I recently had a note from an individual who indicated that there is still some nervousness before speaking.

I thought that there might be others who felt the same way but were not comfortable asking about it - so I decided to share my thoughts with all of you.

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Hi _________,

Thanks for writing.

First of all, you may still feel some level of nervousness. It’s important to realize that that’s okay (and it’s normal). Depending on the situation I feel some nerves before speaking. It’s what we do with that nervousness that affects us. We can say to ourselves, “I’m terrified and I can’t speak”, or we can say, “I’m feeling nervous… but I’m prepared and I know I can do this.” Whichever you choose, you’re sub-conscious is going to hear it - and it will do it’s best to pull your actions into line with it.

How about taking that “nervous energy” and putting it into your presentation.

Let me give you an analogy.

Before an Olympic event many athletes are going to experience nervousness - perhaps even fear. They can either focus on that fear, or they can focus on the task at hand. The successful ones will focus on the task at hand, the event. Whatever adrenalin they have built up in response to the nervousness is going to go into their performance.

We can do the same. By recognizing the nervousness, but not fear the nervousness itself, we can channel the energy into our presentation. This will be good since it will give the presentation life, vitality and energy.

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If you have any questions regarding this article or about any other aspect of public speaking let me know. Chances are that for every question you have there will be many others who are also thinking about it.

David