Learning to deal with NERVES
For most people, it’s simply an embarrassing hindrance, while others feel blocked to the point of blackout. You can’t simply switch stage fright off. But by learning to live with it and preparing yourself well for stress situations, you stop being a helpless victim of your nervousness. Stage fright then becomes a positive stimulation.
Think positively!
You have a job interview? You have to give a lecture? Wonderful! Get yourself into a positive mood for the situation. That means accepting stage fright, looking forward to your performance, seeing it as a challenge. By contrast, ban any thoughts of what might go wrong. And don’t forget: after the lecture is before the lecture. “To gain positive reinforcement after the event, you should review your performance and bring to mind all the aspects that were well received,” recommends psychologist Marcus Ising. “That gives you the strength the next time to see the whole thing as a positive experience from the outset.”
Revisit the movie theater in your head!
Before skiers throw themselves headlong down a slope, they repeatedly go through the route in minute detail in their mind’s eye. That gives them a feeling of control and security. Ising recommends this same type of painstaking preparation for talks and lectures: “If I calmly go down that slope a couple of times in my mind, deal with any possible interim questions or other disturbances, then I reduce my uncertainty and lack of control over the situation. And both these feelings stress mind and body more than anything else.” But the internal theater is not everything: it’s also a good idea to do a proper test run in front of friends or relatives who can give you valuable feedback.
Learn the first sentences off by heart!
“For an informal speech, I would always learn the first two or three sentences off by heart,” advises Ising. “That way, you gain the time you need at the beginning to get into your talk and become used to the situation.” The advantage: you know precisely what the first few minutes will be like. That gives you a sense of security for the rest of the talk. Despite your ambition to hold an off-the-cuff speech, cue cards with key words and technical terms are an easy way of bridging any memory gaps.
Familiarize yourself with the venue
“Uncontrollable stress is much more dramatic than the controllable variety,” says the psychologist. Anyone who has personally seen the event venue has already done much to control the situation. At the same time you can check the infrastructure in the hall and meet the technicians who can solve any problems quickly and calmly should the need arise.
Create a familiar ambience
Friends sitting in the front row give you self-assurance. If there are none, you will have to create your own familiar faces: before your lecture or talk you should not sit in a corner and look over your documents a final time. Instead, build bridges by welcoming the arriving participants and exchanging a few words. You will gain potential allies who will follow your talk with goodwill. It’s also helpful for the first few tricky minutes to pick out someone in the audience: establish eye contact with that person, and imagine you are giving the talk for him or her. That creates closeness and familiarity.
Your opinion is very important to us!
“Think positively” – that is easier said than done. What helps against stage-fright? What tricks do you use? Send us an e-mail and describe your experience: christian-wimmer@lycos.de
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