[Music] the public speaking project presents how to deal with nervousness in your speech by Morgan Hart ramp voice Talent by Jill sbarbaro with Morgan har ramp as the media production specialist you're sitting in the back of the classroom of speech one 1 on the first day of the semester your instructor walks in and asks each student to come to the front of the classroom one by one and tell their fellow students a bit about themselves when it becomes close to your turn your stomach knots up your hands begin to sweat and your face becomes flush what should you do consider yourself normal even some of the world's most renowned presenters have admitted experiencing nervousness Mark Twain for example said there are only two types of speakers in the world one the nervous and two Liars being nervous about presenting a speech is both natural and normal when you can expect and accept that you will experience nervousness you will be able to control and manage your apprehension communication apprehension is the fear or anxiety one experiences in association with real or anticip iated communication with others there are a variety of reasons one may experience communication apprehension while some individuals simply have a genetic predisposition to feel anxious when communicating with others most of us experience anxiety either as a learned behavior due to situational factors or because of a lack of knowledge in how to communicate effectively in this module we don't have time to cover all the aspects of dealing with nervousness in your speech how however you can find an entire chapter about communication apprehension in our free textbook public speaking the virtual text at www.public speaking project.org the purpose of this module is to introduce you to the causes of communication apprehension and to give you some helpful hints on how to cope with this phenomenon the first step in managing communication apprehension effectively is to understand its underlying causes the goal here is not to eliminate nervousness completely energy created from being nervous can be beneficial to a speaker because it shows he or she cares about performing well the object therefore is to control and channel nervousness in a positive manner most communication apprehension is related to a particular situation audience or context in which the communication occurs situation-based apprehension is temporary and stems from a particular event at a particular time this type of apprehension afflicts virtually everyone at some point in his or her lifetime in general we feel more anxious communicating in unfamiliar and novel situations such as a first performance with strangers in situations that involve evaluation in front of larger audiences in more formal situations and when others have high expectations some physical signs that accompany speech anxiety include tightness in the throat dry mouth frequent swallowing a sinking feeling in the stomach increased perspiration and an accelerated heart rate audiences May believe a speaker has apprehension if he or she avoids eye contact has a flushed face uses unnatural bodily movements Paces restlessly fidgets with objects has an abnormally fast or slow rate of speech a voice that breaks or Quivers uses fillers like uh or um or lacks vocal variety there are several things you can do before your speech during your speech and following your speech that will help you cope with nervousness during your speech first we will look at ways to control nervousness before you give your speech tip number one select a topic you are comfortable talking about when you know what you are talking about you will be more natural in front of an audience if you play the guitar a good informative speech topic would be to EXP explain how to play the guitar If a family member of yours has been involved in a car accident because of texting while driving a good persuasive speech topic would be to persuade others to not text and drive you also want to make sure your topic is important and relevant if you doubt the importance of your topic you will doubt yourself when you firmly believe in what you are saying you will genuinely want to inform or convince your listeners as well tip number two for prepare all aspects of your speech thoroughly in advance the best psychological defense to deal with communication apprehension is being well prepared learn the steps necessary to plan and present a public speech when you lack the skills to present a successful presentation you will lack the confidence to do so as well your instructor and textbook will help you learn the speech principles needed to construct and deliver an effective speech as you apply what you learn you will feel feel more confident about the content organization and delivery of your thoughts allow yourself time to gather information organize your speech assemble note cards and visual aids and practice if you wait until the last minute to prepare your speech it is likely you will be ill-prepared and lack confidence when you present your speech tip number three practice delivering and timing your speech ideally this should be done over a period of a few days not ours you wouldn't expect an Olympic Athlete to win the Gold without practicing so you shouldn't expect to give a Flawless performance without practicing you should practice your speech several times from beginning to end if you make a mistake keep going don't start over this will help you in case you need to overcome moments of failed memory or recover from a mistake if possible practice your speech in front of friends or family this way you can test your message and become more comfortable speaking in front of a group of people you should also practice in an environment that includes distractions such as a television in the background or by a noisy hallway this will help you focus on what you mean to say and not what you hear a silent empty room will not prepare you for distractions time your speech as you practice to ensure you meet the allotted time this prevents you from leaving out important pieces of information because you are anxious or flustered about exceeding your time limit as you rush to complete your speech tip number four familiarize yourself with the equipment and physical arrangement of the setting you will be delivering your speech in if you plan on using technical equipment to display visual aids during your speech practice using this equipment before your speech if you are going to use a PowerPoint presentation display a web page or anything that requires the use of a computer access those materials on the computer computer before class begins the last thing you want to do is be in front of an audience wasting your time and theirs figuring out how to turn on the projector or waiting for a website to load when you are not familiar with the equipment you will draw attention away from your topic and allow anxiety to build up tip number five develop a positive attitude the mind is a powerful thing and has the ability to impact things both positively and negative negatively when you can restructure your thoughts to focus on positive rather than negative self-statements your anxiety will turn into anticipation for the first step of this process identify your fears you may be afraid your audience will be bored or that everyone will laugh at you once you have identified your fears replace these irrational Thoughts with positive ones looking at the fear that your audience will be bored replace this thought with the idea that your topic interests you and it will interest your audience if you are afraid your audience will laugh at you think about how your classmates also know what it feels like to be nervous and that they will support your effort this tip will help with the natural anxiety felt when communicating with others because of being evaluated dwelling on the negative evaluations you think you will receive will make you nervous however focusing on positive evaluations will make you more confident also don't view a speech as a burden or something you have to do view it as an opportunity to share your knowledge or change people's minds about a particular topic you can also visualize yourself speaking imagine yourself as you walk confidently to the podium and present a Flawless performance when you visualize yourself as successful you will be