“I get so nervous about speaking in public.” Many clients tell me this when we start working together. And my response is usually, “Good. That means you’re a normal human being.”
As human beings, from primitive times, we have needed to be part of a group to survive. If we were cast out of the group, it would be difficult to find food on our own or we might become food for a passing beast!
So it was important for us to be accepted by the group.
Now, when we stand in front of people to give a presentation, we have an underlying fear of whether we’ll be accepted.
When we feel this fear, the natural fight or flight response is triggered.
Other animals have this fight or flight response when under threat, too. It helps them to survive.
For example, a lion facing a threat might fight back. A deer would run away.
Human beings are the same. Sometimes, we fight back without thinking. Sometimes we run away from scary situations.
We experience physical changes when we’re scared because the body is preparing to fight or run away.
Let’s look at five common symptoms when we get nervous about presentations as well as what we can do to shift from feeling fear to fun.
1. Your heart pounds
Fear causes the body to produce adrenaline, which increases the heart rate to pump more blood and power the muscles. This is how the body gets ready to fight or to run away.
Make it fun: Feel the sensation and recognize that you’re a normal human being! Wahoo! You can even smile about that. Just knowing that your body is doing what it should do can help you to feel more comfortable.
2. You’re short of breath
You need more oxygen for all that blood pumping through your body, but if you’re taking short, shallow breaths, you may feel stress.
Make it fun: Breathe deeply from your abdomen. This usually takes a little practice if you’re not used to it. Breathe in through your nose and push your belly out as far as it will go. When you breathe out (through the nose or mouth, whichever feels best at the time), tighten your belly muscles to make yourself as thin as possible. Take deep breaths like this before and during your presentation.
3. Your throat is dry
When you feel fear, the digestive system shuts down so that the body can focus all its energy on fighting or running away. This means your throat goes dry because you don’t have the saliva. (And those trips to the bathroom before a scary situation? All part of the digestive system getting rid of what it doesn’t need to be distracted with!)
Make it fun: Sip water before and during your presentation (and make sure you know where the bathroom is!).
4. You’re sweaty
The body starts to sweat to help it cool in anticipation of heating up to fight or run away.
Make it fun: Wear cool clothes when you present and have a handkerchief handy if necessary.
5. You go blank (can’t think what to say next)
If you took the time to think what to do in a survival situation, your response would probably be too slow and you wouldn’t survive. So the body very cleverly stops using the thinking part of the brain when you’re under threat, so that it can act quickly. Unfortunately, this isn’t helpful when you want to think about your presentation content!
Make it fun: Rehearse LOTS before your presentation, so that you can say your content automatically without having to think about it and you can focus on your interactions with the audience. And if your mind does go blank, recognize to yourself what’s happening. “Ah, I forgot what to say next. I’m a normal human being.” Then shift your focus to your audience. What do they need to know? Start talking about what they need to know and, as you shift out of your fear, you’ll remember what you wanted to say. No problem if the order isn’t quite as you planned.
So now you know why so many of us are nervous about presenting (me included!). It’s absolutely normal. You know 5 common symptoms of fear and what you can do to shift from fear to fun.
Focus on your audience and ENJOY your presentation!
Photo: TopTia Photography