Posts Tagged ‘confident speaking’

I have had this experience countless times.

I finish delivering a successful talk and I want to give another one right away.  Instead of being glad it’s over, I want to re-experience that wonderful feeling of connecting with an audience.  The smiles, laughs, nodding heads and applause have filled me with confidence and enthusiasm.  Any anxiety I may have felt before the talk is a distant memory.

Unfortunately, opportunities to give an immediate second performance are rare.

So, years ago, I started the practice of visualizing the sights and sounds of success before I deliver a talk.  I take a page from the world of sports and make a point of “seeing” myself doing well before I go to the front of the room.  This mental exercise has the affect of bringing forward some of that extra confidence and enthusiasm I otherwise wouldn’t experience until the end. 

Try it with your next speech or presentation.  If you find it hard at first, mentally reach back to a speaking success you had in the past.  Relive it and re-capture some of that good feeling it gave you.  Then, visualize a similar experience with the audience you are about to face.  The confidence that comes with success will be with you when you need it most—at the beginning.

In preparation for a workshop, I have been brushing up on the subject of body language.  My main reference has been “The Definitive Book of Body Language” by Allan and Barbara Pease. 

As you would expect, the authors explain how our emotions affect our body language.  But they also cite studies showing that the reverse is true as well: Our body language can affect our emotions.

They use hand gestures as an example.  If you use confident gestures, you will start to experience a feeling of greater confidence.

The implications this phenomenon has for public speaking are significant.

Instead of the typical efforts to hide nervousness by avoiding nervous body language, we can take a stronger, positive approach and consciously use body language that typifies confidence (examples: walking in toward the audience, using open hand gestures, making strong eye contact, etc.).

Consciously creating positive emotions is preferable to trying to control negative emotions.