When I was first starting out I was at an event with Jay Abrams, the top expert on sales and marketing at the time. I was to introduce myself to the 300 people there. I practiced at night, in my head, in my hotel room over and over. I over-practiced. I knew if I let fear grip me in any way, it wouldn’t come outright. Nonetheless, I was still nervous when it came my time. My hand was shaking when that mic was handed to me. I decided to tell a 10-second joke to help me relax and connect to the audience. Then I was able to deliver a powerful 30-second introduction.
How Fear Affects Us
This kind of fear happens to all of us. Feel the fear. Recognize the fear because what you resist persists. You could say to yourself, “Ok, I’m a little excited and anxious. I feel the adrenalin flowing in my body. Thank you for being there. Got it. Now let’s use this energy together.” Then start your speech with your attention grabber and when you do, all that nervous energy goes out and the audience is now engaged, laughing, and participating. That relaxes you and you can continue. The more you speak the less anxiety and the less adrenaline you have.
Fear as I’ve defined it in chapter 4 of my book, “Speak Up Get Clients” stands for Fatal Expectations Altering Reality. If we let it, fear can kill us as we hold onto expectations that something bad is going to happen. If we let that self-talk keep telling us that something is wrong it alters the whole reality of where we are. Fear might say things like, “OMG I’m so scared. My mentor is here. I don’t think I can do it,” and maybe you feel like leaving the room before it’s your turn. This would have altered the reality if you let fear get its way and you left. Instead, I recommend you stop and recognize the fear. Recognize it, don’t resist it, and do it anyway. That is the way of the fearless speaker.
In my private group and mastermind, we work through this together. To conquer fear, I want to embrace it and use it to propel you to your next level just like I show my clients who are now getting on bigger stages regularly. Go for it.