For some of us, Public Speaking is Scary

How many of us feel threatened by speaking in front of others?  Will it go as planned?  Will I fail?  Are they going to throw rotten tomatoes?   If we feel threatened, we can go into fight, flee or freeze.  These are normal, natural responses that we as humans inherit.  Our body prepares us to fight the threat, run from it or become immobilized.  These responses just happen naturally, we do not think about them or voluntarily initiate them.  These responses may not be helpful in giving a speech.

“Heart racing, palms sweating, labored breathing? No, you’re not having a heart attack — it’s stage fright! If speaking in public makes you feel like you’re fighting for your life, you’re not alone. But the better you understand your body’s reaction, the more likely you are to overcome it. Mikael Cho advises how to trick your brain and steal the show”  Science of Stage Fright

There are ways to consciously return our body’s response to threat to a more balanced state.  This is after we have determined that speech giving is not likely to be life threatening.  Mikael Cho mentions bringing our arms out in a stretch.  We can make ourselves big and feel less threatened.  We can take slow deep breaths.  We can tell ourselves that our life is not threatened and sense a positive outcome.  We can change our posture.  And more.  It is a matter of giving our body different messages that we are safe.  And being grateful that our body knows how to respond in a life threatening emergency.  And just maybe those tomatoes are locally grown, fresh and a gift of food.