The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and empathetically in front of an audience – whether an audience of ten or of thousands – is one of the most important skills anyone can develop.
People who are efficient speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything – products, ideas, ideologies, worldviews, and, more important, yourself.
It seems that everybody knows that. There are tons of articles about public speaking explaining about presentations techniques, giving tips and hacks.
However, as a psychiatrist for the last ten years, I’m missing something.
Those articles tell us to make eye contact, to be vulnerable, to be funny if we can, to be ourselves, to let go of our egos, to tell stories. They say not to ramble, not to go on about matters that no one else is interested in. And they keep saying “stay calm.”
It’s all good advice, and it looks great in theory, but the practice is a little bit different.
If you get nervous before giving a speech, you probably know that there is a difference between theory and practice.
And you are not alone.
Research show that 48{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} of the American population has some degree of public speaking fear, and a survey from Harvard Medical School estimates that the lifetime prevalence of extreme public speaking fear, characterized as social anxiety disorder, is 12.1{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c}.
When we turn these statistics into numbers, we see that 140 million Americans would get nervous before giving a speech.
To overcome the fear of public speaking is essential to go beyond simple tricks and understand how your brain works when you are giving a presentation.
Here are 3 brain hacks to improve your public speaking skill:
Public Speaking Brain Hack #1: Change your thoughts
When you get nervous before a presentation, you have automatic thoughts and beliefs that contribute to your fear, like:
“People will think I’m stupid.”
“I’ll end up looking like a fool.”
“I won’t have anything to say.”
“My voice will start shaking.”
“I’ll seem boring.”
“I’ll blush.”
These thoughts are like traps. When you fall on them, you become anxious.
The first step is to recognize the automatic thoughts that underlie your fear. For example, if you’re worried about a future presentation, the underlying thought might be: “I’m going to blow it. Everyone will notice that I’m nervous.”
The next step is to analyze the thought. It helps to ask yourself questions about the automatic thoughts: “Even if I’m nervous, will people necessarily notice it?” or “Do I know for sure that I’m going to blow the presentation?”.
Through this analysis of your automatic thoughts, you can gradually identify some unhelpful thinking styles or think traps (check the most common think traps here).
Public Speaking Brain Hack #2: Learn to relax
Several changes happen in your body when you get nervous. But, there are techniques to teach you how to relax and reduce physical responses to anxiety.
One of the first body response in anxiety is that you begin to breathe racing. Rapid shallow breathing leads to physical symptoms of anxiety, such as a feeling of suffocation, increased heart rate, muscle tension, and dizziness.
Learning to slow your breathing down can help you bring your physical sensations of anxiety under control. Here is a breathing exercise to help you keep your calm in social situations.
Public Speaking Brain Hack #3: Face your fear
One of the most important things you can do to overcome the fear fo public speaking is to face it.
While avoiding momentarily uncomfortable situations may help you feel better in the short term; it prevents you from learning how to cope in the long term. In fact, the more you avoid a feared social situation, the more frightening it becomes.
While it may seem difficult to face a feared social situation, you can do it by taking it one small step at a time.
In other words, it’s important to face your fears gradually.
The key is to begin with a situation that you can handle and gradually work your way up to more challenging situations. It’s like to climb a mountain. You’ll build your confidence and social skills as you move up.
It’s never a good idea to move too fast, take on too much, or force things. This strategy will backfire and strengthen your anxiety.
======
José Hamilton is a psychiatrist on a mission to empower people to overcome social anxiety and feel more confident. He is co-founder and CEO at Youper, the first mobile platform to overcome social anxiety.
GET THE BOOK BY
ERIN FALCONER!
Once we are aware of how unrewarding anxiety is, we can then deliberately bring in the “bigger better offer.” Since our brains will choose more rewarding behaviors simply because they feel better, we can practice replacing old habitual behaviors — such as worry — with those that are naturally more rewarding.
viagra otc cheap generic viagra where can i buy viagra
generic viagra without a doctor prescription viagra viagra professional
how much does cialis cost at walmart cialis for sale show cialis working
where can i buy viagra over the counter order generic viagra when will viagra be generic
natural treatment for ed erectional dysfunction supplements for ed
erection pills buy prescription drugs online erectal disfunction
792392 318339Interesting, but not perfect. Are you going to write more? 488339
cheap viagra online buy generic drugs buy generic viagra online
cheap viagra online generic viagra online where can i buy viagra over the counter
discount viagra cheap viagra price of viagra
generic viagra walmart canadian pharmacy viagra buying viagra online
best treatment for ed legal to buy prescription drugs without prescription treatment with drugs
canadian online pharmacy erectile dysfunction drug ed drugs
best male enhancement pills ED Pills cheap ed drugs
medication for ed dysfunction generic viagra best natural cure for ed
ed drug comparison Cheap Erection Pills ed drugs online
ed meds online without doctor prescription generic ed pills how to treat ed
canada cialis buy cialis online cialis 5mg coupon
high blood pressure and cialis cialis how much does cialis cost
real viagra without a doctor prescription usa ed meds online without doctor prescription ed causes and cures
ed medicine drug prices comparison discount prescription drugs
buy sildenafil sildenafil online
buy generic drugs cheap online pharmacy
buy generic drugs generic drugs from india
sildenafil cheap sildenafil
speedy cash payday loans online payday loans online
313375 479987I surely did not realize that. Learnt some thing new these days! Thanks for that. 397684
418908 797135Conveyancing […]we like to honor other sites on the web, even if they arent related to us, by linking to them. Below are some internet sites worth checking out[…] 126831
895547 104716Thanks for providing such an excellent article, it was exceptional and really informative. Its my 1st time that I go to here. I discovered a great deal of informative stuff inside your article. Maintain it up. Thank you. 329458
611031 661373Absolutely nothing far better than Bing finding us a excellent internet site related to what I was seeking for. 401826
良いブランドも非常に費用対効果が高いです。 彼らはクライアントにさまざまな複数のオプションを提供することができます。 これは、問題や苦情なしに賭けの結果を得るのに役立ちます。 ぽっちゃり ラブドール https://yourdoll.jp/product-category/fat-love-doll/
에볼루션코리아
572XZghnR)-.
에볼루션카지노
186ydoslm`/#
에볼루션바카라
667IQTthx&>#
에볼루션룰렛
296Izjtmd_`=
에볼루션블랙잭
040rWYrPQ[!/
강남카지노강남오프라인카지노 강남 25 놀러오세요~!! 다양한 이벤트~!!