How to deal with jitters and overcome fears during public speaking

0 < p>The defense of the diploma in front of the department, the presentation of the project in front of partners, a lecture for an audience of 200 people — all these are public performances of various formats and scales. How to deal with shaky knees and speak to be heard? Let's figure it out together with the public speaking coach.

Oprah Winfrey masterfully controls the emotions of the audience. Donald Trump is always sure of his own rightness. Gwyneth Paltrow can genuinely cry during a speech. To an outside observer, it may seem that all these people were simply born with the talent of an orator. However, in fact, the secret of their skill lies in careful preparation. This is assured by Imogen Butler-Cole, a public speaking trainer and a former mentor of many public figures. She made a list of recommendations for everyone who is afraid of speaking in front of an audience.

Breathe more deeply

At home, at breakfast, you were as calm as a boa constrictor. But now you have to give a speech in front of tens or even hundreds of attentive eyes and your excited heart beats like a butterfly in a lamp shade. Your body perceives the situation as dangerous (crowded space, eyes directed at you) and goes into “fight or flight” mode.

“Panic caused by a surge of adrenaline lasts only a minute, but if not managed, it will provoke short shallow breathing. In turn, it will increase excitement,” reports the public speaking trainer. Taking a breath, you will let the adrenaline air out, and at the same time, a feeling of slight panic. “Your task is to start breathing deeply and slowly. Imagine a birthday cake on which you have to blow out the candles. Make an energetic and long exhalation. At the end of the exhalation, relax the lower part of the abdomen and let the breath settle. The exercise will calm him down.” Also, to quell anxiety and gather your thoughts, you can count to ten on your breath.

Rehearse

Eight months before delivering his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King practiced the speech to a small group of high school students. Anyone can adopt this technique for practicing public speaking. If you don't have students at hand, use what you have: a mirror, a voice recorder on your phone, and friends. Make several audio or video recordings of your speech. In this way, you will be able to track the places in which you most often stumble and catch typical language errors (for example, parasitic words like “here”).

During training, do not try to repeat the recorded text of the speech letter for letter. “If you have memorized the text and forget a word during the speech, there is a danger that it will completely throw you off track,” warns Imogen. Write a speech, highlight key points in it and record them in the form of a list. Ideally, it would be good to learn to speak without a piece of paper. But if there's even the slightest possibility that you'll forget, prepare small flashcards (just small ones – not a whole sheet of text). Theses of the speech should be repeated at least three times. It was this technique that Tony Blair used in the 1997 election campaign that brought him success.

Tell a story

What do the most successful TED talks have in common? Their personal stories are harmoniously woven into the speeches of the speakers. “The more stories you include in a public speech, the more enthusiastically they will listen to you,” says the expert. “Imagine the hero, project or organization that you will talk about, describe the difficulties that need to be overcome, and the audience will follow the story with interest.”

Try to influence the feelings of the listeners: describe how what you are talking about sounds, looks, smells, or even what it tastes like. Butler-Cole notes: “We remember a speech better if we can clearly imagine what the speaker is talking about.” But be careful: appealing to the senses and idle chatter are the same thing. Your story should be directly related to the topic of the speech and take about a minute of the total time of the speech.

Find your voice

It is important not only what you say, but also how. Research shows that in 7% of cases the audience is influenced by the meaning of what is said, and 38% by voice modulation. A monotonous, even voice can lull the audience to sleep. It is said that Margaret Thatcher trained seriously to make her voice sound stronger.

Imogen recommends trying the following exercise: “Say the siren sounds while drawing a circle in front of you as if you were a conductor. Smoothly swing your hands down and up, follow your voice with your limbs up and down in pitch. Then try to say the sentence, continuing to make passes with your hands and conveying their movement with your voice. Try to stretch and emphasize each word with your voice. In the future, this will help you influence the audience by coloring the speech with feelings and passion.”

Speak more slowly

“Many speakers believe that they should not take up the listeners' time,” says the trainer. Therefore, we shoot words at the audience with machine-gun speed to leave the stage as quickly as possible. And this is a big mistake, because the slower we speak, the more convincing we look. See how Michelle Obama behaves in public. “One of the secrets of her charisma is that she's never in a hurry,” says Butler-Cole. Michel not only punctuates each sentence with a pause, but also generally speaks slowly. Priyanka Chopra does the same.

“Expressing your thoughts leisurely, you allow yourself to take a breath and think about the next thesis. You calm down and also allow the audience to absorb your words.” As for pauses, make them twice as long as in normal speech. Let's say Priyanka has about three seconds. Practice speaking as slowly as if you were dictating a phone number.

Maintain eye contact

You've spent hours or even days crafting an informative, witty, inspiring speech. Therefore, there is no need to mumble it, lowering your head down, digging in notes. Whether you're speaking in a meeting at a table with ten colleagues or giving a speech in front of a 300-seat auditorium, you need to make eye contact with your audience. This helps the audience feel connected to you.

If the room is so large that direct eye contact is difficult, periodically turn the body a little and direct your gaze in different directions. Make sure your pose is open to different parts of the audience. Do you find it difficult to look strangers in the eye? Look up to the eyebrows – it is interpreted in much the same way. Don't be afraid to gesture (within reason). “Gestures are body language. It is important that they are thought out and not chaotic, – assures coach Butler-Cole. “There is a difference between clear movement and waving your arms, and it is very noticeable.”