Learn NLP: Fear of public speaking

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.