Picture the scene: you’re really worried about your next presentation for a variety of reasons, and your stomach’s churning at the very thought of getting up in front of everyone to speak. It’s easy to fall into a spiral of nerves; the brain kicks into its ‘fight or flight’ mode and you start shaking with fear.
Well, here’s a strategy to help you: consider something really significant that you’ve dealt with in the past. And I mean think of the really important things: the happiest, the worst, or any of the crises you’ve experienced and overcome. Now, put your current situation alongside it, where you have to talk to some people.
Not as bad, is it?
In fact, it makes speaking to an audience seem pretty tame by comparison. Now, this significant thing might be something really quite unpleasant, but whatever it is, by comparing the two, you put things into perspective. When you’re nervous you can get lost in the details, focusing on a few things instead of seeing the bigger picture.
When I did stand-up comedy, it could get a little nerve-wracking the longer I was waiting beforehand at the venue (I’d often arrive early if travelling a long way), because I was concentrating on the future instead of feeling what was happening there and then. But when I was ‘doubling up’, I sometimes arrived at my second gig of the evening with no time to get nervous, and instead just got caught up in the energy of the whole experience, which gave a really natural performance. That’s because:
I wasn’t focused on what was going to happen, but instead was completely present in the moment.
You can do the same. As long as you’ve done your preparation, you have nothing to fear. And then you can use that adrenaline to power your performance, providing the energy to make it really zing.
(See also my post ‘Removing Fear‘)