Are you nervous or excited?
A colleague was asking me recently whether I get nervous when I speak. As a rule: No, I dont'. I get excited.
It's the interpretation that makes the difference.
For years, I helped people overcome the fear of public speaking, including very high level executives who would blank out the moment they stood up - they would faint while standing. And I would help them overcome it within a few sessions. I get it. I had it as a young person, but overcame it.
How?
One of the keys is recognising and working with the body's fight or flight (or freeze) response.
If you reframe it as your body preparing for performance, then it gives you energy, not shutdown.
Another key is, of course, training. Learn how to speak in different situations and you'll be able to fall back on the training. You'll have the confidence you know what to do.
That was one of the things we did with teachers when my wife and I were working for the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario decades ago. We would help these high-achieving novice professionals (in Canada, teachers come from the cream of the academic crop; it was never about a lack of IQ, academic, social skills or general accomplishment). We would equip them with the techniques to know what to do and they would leap in confidence and effectiveness.
A last key is this: Keep your audience at the forefront of your mind and purpose. You're speaking for their benefit, not yours.
Literally, when your focus moves off yourself on to those to whom you are speaking and the reason why you are speaking (beyond your own goals), it changes your whole perspective. It's not about self. It's about serving others.
They're all great communication, performance and leadership lessons.
Don't be nervous. Be excited.
Peter J. McLean
#LeadWithCLARITY #Speaking #Communication #Leadership #Nerves #PeakPerformance #Service #BookKeynote #KeynoteSpeaker #ExecutiveCoach
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