If you’re not nervous you’re not growing
Public speaking creates a visceral reaction in almost everyone. The nervousness in anticipation of an upcoming speech can be torturous!
That nervousness is a sign from your subconscious that you really should do the work to prepare and deliver a great speech. You don’t get anxious when you sit down to analyse yet another spreadsheet because your nervous system knows that it’s not that important. You don’t get dry-mouth when you open yet another email because your nervous system knows that it’s not that important.
When you’re preparing for a speech however, you might get butterflies, cotton-mouth, even shaky legs… to do something which is literally as easy as just talking!
Why?
Because your nervous system knows that this is important. This moment matters. Very few situations induce the kind of reaction that an important speech can induce, and that’s because very few situations matter as much as a few moments on stage in the company of an audience full of commercial possibility.
The truth is, if you don’t get at least a little nervous before speaking, you’re not treating the situation with the gravity it deserves. But the good news is, with some strategic preparation, whilst you might still get butterflies before a speech, you can teach them to fly in formation. You can learn to direct the nervous energy into useful places.
P.S. — If you know a professional (accountant, consultant, economist, engineer, lawyer, researcher, etc.) who speaks to drive commercial goals (or they should), please send them the link to this article.
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Photo by M ACCELERATOR on Unsplash