How to Improve Public Speaking and Nerves
- Tanvi Gupta
- Mar 30
- 2 min read
“Would you like to say a few words?”
No.
No, you would not. You would much rather sit back in your seat and doze off while someone else speaks. Whether it’s a meeting, presentation, or opening speech, getting up in front of a crowd to speak is a daunting experience, albeit a necessary one for personal and career growth. Here are some tips to help you out with managing your nervousness and becoming a better public speaker:
1. Cognitive Reappraisal
When we experience emotions like nervousness, our body’s sympathetic nervous system activates, often causing physiological symptoms. Wringing hands, a faster heartbeat, and increased adrenaline are just a few that tend to appear when a person is anxious. But if you think about it, don’t those symptoms also become present when someone is excited? Cognitive reappraisal, according to MindLAB Neuroscience, is a method of relieving speech anxiety by reframing it as excitement instead. By activating the prefrontal cortex’s emotion regulation abilities, cognitive reappraisal puts a positive spin on your situation, and the more times you use it, the stronger those positive, stress-relieving neural pathways will become. The next time you feel nervous before speaking, take a few deep breaths and find the excitement of the situation.
2. Practice Your Presentation
This sounds obvious, but practice really does help bolster your confidence before a presentation or speech and minimizes potential mistakes. Practicing gives you a better idea of how you will perform on the actual day but without the pressure of a full audience watching you. You can start by practicing with a friend, a stranger, or just by yourself. The Mayo Clinic also recommends taking a video of yourself so that you can watch it and identify points to improve on. Don’t fret when you don’t have the time for a full run-through, though. MindLAB Neuroscience finds that mentally visualizing yourself speaking in front of an audience can activate similar neural pathways as to the ones activated by actual, real-life practice. This mental rehearsal requires multiple areas of the brain to conjure up the image of you, dressed up, giving a confident speech and being followed by thunderous applause. Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to learn and grow, makes visualization a useful preparation technique.
3. Be Aware of Your Body Language
Shifting weight from one leg to the other, wringing hands, playing with clothing. Our body is a part of our voice; other people learn just as much information from what you say as from how your body moves. Nervous behaviors like the ones mentioned above can detract from the authority of your speech. Since people have a tendency to believe confident public figures, reducing nervous body language can make your speech more persuasive. The Harvard Division of Continuing Education advises identifying and eliminating your own nervous gestures since they could also distract your audience from the content of your speech, preventing you from getting your message across. Recording a video of yourself before and after being aware of your body language is always a great way to see the rewards of your efforts!
If you have other public speaking tips or questions, feel free to leave a comment below!
Sources:
For Information:
For Images:
https://online.king.edu/news/glossophobia-gone/ (Cover Image)
Comments