Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
Some people have done research abroad. What is the most feared thing in life? The survey results are that death ranks second, and public speaking ranks first, which means that between speaking on stage and dying, many people would rather choose death Forget it. In a recent article on the website of Speech magazine, by educator and public speaker Jonathan Robinette, he said that there are only two kinds of speakers in the world, those who are particularly nervous and those who are particularly nervous. Kind of pretends not to be nervous. In other words, all speakers are nervous, but someone knows how to hide this emotion. So how do we become the second type of person? Here are three very specific and implementable methods, let's talk about it.
Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
Let’s talk about the first method and practice it fifteen times. The exercise here is not to make you memorize the whole speech fifteen times after writing the whole speech, but to prepare a good outline first. Which key points do you need to talk about? Which one to talk about first and which one to talk about later? First build the overall structure, and then fill in the content along this big frame. Many speakers have problems in the preparation of the structure. They either don’t pay attention to the outline, or they don’t have an outline at all. Some people throw the outline aside after writing the outline. tail. This is a big mistake. The outline must be well prepared and thoroughly familiarized. Because it is unrealistic to memorize the whole speech, especially the connection between sentences and paragraphs, paragraphs and paragraphs, you are likely to forget the words because of tension, but the outline is equivalent to having a teleprompter in your mind, even if you forget The words can also be played on the spot according to the outline.
After preparing the outline, you have to practice at least fifteen times. How to practice? No matter whether you are reading or memorizing, you must make a mark each time you prepare, such as drawing a bar on the paper. There will be a sense of ritual in this process. If you keep suggesting to yourself that "fifteen times it is useful", then when you finish it, it will build confidence, reduce anxiety, and help you reduce the appearance of "um, ah" in your speech. Such water words and endings.
The second method is to learn to shift the focus of the audience. In fact, when people listen to a speech, they are more concerned about the content of the message than who is speaking, so they can shift the audience's focus away from themselves. The author proposes a very interesting method. If you feel that standing in the center of the stage to start your speech makes you very anxious, then you can start your speech in a different way, such as standing in the audience first, or standing behind the stage curtain. ;If there are not many listeners, you can also send everyone a questionnaire, so that their attention will be temporarily diverted and you will feel much more comfortable.
Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
However, it should be noted that shifting the focus cannot be overkill, and you must not let auxiliary means attract all the focus, such as projections, slideshows, etc., and you should not avoid eye contact with the audience. Because speech needs to be communicated, avoiding being the focus is just a means to let you adapt to the stage. After this transition period, you still have to walk into the stage and meet everyone face-to-face.
After talking about the preparation and opening, let’s talk about the third method, setting up a pause mechanism during the speech. What does it mean? For example, in a basketball game, in order to set up tactics, or to disrupt the opponent's rhythm, give the players a chance to breathe and regain control of the game, the coach will call a timeout. You can also use this mechanism in your speech to call yourself a pause. One of the easiest ways is to put a few short videos, even if it’s just a three-to-five-minute speech, there is no problem with inserting one or two short videos, and the audience will not feel strange, but will feel that the speech is richer and more three-dimensional. During the pause time, you can seize the time to restart the state, think about what to say next, and even if you really forget the words, you can look at the outline again.
There are two benefits to having a moratorium. First, you don’t have to ask yourself to speak in large paragraphs, because it is very difficult to give a very coherent and coherent speech; second, it can also reduce your tension and anxiety at the beginning of the speech, because you know what will happen next. There are "rest stops" and it feels so much better. The suspension mechanism is like a backup parachute when you skydive. You know that with such a backup parachute, even if you don't need it, you will feel safe and secure.
Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
Nervous about speaking? Three ways to fix it
Summarize these three tips to ease the tension of speeches: First, make an outline, keep it in mind, and practice 15 times with a sense of ritual before the speech begins. Second, learn to shift the focus, such as standing in the audience to start a speech, or use other forms to attract the attention and attention of the audience. Third, set up a pause mechanism during the speech to adjust the rhythm of the speech.