How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

Jul 19, 2022

| Share on:

If it's scarier than eating an apple and seeing half the corpses of bugs, then it's scarier than speaking in public.

Yes, for many small partners, speaking in public - it is really too difficult ~ let alone speaking in public.

As long as you go to the stage, you will be so nervous that you forget to breathe, your lips are trembling, and your head is blank;

When giving a speech, I always feel awkward with my hands, and it doesn't seem right where they are placed;

"Uh, oh, um..." There are various modal particles, but they don't get to the point;

When speaking, the eyes do not know where to look, and they dare not look at others;

Arguably, nervousness is the biggest hurdle to overcome in speaking.

Can tension be overcome? How should we deal with tension?

A teacher at the school once said that before giving a speech, you can overcome your inner fear and tension by saying "I can do it, I'm the best" all the time.

How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

But as soon as I took the stage, I was so nervous that I forgot everything, I just thought "No, I really can't"...

There are also seniors who have taught experience before. As long as before the speech, imagine that the people under the stage are all pillars, and there will be no pressure to speak in front of the pillars.

But how can so many people be regarded as pillars? So the problem comes again, this method is not very practical.

I have tried many methods, but I still can't overcome my inner tension. Why is this?

If you search on the Internet, you will find that "tension is the strengthening of the human body's mental and physical response to external things".

Tension is an instinct and a self-protection mechanism for each of us.

When we feel nervous, the brain will judge the "dangerous" degree of the event and respond accordingly according to the actual situation.

Nervousness is a subconscious fear of the unknown, not an isolated phenomenon. According to the survey, about 90% of the students who participated in the eloquence study would be afraid of going on stage when they first took the class.

How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

Before the speech, the more I thought, "Will I forget my words on stage? Will I be laughed at for my non-standard pronunciation?", the more nervous I became.

So instead of constantly rejecting it in your heart, it is better to take the initiative to accept it.

It's not a big deal when you're nervous, isn't it?

I don't know if you have heard of an interesting effect called the "spotlight effect".

Such an experiment was published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology.

Tom Jilovich and colleagues once divided students into groups, doing separate tasks in the same lab.

And a random group of students was asked to wear a particularly embarrassing T-shirt, and after the task was over, the students were surveyed about how well the students noticed the T-shirt.

It concluded that 50% of the students who wore the embarrassing T-shirt thought they noticed their embarrassment, but only 25% noticed their embarrassing T-shirt.

Moreover, after replaying the video of this experiment to the students who did not participate in the experiment, only 25% of the people noticed these embarrassing T-shirts.

We always magnify our own problems inadvertently, always thinking that when we make a fool of ourselves, others will notice, and everyone feels that they are the protagonists of high-profile.

This is the spotlight effect.

We care a lot about what impression we leave on others, but in fact, we think that others pay more attention to us than others actually pay to us.

So, don't get too tired, there aren't that many people watching you all the time.

How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

If you're mentally prepared, it doesn't feel like a problem. There are a few tricks you can use to help divert your attention and overcome your nervousness when speaking.

The course mainly covers the following aspects

Practice in advance and prepare well

The trick of the oil seller is "I don't have him, I only know it with my hands", and the skill of Pao Ding is "the one who loves the minister is the Tao, and the skill is good", and the speech is also a truth.

Only by reading and practicing more can you become proficient. After mastering the skills of speaking, are you still worried about being nervous?

Many friends are not sure whether to memorize the speech. It is recommended to memorize it first, and then use your own words to summarize the key points.

Because after taking the stage, the fluency of the speech will also greatly affect the performance. If you want to say one sentence, one word at a time, I believe it will not take long, and if you are not nervous, you will be nervous.

Simple clothing, focus on interaction

A neat and well-fitting outfit can not only increase your confidence, but also make everyone feel that you are very energetic in appearance.

But try to choose simple clothes, too complicated, not easy to act, and easy to distract yourself.

Just an empty speech will make people feel boring or unable to empathize, so in the process of speech, you can appropriately add some eyes and movements.

For example, don't just stare at one place with your eyes, try to have a wider range, and try to take care of the whole audience.

Choose a position that makes you feel relaxed, such as spreading your feet shoulder-width apart, keeping your entire body steady, or dispersing tension by touching a tabletop or holding a microphone.

How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

Rich reserves and adaptability

Only when you have a wealth of information and knowledge reserves can you truly export into chapters.

So pay attention to your usual accumulation, read more news, books, movies, and exchange experiences with more powerful friends.

Before the speech, prepare more materials for your speech content, so that in the process of speech, after mastering the subject content, the tension will be greatly reduced.

Exceptionally, according to the situation during the speech, you can add some paragraphs or stories according to the situation, which can enrich the content of the speech, activate the atmosphere at the scene, and release your tension.

If conditions permit, you can go to the site of the speech to step on the spot first, and implement the on-site projection, microphone and other issues. Only by making adequate preparations can you avoid various unexpected situations during the speech.

How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

Speaking can help an introvert acquire some of the characteristics of an extrovert. If you are a shy person who can’t speak, then I suggest you overcome your nervousness and try to speak in public.

How to Overcome the Nervousness of Speaking

Related Posts