How to overcome your public speaking anxiety with a simple technique
The thought of speaking in public can be so nerve-wracking to some people that they feel physically sick and experience a whole gamut of unpleasant symptoms – a racing heart that feels like it is about to explode out of their chest, a red face, profuse sweating, a churning stomach, a mouth that is frozen in fear, and a blank brain incapable of processing thoughts. Not to mention an urge to run for the hills!
Why is public speaking so scary?
Delivering a presentation or giving a speech can indeed unleash the full force of the acute stress response, also termed the fight, flight or freeze response. It’s as if our brain perceives public speaking as an existential threat, on a par with being pursued by a tiger that hasn’t had a good meal in a long time.
Faced with such a threat, we are primed to do one of three things – fight the tiger (good luck with this strategy!), run for our lives (sounding better!), or stand there paralysed, like a deer caught in headlights (a sure recipe for disaster!)
Under this acute stress, our sympathetic nervous system is activated and the stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol are released into the bloodstream. The result? Increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, dilated pupils to see more clearly and muscles primed and freshly refuelled with glucose.
All these physiological effects are geared to help us ensure our survival, for us to either flee from the threat or to face the threat head-on and fight back with all our might.
A tip to calm your nerves before public speaking
I have an easy solution to countering that crippling anxiety when you are in the limelight, feeling totally exposed and out-of-control.
And it does not involve us consuming alcohol or taking anti-anxiety drugs! It simply requires us to change our style of breathing.
When under stress, we breathe in short, sharp, shallow breaths.
What we need to do is change our style of breathing to longer, deeper, slower breaths (also termed diaphragmatic breathing or abdominal breathing).
To assist us to inhale deeply, we are specifically engaging the diaphragm muscle, a large, dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs.
Now, here is where the magic happens in neutralising our nerves - Diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to dampen the stress response.
In particular, diaphragmatic breathing:
Increases oxygen levels in the bloodstream
Dampens down the sympathetic nervous system acute stress response (the fear, fright, flight response).
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system which mediates the relaxation response. (also termed the rest and digest response).
The 478 Relaxation Breathing Technique
Dr Andrew Weil – a famous, integrative Doctor in America and the author of multiple best-selling books on vibrant health and wellness is a huge proponent of 4,7,8 breathing to help modulate our stress response.
Check out this video of Dr Weil discussing 4.7.8 breathing.
In summary, the 4,7,8 breathing technique involves the following steps:
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of seven.
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight. This is one breath.
Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
Deep breathing techniques such as 4,7,8 breathing are wonderful to practise in the lead-up to a potentially stressful event such as public speaking.
They are also great to:
Practise on a daily basis to keep yourself cool, calm and collected, and be more resilient to stress in general.
Help yourself get to sleep at night if your thoughts are racing.
There are other breathing techniques to counter anxiety, and they all work in a similar fashion. (e.g., 5, 5, 5 breathing– breathe in for 5 seconds, hold your breath for 5 seconds, breathe out for 5 seconds).
So next time you find yourself about to speak to a group of people, and feel that debilitating anxiety about to set in, find a quiet room and practise one of these breathing techniques for public speaking anxiety.
Your stress will be quickly soothed and your calmness and composure will shine through.
© 2020 Susan Weser. All rights reserved.
Susan Weser is the Founder of Speaking2Win, a boutique public speaking and presentation skills consultancy, based in Melbourne, Australia. Susan’s mission is to demystify public speaking and presenting. She loves to fast-track her clients’ public speaking success, empowering them with the skills and confidence to excel in all their public speaking endeavours.
