Fighting speaking anxiety

When you get ready to speak, you might feel anxious. In fact it's more unusual if you don't feel anxious. Speech anxiety can happen before you speak, while you're speaking, or--more rarely--after the speech is over. Feeling nervous before you speak is probably the most common. Let's talk about some concrete strategies to combat pre-speech anxiety.

1. Jump up and down! Get your heart rate up! When your heart rate drops and you start breathing more deeply after you stop exercising, you'll feel calmer. As a bonus, you'll be even more ready to speak.
2. Make silly noises! Now that you've exercised your body, take special care to exercise your main speaking body part: your mouth. In an upcoming post I'll give you some exercises in detail. For now, get creative! Pretend you're playing sound games with a baby. See how wide you can open your mouth. Pucker your lips like an exaggerated kiss. This will definitely get rid of some of the physical feelings of being tongue-tied, and it will improve your ability to get through every word in the speech with smoothness. You might even make yourself laugh!
3. Visualize success! Visualize the steps leading up to your speech. You'll rise from your seat with grace. You'll button your jacket. You'll walk to the podium. You'll place your notes on the podium. And so on. If there are tricky things in the way, like an electrical cord, a set of stairs, or a narrow aisle, visualize those things, too; visualizing overcoming small obstacles like that will give you confidence, and thinking through how you'll get over those obstacles will ensure that you do it with grace.

Give these tips a try the next time you find yourself with a prize-winning butterfly garden inside your belly before a speech, and you'll feel calmer for sure.