"The
Critical Moments Just Before You Speak:
Conquering the Jitters"
By Patricia Fripp
You're waiting your turn to make a speech, when
suddenly you realize that your stomach is doing strange things
and your mind is rapidly going blank. How do you handle this critical
time period?
People ask me this question in all my speaking
classes, but there is no single answer. You need to anticipate
your speech mentally, physically, and logistically.
Mentally
Start by understanding that you'll spend a lot more time preparing
than you will speaking. As a general rule, invest three hours
of preparation for a half hour speech, a six to one ratio. When
you've become a highly experienced speaker, you may be able to
cut preparation time considerably in some cases, but until then,
don't skimp.
Part of your preparation will be to memorize
your opening and closing -- three or four sentences each. Even
if you cover your key points from notes, knowing your opening
and closing by heart lets you start and end fluently, connecting
with your audience when you are most nervous.
Logistically
Go to the room where you'll be speaking as early
as possible so you can get comfortable in the environment. If
you will be speaking from a stage, go early in the morning when
no one is there and make friends with the stage. Then, during
your presentation, you can concentrate on your audience, not your
environment.
Physically
A wonderful preparation technique for small meetings
is to go around shaking hands and making eye contact with everybody
beforehand. For larger meetings, meet and shake hands with people
in the front row at least, and some of the people as they are
coming in the door. Connect with them personally, so they'll be
rooting for your success. We as speakers are rarely nervous about
individuals, only when faced with the thought of an audience.
Once you've met the audience or at least some of them, they become
less scary.
It's totally natural to be nervous. Try this
acting technique. Find a private spot, and wave your hands in
the air. Relax your jaw, and shake your head from side to side.
Then shake your legs one at a time. Physically shake the tension
out of your body.
Try not to sit down too much while you're waiting
to speak. If you're scheduled to go one an hour into the program,
try to sit in the back of the room so that you can stand up occasionally.
It is hard to jump up and be dynamic when you've been relaxed
in a chair for hour. (Comedian Robin Williams is well known for
doing "jumping jacks" before going on stage to raise
his energy level.) Sitting in the back also gives you easy access
to the bathroom and drinking fountain. There's nothing worse than
being stuck down front and being distracted by urgent bodily sensations.
|
