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Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners
How can I become a better public speaker?
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First of all, I am naturally a very self-conscious and anxious person. One of the most terrifying experiences for me is having to present in front of other people and unfortunately that’s something I have to do as a student. How can I get over the nerves and just calm down? I feel like I am stuttering and the nervousness really affects my performance -
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Bruce Jenkins
Psychologist, Psychotherapist
ABOUT BRUCE Registered psychologist since 1991 Broadly Humanistic approach with special interest in Person Centred therapy Over sixteen years experience as a supervisor Taught Counselling … View Profile
The above answer by Grace is detailed and sound. Hopefully there are some good ideas in there that you can apply immediately!
It's also worth observing that self-consciousness or performance anxiety are closely linked to confidence and self-image. Having worked in University counselling services for many many years, I often met with people making the transition from teenage-hood through to adulthood. It may be often unsettling but it is certainly normal!
Sometimes talking stuff over with a skilled experienced helping professional (Psychollogist, registered Counsellor, etc) can help too.Report this post
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Thanks
Dr Simon Easterbrook-Smith
Health Professional
My research interests include immunology and the mechanisms of amyloid formation. The latter has implications for people who are dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease … View Profile
I think that Grace and Bruce have offered you excellent advice.
What works for me when I get to give a talk at a scientific conference is to rehearse it many times though not to the extent that I have memorised it - that helps me to be confident.
It might help if you practised your presentation with a friend who understands the topic - s/he will be able to give you constructive feedback about which parts come across clearly and which might need attention - that will help to build your confidence.
Often apparently small things can make a difference - in my case I find the word “statistics” hard to pronounce - I just stammer it, so I avoid it in a talk - similar small things might apply to you.
Adding to a point that Grace made: make sure that you have a glass of water nearby when you are giving your talk. If you lose the thread of your talk (which happens to everybody from time to time) you will be able to have a sip of water while you compose your thoughts - that is a completely natural action which your audience will not notice.
Good luck!Report this post
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Agree
Dr Louise Shepherd
Clinical Psychologist, Psychologist
I am a clinical psychologist with 15 years experience working with all sorts of goals and issues. I love working with people, helping them to … View Profile
This may sound strange but I'll say it anyway - maybe you don't need to get over your anxiety in order to do a good speech. As others have said it is very natural and common to feel anxious when we do something that is outside of our comofrt zone. Anxiety sometimes tells us about what matters to us - so you want to do well and then you get anxious which we assume is negative and bad and so son but it is actually entirely natural and you might even be surprised to know that a moderate level of anxiety when you give a speech is likely to help you perform well. Too relaxed and you may not prepare nor turn up on time etc and if you struggle with feelign anxious and get really panicky that will make it hard to do well too. If you practice making room for anxiety - letting yourself feel anxious rather than fighting it or trying to control it you might just notice something interesting - that you have more attention to pay to what you are doing.
What I am describing is from an approach called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - you can read more about ACT here:
http://www.sydneyactcentre.com.au/www.sydneyactcentre.com.au/What_is_ACT.html
A good book about confidence and anxiety is “The confidence gap” by Russ Harris.
One last thing - many years ago I ran groups for people who had a lot of social / perfomance anxiety - and part of the treatment was to do speeches and be videoed and then eventually to give a speech in front of a group - the one thing I can honestly say from working with 100 -200 people in these groups was that they always rated themselves as looking much more anxious than the people watching. So someone would rate their anxiety 9/10 and the people watching either couldn't fetect any anxiety or very mild anxiety at most. Good to know hey?!?!Report this post
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