One of the last stops a person makes before stepping on stage is to get mic’d by one of our technical staff. The guys we hire for this type of work require a full understanding of how all the gear works, of course. But more than that, they must have the gift – that certain something that helps calm people down. Public speaking is terrifying for most. I’ve met people who claim that they don’t get the shakes, cold sweat or any of that, but I’m pretty sure they are either professionals or liars.
Here’s the good news – it’s normal. I know that because I read it on the internets. Specifically in Confidence: Stepping Out, a very good article in Psychology Today.
Our bodies may be finely tuned machines, but the signals they send us are calibrated for the Stone Age. “In our hunter-gatherer past, we did not have societies in which one could simply jump from one group to another,” says Jon Maner, a social psychology professor at Florida State University. “Rejection or ostracism could very well have spelled death.” And so we evolved to be highly sensitive to signs of both social acceptance and disapproval.
Situations that were outright dangerous then—like approaching a stranger—are often harmless now, but our bodies don’t know that and rev into overdrive. As a result, the nervous system that’s designed to prepare us for social encounters often overheats, short-circuiting our resolve and thwarting our best intentions.
The solution? First, prepare. Next, just do it. Whether it is public speaking or asking someone out on a date, you have to take the initial risk to succeed. You may never rid yourself of the physical reactions to your own fear, but you can teach yourself to ignore them and get on with it.
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