Let’s first of all say that it’s normal to feel anxious about public speaking. But what’s more important is that it is an indication of how much confidence you’ve built in [...]]]> I decided to just write my thoughts about public speaking, especially for people who are preparing for it, and wonder why they have the heebie-jeebies.

Let’s first of all say that it’s normal to feel anxious about public speaking. But what’s more important is that it is an indication of how much confidence you’ve built in yourself.

I don’t want to swing over to being too overconfident, because I know when I’m overconfident I tend to screw up a presentation. If I’m to cautious, the same result occurs. I need a nice balance of confidence and anxiety to be able to create the best environment for me. Richard Bandler calls this situation a “propulsion system”.

Think of what you want, then build the feelings deeply inside of you and begin to enhance those feelings of confidence.

At the same time, a bit of anxiety (not overwhelming like a level 10 type of phobia, but more like a level 1 kind of questioning – did I cover everything) can help. Explore the anxiety again, and notice what level of that feeling you have. If it is too strong, reduce the intensity of the feeling with submodalities.

The most important is not the feeling, but the belief. Confidence comes from a sensation of belief that you can do exceptionally well. Look at your submodalities. How compelling and real are they to you? If they aren’t, just make it compelling by enhancing the submodalities you see them in.

The progression I made from an embarrassed child to confident speaker would have been faster if I had known this much earlier. Give it a shot and explore using the submodality checklist here.

Some people are afraid of public speaking only because they don’t know what they [...]]]> Public speaking is one of the things I do most. Every day, I have to speak on a stage somewhere in the world. Well, most days. And even if I’m not on stage, I have to deliver some presentation on a teleseminar.

Some people are afraid of public speaking only because they don’t know what they want to get from it. Personally, public speaking is for me a way of stress release, not a stress in itself. Very often, I pour out my thoughts, ideas and suggestions to people in my audience. They learn what to do and what NOT to do. It’s therapeutic for both parties, I think.

At the same time, it’s a misnomer for anyone to think that they should build ‘confidence’ in public speaking. Confidence is one of many states you can use to speak. Don’t tell me you’d read “Little Red Riding Hood” only in a confident tone of voice! You definitely need a variety of states.

photo credit: matt4077

Think of the  of your presentation. What emotional state do you want people to be in, and craft your sequence of emotional states accordingly.

Essentially, this means we need to thinkof the process by which we generate emotional states. It’s not difficult to do, but I sure wish I learnt it a long time ago.

You can learn about state management in other posts, and do remember to pick out things related to physiology as well as internal representations.

There’s also an interesting concept known as nested loops which, in brief are simply stories chained together in a specific sequence to achieve certain states in people. I’ll have an opportunity to discuss this in a teleseminar soon, because it poses interesting implications in the area of copywriting, stage presentations and persuasive communication.

Ask me any question by commenting!