[VIDEO] - Manage stage fright & Engage your audience - Between 2 Speakers

You can overcome stage fright!

One thing Randy and I love about creating a webseries together is answering viewers’ questions. We also use this time to questioning each other. When we conduct workshops day-to-day, we don’t often get to hang out and pick each others’ brains (and, you know, haven’t been able to since Covid).

That’s why we enjoy Zooming, catching up, and asking each other questions.

In this episode of B2S, Randy asks me about some of my most popular topics: how to overcome stage fright, and how to engage your audience so you don’t lose them.

Clients often ask how they can manage, or overcome their stage fright. Should they take medications for stage fright? I can’t address the last one (I’m not a doctor….), and the good news is, yes, stage fright, or anxiety when presenting, is manageable.

My top 3 tips for overcoming stage fright:

1. Know this is normal. Accept that this is a good thing.
   Nerves or anxiety before you present is your body telling you “I care about this. I want to do a good job.” It comes from the primal part of our brain that has not evolved since prehistoric times. It’s the “flight or fight” response, and it can be intense.

2. Use box breathing or alternate-nostril breathing exercises.
   Taking control of your breath and slowing down your breathing and heart rate will have a relaxing effect. I recommend either Box Breathing (in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, repeat…) or Alternate Nostril Breathing (aka Nadi Shodhan pranayama - inhale, close the nostrils, exhale out one side, inhale one side, close the nostrils, etc.). Both are excellent at capturing the breath and helping to relax the nerves. If you’re at work, go into the restroom to breathe. Me? I do it off-stage before I present.
   
   (btw, My favorite person on the web to meditate & breathe with is Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene. Thanks, Adriene, for the video!)

3. Know you’re in good company.
   Adele, Ricky Martin, and Barbara Streisand all have debilitating stage fright.

My top 3 tips for engaging your audience

1. Mix it up!
   Learning styles are diverse among any audience. This means you’ll have a mix of auditory, visual, and tactile learners in your room (or on your Zoom). You talking for an hour will bore the visual and tactile learners. How can you incorporate an activity, or group discussion? Can you show a video? Mix it up!

2. Turn it over to your room sometimes.
   Many speakers or teachers ignore the possibility of using heir audience. Can you have someone else lead or teach-back a subject? Turn the discussion over to them? Trainer’s secret: This gives you, the presenter, a break.

3. Be crystal clear in your descriptions and instructions.
   Whether you need to present over zoom or live, with or without a screen, get so clear in your descriptions and instructions so there is NO mistaking what you’re saying. A good way to test this is to dry-run your material past a relative or friend who isn’t in your industry/meeting/whatever. Ask them to give you feedback on what did not make sense to them.

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About The Author

Hi! I’m Marianna. I make public speaking and presentation skills easier for my clients. I help with everything from preparation to managing anxiety and nerves to speaking with strength and confidence. In addition to Presentation Skills workshops, I offer executive coaching and Keynote speeches. To learn more, Get in touch.