Public
speaking isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s an important skill for leaders
in the business world to cultivate. Whether you have to deliver a presentation
before the members of a corporate board, a group of employees in your
organization, a charity, a high school, or the Canadian parliament, you’ll make
a stronger impression and communicate your message more powerfully if you are a
competent and effective speaker. (For more on this topic, see this post from the Corporation Centre blog
archives.)
One
of the primary causes of discomfort around public speaking is performance
anxiety—otherwise known as stage fright. Like other forms of fear, performance
anxiety leads to the release of adrenalin into your bloodstream, and produces
two kinds of psychosomatic responses: one is a desire to resist or defy the
agent of your intimidation (“fight”); the other is the impulse to flee or
escape (“flight”). In the context of public speaking, these responses can
manifest themselves in distinctly unhelpful ways: a trembling voice, blushing,
loss of memory or an inability to maintain focus (“flight”), and muscle tension
or tightness (“fight”). An accelerated heart rate and breathing rate, producing
speech that is excessively rapid or high-pitched, is also a common problem for
inexperienced or nervous public speakers.
Fortunately,
the “fight or flight” response is an ill that you can (partly) alleviate by
focusing on the symptoms rather than the cause.
Practice
in advance.
Speak in
front of a mirror, or deliver a rehearsal to a friend or loved one. Time
yourself, and in successive attempts, try to maintain a consistent time.
Commit
your words—or at least the gist of the speech—to memory.
It’s
fine to have notes in front of you and consult them once in a while. But when a
speaker is reading from a sheet of paper for an extended period, many people
react by tuning out. Nervous speakers frequently resort to reading without even
glancing up at the audience, but that’s rarely an effective way to forge an
interpersonal connection.
Stay
hydrated. Drink water before and during your remarks.
As a
consequence of the “fight or flight” response, many people experience a dry
throat, or worse, a frog in their throat that inhibits their ability to speak.
Although water can’t eliminate the source of the fear in this situation (unless
it arrives in the form of a fire sprinkler that forces everyone in the room to
evacuate), it can mitigate dryness in the mouth and throat caused by
performance anxiety.
Deep
breaths and cadence.
Again,
the goal here is to partially counteract the “fight or flight” response. A
quick surge of adrenalin in your bloodstream can produce short, shallow
breathing and accelerated speech. If you know this tends to happen to you,
concentrate on taking deep, deliberate breaths, and enunciate your words
carefully.
Clear
your mind by minding your heart.
The
“fight or flight” response entails the redirection of blood away from your
brain and toward your major muscles—enabling you to brace for a physical
struggle, or run faster in order to successfully escape. However, neither of
these abilities is particularly useful if you need to deliver a speech. As I
noted earlier, as your brain loses blood flow, you will tend to forget
important details and lose concentration.
You
may find that the following brief ritual will help you clear your mind and
regain poise.
First,
focus your attention on the organ responsible for circulating blood through
your system—your heart. Next, breathe in and out, imagining that the air that
enters you is a purifying elixir, and that your exhalation is exhaust—a mixture
of waste products to be discarded. Finally, go to your happy place—i.e. think
of a person, place, or thing that warms your heart and brings you comfort.
For
a video tutorial, see this presentation by public speaking coach
Dave Smith.
Exercise.
Regular
exercise is important for maintaining your health and energy level in general.
And if the opportunity of a brief walk presents itself right before you’re due
to speak, go for it; even low-intensity exertion can increase blood flow to
your brain and improve your focus and composure.
