Afraid of Public Speaking Exercise - Public Speaking Training
When being afraid of public speaking presents itself in the days or weeks before your presentation, do not put your head in the sand like an ostrich, to avoid it. Instead, welcome it.
Encourage yourself to fully experience it both emotionally and physically, as your heart begins to race, your mouth becomes dry, you feel shaky, etc. And do not be shocked by these symptoms since the relationship between body and mind is complete and every emotion has its physical manifestations. But while this tumultuousness is happening, sit.
Then allow the feeling to intensify and flood you from the top of your head to your toes, as though you were a vessel filled with fear. If you do this exercise with deliberation and repeat it each time you feel afraid of public speaking I think you will find that the next time you are at the podium your terror will have diminished.
The actor-trainers at Public Speaking by Broadway Actors recommend this technique to the people they coach and there have been psychological studies that show its general effectiveness, but here is a personal example:
I used to be afraid of heights. I decided to go to Coney Island and attempt the parachute jump in order to confront and overcome my fear. The jump was a tall structure and when I found myself at the top of it looking down on all the tiny people below I was terrified. I was buckled into the parachute seat, suspended for minutes up there. This gave me time to fully experience my terror. It filled my entire being, not only my mind but my body as well.
After it was all over, as Peggy Lee put it in her song, I thought, "Is that all there is? Is that all there is [to vertigo?]" In those few intense minutes before I began the float down to earth I had experienced my fear of heights so completely that the feeling was spent, gone, never to return again.
This could apply to being afraid of public speaking as well. Healing comes from acknowledging, accepting and fully experiencing, both mentally and physically, all that you are feeling, even if the sensation of terror is in itself terrifying. But be courageous and the next time you feel afraid of public speaking be a good host: open the door and let your fear in. Since it is not a stranger but part of you, you will find it is a welcome guest.
Amanda Blue is Administrative Director of Public Speaking Training by Broadway Actors, a New York City based company of leading actors who give private training and workshops in confident public speaking.
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