5 Simple Tips to Help You Prepare for Public Speaking
Looking for some simple tips to help prepare you for your next speaking gig (ones that don’t include the ol’ see-em-in-their-birthday-suit bs)? You’re in the right place! Here are five quick tips for even the busiest executive to get you in the very best place possible before your next important presentation.
Hydrate. As in, with water. Skip the booze (even one drink can cause dry mouth — not to mention, people may smell it on your breath) and caffeine (it accelerates and amplifies nervousness) and start drinking water the day prior to your speech. Saliva is crucial to keeping your voice sharp and your throat clear so keep your mouth well-hydrated to boost saliva production. A thirsty mouth can cause you to repeatedly clear your throat, which can be distracting to both you and your audience, while also negatively affecting both your speech and pronunciation. You’d be surprised at how drinking a gallon a day for five days will not only help you “cleanse” and “detox” but also shift your mood. Mint or Lavender tea is good for calming the nerves and I suggest having it with no sugar - splenda or stevia if it must be sweetened!
Breathe. And if you’re thinking, “Great because I’m breathing right now,” you’re missing the point. Most of us take shallow breaths which become even more shallow when we’re nervous. Deep, conscious breathing increases the supply of oxygen to your brain and stimulates the nervous system, which promotes a state of calmness. Breathing techniques help you feel connected to your body by bringing your awareness away from the worries in your head and quieting your mind. How should speakers breathe? From the diaphragm. You should be engaging in that good, deep breathing that initiates in the lower abdomen!
Download this FREE resource about a breathing technique I use daily to help calm any stress or nerves instantly!Get ZZZ’s. Sleep repairs your immune system and allows your brain to process and move information you've acquired from short-term to long-term memory. What that means when preparing for public speaking: don't pull an all-nighter trying to memorize your speech. That’s the worse thing you can do! Not only are you practicing being “stressed” as you hunch over that keyboard typing out your notes, it'll result in only a surface-level of familiarity with your speech and a higher risk of simply blanking out in front of your audience.
Your short-term memory, or working memory, is useful for juggling a phone number until you can write it down. But if you want to understand a concept and be able to explain it, you need your long-term memory. And that means you need a well-rested brain.Meditate and affirm. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve memory. It makes perfect sense: Fear constricts the blood vessels in your brain, making it harder to think. When your body is in "fight or flight" mode, it's nearly impossible to remember the details of your talk, let alone the nuances that make it compelling for your audience, while the anxiety kills any chance you have at authenticity.
Be kind… to yourself. Promote happiness and confidence by focusing on your accomplishments; give yourself a little internal pep talk. Have you screwed up in the past? Undoubtedly. Time to forgive and forget. Mooooooove on.
Instead of focusing on your past f-ups, concentrate on your WHY. I’ll go first. My Why is easy: it’s my children and it's my belief that absolutely every problem on the planet can be resolved through authentic communication. You’ll be amazed at how shifting the focus from your own reasons for being uncomfortable to what makes you get out of bed in the morning helps you speak out.
