Here, Chris shares his 7 steps on how to overcome your fear of public speaking…
Step 1: Recognise what you’re really afraid of
Begin by identifying the specific aspects of public speaking that trigger your fear. Instead of wondering why you are fearful, ask yourself more insightful questions like, “What about speaking in public scares me?” or “When do I feel this fear most acutely?” Explore your beliefs about speaking in front of others and how they contribute to your fear.
Step 2: Relax the conscious mind
Prepare your mind to be calm and present. One method is through what’s called ‘open awareness’, which broadens your perceptual field and relaxes the mind – which also helps you see your entire audience while staying relaxed. Stand upright with feet shoulder-width apart and smile. Extend your arms forward, touching your index fingers, and focus on a spot above eye level. Slowly move your fingers apart while maintaining your gaze on that spot, stretching your arms to the sides. As you hold this pose, use your peripheral vision to remain aware of your surroundings. Finally, let your arms drop and take deep breaths, maintaining your broadened awareness.
Step 3: Consider what ‘reward’ your fear achieves
All emotions meet a need at the subconscious level, however illogical they might seem; typically, this is related to safety or readiness. Consider what you might lose if your fear were to disappear and what you might have to face that you don’t want to. Perhaps your fear protects you from feeling embarrassed, or stepping out of your comfort zone.
Step 4: Deconstruct your fear ‘recipe’
We don’t catch emotions; we create them. In order to maintain your fear of public speaking (your fear recipe), you’re engaging in specific actions with your thoughts, feelings, emotions, beliefs, and breathing. One method to change this recipe is by altering the images you visualise when thinking of public speaking. Try changing colourful images to black and white, or freezing moving ones. Minimise the image, make it tiny, and imagine disposing of it far away. Make it humorous by imagining the scenario as if it were a comedy. Notice how it changes your emotions.
Step 5: Release the past
Ask yourself what is your earliest memory of feeling this way. There are various methods to change the memory at its root. One method is known as tapping:
Begin by tapping the side of your hand, then move to other key points such as under the eyes, on the collarbone, and under the arm. As you tap each point, speak out your fears and notice any emotional shifts. Continue until the fear’s impact notably lessens. You can learn more about tapping here.
Step 6: Recondition your emotions
Replace negative emotional responses with positive ones through anchoring – i.e. recall a moment of peace, laughter, or connection. Fully immerse yourself in this memory, noticing every detail.
At the peak of this positive feeling, squeeze your fist. Release as the emotion fades.
Continue doing this for as many positive emotions as you can think of, squeezing your fist at the peak of the feeling and letting go as the feeling fades.
Now, think of speaking and squeeze your fist. The right positive emotion should reduce or remove the negative feeling about speaking.
Step 7: Realise a powerful future
Visualise a successful outcome rather than focusing on a negative future of speaking. Instead of being nervous at the start of a speech, imagine the applause at the end of your speech and how good you’ll feel. Focus on your audience, not yourself; think about what you can offer in your talk rather than how you’ll be perceived. By focusing on a positive future and starting with the end in mind, you’re likely to feel better.
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