Episode #36 Conquering Public Speaking Nervousness

Anyone presenting in public eye is going to experience fear. I am a veteran, having done over 500 public speeches and usually I am relaxed about speaking in front of an audience. But put me in front of an audience of Dale Carnegie High Impact Presentations instructors at a Dale Carnegie international convention, a room positively bristling with presentations expertise and I can tell you I get nervous. Getting nervous is natural. The interesting thing is what we do with the power inside us, that the nervousness releases.

Before we get into this week’s topic, here is what caught my attention lately. Japanese banks are interested in reducing the number of ATMs they have. The costs of operating the ATMs is no longer worth what they generate in fees. The four largest banks in Japan have reduced their ATMs by 10% over the last 15 years. This is part of a shrinkage in bank’s costs. Mizuho Financial Group is plans to eliminate 19,000 employees and 100 branches by 2026. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s biggest bank in terms of deposits will cut 9,500 jobs by 2023. The banks want their customers to switch over to on-line banking.

This is episode number #36 and we are talking about No More Nerves Public Speaking.

Soredewa ikimasho, so let's get going.

Unexpectedly, multiple Grand Slam Tennis tournament winner Novak Djokovic has some good advice for public speakers. “I believe that half of any victory in a tennis match is in place before you step on the court. If you don’t have that self-belief, then fear takes over. And then it will get too much for you to handle. It’s a fine line. The energy of those moments is so high: how are you going to use it? Are you going to let I consume you, or are you going to accept it presence and say, ‘OK, let’s work together’. ”

What he is saying is we don’t worry about having fear or not having it, we look for how to control it. When we feel fear, our psychological fight or flight response provides energy to our major muscle groups in the chest, arms and legs. This is great energy to tap, in order to bring our belief and our passion to our messages. Speakers who look tired, bored or uninterested, are not going to be persuading anyone of anything, ever. So we should accept that fear is part of the process of public speaking.

I read that Frank Sinatra felt fear every time before he performed, he always worried that the first note would not be there. Once he got going however, he could relax and enjoy the process. That applies to us as well – we have to get that first couple of minutes settled down and then we can relax and enjoy the opportunity to help the audience through providing our message or our valuable information. Fine, but just how do we do that? Tap into your energy and work with it, rather than try and fight it. Here are some do’s and don’ts. Don’t put unbelievable pressure on yourself by trying to memorise your talk. Do have some key points you can elaborate on though and have them in a logical sequence, that will be easy for an audience to follow.

Don’t spend all of your preparation time putting together the slide deck. Do allocate time for rehearsal. The amount of time spent before our speech is the key to success. Incredibly, most people spend no time rehearsing and wonder why presenting is stressful. Ideally, watch yourself on video if possible, if not then use a mirror and record the audio on your phone, so you can review how you sound. Rehearse as you will give it, looking at all parts of the room, gesturing, using voice modulation, inserting pauses etc., while talking to your imaginary listeners.

Don’t look down at your notes or laptop screen for too long though. Do look at the people in your audience and make eye contact with individuals, one by one, so you can speak directly to as many people as possible.

Don’t do that though with audience members who are scowling, doubtful, unhappy, angry, negative, cynical or sneering. Do ignore them completely and look for the audience members who are nodding, smiling, agreeing and look either supportive or at least neutral. This will help to maintain your confidence and equilibrium.

Don’t be thrown by anything unexpected - the show must go on. So unless it is an emergency and we have to leave the building, keep going no matter what. This is not always easy. I was giving a speech in Nagoya arranged by the local Japanese Chamber of Commerce. I was speaking in Japanese, had barely gotten into my first sentence when a senior official of one of the central Japanese Ministries, sitting in the front row to my left, suddenly erupted into loud laughter upon hearing my Japanese.

Being a non-native speaker of Japanese and always a bit shy about my Japanese ability, you can imagine how debilitating that very public outburst was for me. I looked at the guy incredulously, but kept going for the next 40 minutes. In my mind I had to put all of my self doubts aside. I purposely only made eye contact with audience members who looked like they were supportive. Many were visibly impressed that I was trying to speak their language and they really helped me to keep going. Face our fears and remember only we know we have fear – let’s keep it a secret just between us.