When are we fearful? When we confront the unknown. Let me take you back 1,500 years to a small village. It's a bright, sunny day. Everyone in the community is enjoying the warm, balmy day -- until it begins to darken. They stop and look at each other in fear. As it continues to darken, the small community flock together in anticipation of great danger as they look up and see the sun disappear. Today, millions huddle together, but not in fear, but in anticipation and excitement of a solar eclipse. You see, we understand solar eclipse today and we look forward to seeing this rare phenomenon.
The same happens with the fear of speaking in front of an audience. If we are not familiar with speaking in public, we become nervous and fearful, but as we do it, speaking becomes familiar and less fearful.
But why is fear a positive trait? Very simple, the body physically changes to prepare us to fight or flight. Without fear, our primitive ancestors would have been killed. So every time you feel fear, embrace it, because without it, we would have been extinct eons ago. And the symptoms -- embrace them too, because these are signs the body is preparing you to fight or flight. For example, nausea and the butterflies are caused by the body shutting down the digestive system. Thus, if you are a bit fearful, don't eat before presenting. Eat afterwards. The shaky knees and hands, and the quivering lips are caused by the body pushing excessive oxygen and energy in the form of glucose into the muscles. Thus, consider going backstage and shaking your arms and legs to dissipate the energy and oxygen built up in your muscles. Also, just before you begin to speak, pause for 2 to 3 seconds. This will relax you (believe it or not) and it will get the audience's attention and they will be more relaxed and attentive.
No comments:
Post a Comment