Four Ways to Control Your Nerves

Do You Get Stage Fright?*
*The answer is yes.

Do you suffer from stage fright? Writer Mark Twain said that there are two types of public speaker: those who get nervous and those who are liars. If presentations give you dread, not excitement, you may have a few unhelpful physical symptoms that spring up. Your heart will pounds, your palms will sweat, your voice wobbles, your hands tremble. But for all the physical cues, it’s interesting to note that stage fright is first and foremost a mental state.

Control the overwhelm: get out of your head and back in your body.

Sure, we need to get our heads in the game before we give the talk. But here’s a secret: even those people who love presenting, who look forward to educating their audience and who relish having a speech to deliver will have, to some degree, the same symptoms: thumping heart; sweaty palms; shortness of breath and trembling body. It’s adrenaline doing its job: preparing the body for an apparent ‘fight or flight’ scenario.

Every type of presenter gets these physical symptoms – and this is good news. It means that, if you are a nervous speaker, your body isn’t giving away a shameful secret — it’s simply reacting to the context, just like everyone else’s body does. Everyone gets these symptoms, more or less.

However, what your audience thinks matters. And your audience will assume — whether you’re actually scared or merely happily excited — that your trembling hands and wobbly voice mean (no, prove) that you are very uncomfortable. Your being uncomfortable makes, of course, your audience uncomfortable. And an uncomfortable audience will put out negative signals such as defensive body posture, which will make you feel awkward — creating a negative feedback loop that’s hard to get past.

Whether you’re happy and excited or scared and nervous, the trick is to take command of your body and control those outward signs, so the audience feels relaxed. One of the biggest lightbulb moments for me came last year when a visiting improv teacher told us: “In improv, it doesn’t matter how you feel, what matters is how you make the audience feel.”

If you’re a nervous presenter, you can actively work on controlling those outward signs that signal your nerves. When your audience is relaxed, they’ll trust you and listen better. The good thing is that no matter how you feel about your situation — whether it’s a one-to-one office chat, a board meeting or a complex presentation to a crowd of strangers — you can control the inevitable undesirable physical side-effects.

Shake, shake, shake it off
Pump out all the pent-up nervous energy. It’ll feel like the last thing you want to do but attempt some physical exercise before you present, even as your brain is screaming: “I don’t have time and this feels too risky!” Shake releases are great - shake out your hands, whole arms, legs, one by one for some few minutes. This will release a lot of the adrenaline and produce the endorphins that’ll chill you out. Result? You’ll tremble less, you won’t sweat so much — and inevitably, you’ll appear calmer.

Sing like a canary
Get control of your voice: get talking. Don’t just mouth your speech to yourself or run it in your head: get yourself outside your head and vocalise. Take yourself outdoors or to a stairwell and declaim something — anything — out loud and you’ll get into ‘speaker’ mode. Use some vocal warm-ups, sing a song — hey, you could even recite your speech! Get vocal well before the presentation so you get used to the sound of your voice and push past the moment it cracks or breaks or wobbles.

Get silly, stoopid!
A while beforehand, shrug off your serious side and make yourself laugh. Scrunch your shoulders; waddle like a penguin. Tell a bad joke in a ridiculous voice. Imagine your audience. Imagine they love you. Pull some faces; make yourself laugh, even if it feels false and embarrassing. Laugh out loud until it feels natural. Give yourself permission to be a fool and you’ll be less tense when you meet your audience, plus they’ll appreciate your relaxed smile. Ironically, you’ll feel a lot more high status.

Focus and breathe
Shortly before presenting, make a conscious decision to shut down your monkey mind and simply focus on your breathing. Sit and use a breathing cycle, such as inhale through your nostrils for three seconds, hold for two seconds, then exhale through your mouth for four seconds. If you mind wanders, acknowledge that you’ve had a thought and then gently bring your attention back to your breathing. Sit and breathe mindfully for at least five minutes and tap into the zen.

Remember: everyone gets physical nerves. Follow these tips and you’ll help everyone to feel more chilled out and happy to learn from you.