Finding the Strength to Speak in Public

As a speaker, people usually come up after a presentation to congratulate me on a job well done. Of course, this is good for the ego, but I sometimes wonder where all the awe comes from. After all, the only thing I did was stand in front of a room of hundreds of people and spoke. We speak to people every single day of our lives, so why is it so spellbinding to see someone with the courage to do that very same activity when in front of others? The truth is that it’s really not much different. Anyone who is put in a position to make a speech in public can not only develop the skills to enable themselves to perform well, but every one of us has the strength to actually pull that confidence out and even enjoy the process. Think about something in your past which really makes you proud. Maybe you achieved a major sales goal, your sports team won a championship, or you finished writing your first book. Whatever it is, think on the feeling you experienced during the process of that achievement. When you would wake up in the mornings, especially the closer you got hitting your mark, how many butterflies would swarm around in your belly? When you were being awarded for that effort, how deep was your level of satisfaction? Feel those feelings for a quick second. Even if these events were long ago, it still is an emotional high to relive them, isn’t it? Now, think of the opposite for a moment. Think of a time when you were terrified of a task at hand. Perhaps it was before you bungee jumped for the first time, asked your mate for their hand in marriage, or maybe even right before you had to give a speech. As lovely as the first experience was, this imagining probably leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth from the nerves. Now, hold on a minute. Think of only the nerves in both scenarios. Whether they were for a pleasant experience or a dreaded one, the nerves themselves felt exactly the same! The same twitters you experience as you board your favorite roller coaster are actually the exact same twitters you experience as you sit in the waiting room of the dentist’s office. So, one thing must be concluded…it’s all in our head. What we need to trick our mind into learning is the simple task of switching the feeling of anxiety to a feeling of enthusiasm. Then, when nerves strike, instead of feeding our mind with thoughts of dread and fright, we have the control of inserting thoughts of positivity and enjoyment. Putting these words into action you might picture yourself in the process of walking toward a microphone positioned in front of an audience of a mere 200 people. The butterflies start to swarm, but instead of a loud ruckus, you actually notice that they are singing out a sweet melody of relaxation. That melody is one you recognize of positivity and love. By the time you reach that microphone, you are so in tuned with the song that you almost want to sing along. Instead, you just open your mouth and the words you prepared are as good as any lyrics that the butterflies had in mind. Just that quickly, you can transform your fear into confidence. You had the strength inside you all along.