of power.

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