- I'm going to give you six behavioral tips
to help you overcome your public speaking anxiety.
So let's do it.
(upbeat music)
You might remember that in a recent video,
we talked about six mindset tips to help you
with your public speaking anxiety. If you missed that one,
I will put a link to that into the description below
this video. And just like that one,
we are aiming to reduce your anxiety by about 50%.
Now we're not trying to 100% cure it. That's not realistic.
Even professional speakers get a little nervous,
but we can talk about ways to cut it in half
by the end of the video. But like I said, in the last video,
working on our mindset is powerful,
but it's only half of the story.
We can also use behavioral strategies to reduce
our nervousness and get this feedback loop
moving in the right direction.
So these six behavior changes can very quickly transform
the way you feel about public speaking.
The number one way is to practice like crazy.
Practicing is not a quick fix,
but it's the best way to feel better.
Dale Carnegie once said that only the prepared speaker
deserves to be confident.
I recommend practicing a presentation 10 times behind
the scenes, spread out over a few days beforehand
to really let it sink in.
Even if you still feel those butterflies,
you can be confident that you are prepared.
Trust in your preparation process.
If you've already gone through the presentation
10 times in practice,
now you're just going to do that presentation the 11th time.
And as I've often said,
95% of how a presentation comes out is determined
by how you practice.
So even if you're still nervous, that won't stop you
as a prepared speaker from doing a strong presentation.
So practice like crazy and trust that process.
Number two, as you prepare, focus on your message
and your audience.
The three parts of a public speaking situation
are the speaker, audience, and message.
Speakers who get the most nervous, focus on themselves.
What if I mess up?
What if they don't like me?
And when we focus on ourselves and being perfect,
we can psych ourselves out.
I would say that perfectionism and that threat
of feeling judged are the two biggest problems
that we focus on and that we're thinking about ourselves
in most of that. Instead as you prepare,
and as you speak, focus all your effort on your message
and your audience.
How can you best help your listeners?
Focus on how to sharpen your message,
the examples, the stories,
so the message is the best it can be.
And this is what great coaches and teachers do.
If they share an example that doesn't go that well,
they don't take it personally. They don't focus on them.
They just move on and look for another example
that will resonate with listeners.
So focus on your message and helping your listeners
before and during your presentation, not on yourself.
Number three, visualize the first 30 seconds,
as all positive.
This will help you reduce that spike of nerves
you feel at the beginning.
I make this visualization really hands-on.
As I practice, I imagine myself walking up to the front,
being introduced by the person running the event.
And I picture myself speaking the first few sentences
effectively. I picture people sitting there, looking happy.
I picture it playing out in a positive way
over and over again.
This helps me feel good about the beginning,
but it also helps me start on the right foot
because visualizing is another way to rehearse.
Number four and I love this one, get there early
and walk the room.
I always arrive early and walk around the room
before it's full. I walk up and down every aisle.
I look at the stage or the podium from the empty seats.
Then I stand in the front of the room or at the podium
and I size up the room.
This makes the whole event seems smaller somehow
and more manageable.
I've heard that many professional athletes
walk through the seats in the stadium
when it's still empty before a big game.
This will make the space feel like familiar territory.
I spend a few moments at the podium or on the stage.
And again, I imagine or quietly rehearse
how the first few sentences will come out of my mouth
and where I'll stand.
This one tip, walking the room like this
takes only about two minutes
and always calms my nerves by at least 50%.
Number five, get to know your audience beforehand.
Learn everything you can about your actual audience,
the real people who are going to be there.
Reducing our uncertainty, reduces our anxiety.
And if I have a list of attendees ahead of time,
I learn as many names as I can.
I also mingle before any presentation.
I shake some hands, I break the ice and make small talk
about their backgrounds.
I take a genuine interest in the people.
This helps me feel like I already have some people I know
and who are on my side.
It also gives me something to do right before I speak.
It's a helpful distraction.
If I'm focused on getting to know other people,
I'm not thinking about myself.
And number six, take deep breaths in and out
through your nose.
And I don't mean metaphorically,
I mean while you're sitting there waiting to be introduced,
inhale deeply through your nose and exhale all the way
through your nose, and you can try with me right now.
(deep breathing)
I'm not a physician, but I've both heard
and experienced these benefits.
Slow, deep breathing like this lowers our heart rate,
blood pressure and tells our brains to relax.
From what I understand and from personal experience,
when we breathe in through our nose
and out through our mouth,
that can actually get our adrenaline pumping even more
and can increase our nerves.
That's the way MMA fighters and other athletes get fired up.
(heavy breathing)
But breathing in through our nose this way
and out through our nose is the way we breathe
when we sleep deeply and when we naturally relax.
So I'll put a summary of all these tips up in a moment
but before I do, I want to remind you
that you can find a free PDF download
for the six tips to be more confident and composed
public speakers. I'll put that into the description below.
And there are also direct links to my other online classes
and the video I mentioned about the six mindset tips
to reduce your anxiety.
And as we look at these six behavioral tips,
my question for the day for you is which one
of these do you believe will help you
make the most immediate progress?
Please comment below.
I look forward to reading your comments
and remember that both mindset changes
and behavioral changes are great ways
to manage your speaking anxiety.
They're both starting points that will get you
on a more confident feedback loop about your speaking.
So thanks for watching.
God bless and I will see you in the next video.