Any tips on public speaking anxiety?

[eatliftskate]

We have to do role plays of our sales pitches at work in the meetings in front of 25 people and I get nervous af. I have no problem talking to people one on one or even groups but presenting in front of a lot of people makes me nervous. Any tips to overcome it?

[MetroBrah]

Have a history of extreme anxiety with bad physical symptoms myself. Only thing that helps is to get liquored up and slap myself a few times. Then I watch this

[WantToBeLeaf]

Honestly you gotta fake it till you make it. Not saying try to be a cocky *******, but if you go in there not giving a fukkk, you'll own it.

[legbroke]

Practice (rehearse) as much as possible. Do your whole schpeel out loud and get a practice audience who'll give you feedback if possible.

[koreannoodles77]

Pretend the audience are a bunch of no avis

[keyboardworkout]

I try to focus on talking to individuals in the room rather than a room full of people.

[nickh04]

just remember that most of the people in that meeting are vaccinated cucks.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Planning and rehearsing is a good idea. But don’t rehearse too much, or you’ll sound like a robot which isn’t good either

There’s techniques you can learn for public speaking, like how to continue if you lose your train of thought or recover if you forgot to say something before

You’ll probably never get over the anxiety though if you have stage fright. If it bothers you a lot, honestly just choose a different career path that lets you avoid it. Life is too short to be anxious all the time

[dopamine72]

Like others have said, you just fking show up and do it bro

Nobody gives a chit about you, everyone is too caught up worrying about themselves, ded srs

Personally if I had to do anything like this I would:

- workout hard AF early in the AM to produce the maximum amount of endorphins
- if I still feel anxious I'll take 1mg *****
- if an hour goes by and its not working I start taking shots
- eventually enough alcohol and ***** will supersede any anxiety

This only works for people that are SUPER UBER fuked in the head like myself

Other people would try this method and miserably fail, know your limits ph@gg0t

Good luck

[friesbruh]

wear sunglasses and pretend you've gone blind for the day

gotta help at least a little bit

[MountainLion84]

Just put it in your head that you’re better than these people and give no fuks what they think about you

[Postmort3m]

Practice and dgaf.

[bsrkoacar2]

A beta blocker can help and doctors do prescribe it for public speaking because they aren't a narcotic. But the best way is to just do it and over come it through experience.

[DuracellBunny]

Don't speak to 25 people, speak to 1, then 15 seconds laters a different one, then 15 seconds later another different 1 etc.

The good thing about 25 people is that it is almost the limit of how many you will ever speak to.

You can only actually see around 30 people at once. Even if there are thousands in a crowd, most of them are just blurs. The number of distinct faces that you can see simultaneously caps at around 30.

So start with 1 at a time and then work up to 2 at a time, then 3 etc until you hit 30 and then you just move who the 30 are.

But for your first time, just speak to 1 and then regularly change who that 1 is.

[eatliftskate]

Don't speak to 25 people, speak to 1, then 15 seconds laters a different one, then 15 seconds later another different 1 etc.

The good thing about 25 people is that it is almost the limit of how many you will ever speak to.

You can only actually see around 30 people at once. Even if there are thousands in a crowd, most of them are just blurs. The number of distinct faces that you can see simultaneously caps at around 30.

So start with 1 at a time and then work up to 2 at a time, then 3 etc until you hit 30 and then you just move who the 30 are.

But for your first time, just speak to 1 and then regularly change who that 1 is.

Well the way it goes is I’m just having a conversation with one person who pretends to be the customer while everyone else watches. I need to find out how to focus on that conversation instead of thinking about everyone watching.

[LinuxJon]

Honestly, practice slowing it down. Then practice that some more. And then focus just on speaking slowly when you're actually presenting.

Everyone thinks they should speak at conversation speed. That is very very wrong. It should feel s-l-o-w to you. With the adrenaline from the moment, it will still come across as fast to the people listening.

[kusok]

Retired former top level performer checking in,

First and foremost, I have to warn you that any and all strategies anyone can give you pale in comparison to pharmaceuticals, that’s just reality, so if you want a quick solution, then get the smallest ***** available, which is 0.25 mg and you’re already going to feel a huge difference, take it anywhere between 45 minutes and an hour and a half before your performance or speech. These things are available these days without prescription online, and of course any reasonable doctor will readily prescribe you such a miserably small dose if you simply explain to them the situation, if a doctor refuses, simply talk to another doctor. If you were to do this with any degree of regularity, your body will get used to the drug and you will need half a milligram, I strongly suggest that you never raise this any higher under any circumstances.

If for whatever reason you require more Pharma then a standard cocktail top level classical musicians use for example would be to add a very small amount of a beta blocker propranolol a.k.a. Enderal to the *****, 5 mg, maximum 10 mg if your body is already used to it.

Now, briefly about the natural alternatives, you will no doubt feel some difference if you take a typical antianxiety supplement, which usually will contain things like HTP5, Ashwagandha, magnesium, GABA, and other well-known typical herbs minerals and vitamins known to cause stress relief. There is a homeopathic supplement for that as well from boiron. Cbd oil works too. And these days mushroom supplements containing stuff like lions mane or Rishi mushrooms and some others are showing promise in reducing anxiety. Notice that with natural cures because they’re weaker, you will have to use generous amounts, and you will have to take them all, not just one or two of them. This is your best chance to achieve synergy.

Another natural remedy to keep in mind is obviously exercise, it’s a good idea to exercise, not only regularly, but also on the day of your event. Exercise should include both some cardio, preferably outside, and resistance training.

Lastly, it’s a great idea to avoid caffeine and other stimulants. Eating a banana is popular with opera singers, since they contain a small amount of a beta blocker.

Back in the day, before all of this was known and appreciated people had to rely on drugs, like painkillers and alcohol, which isn’t a very good idea. Last thing to add is just practice performing, old-school classical music performers used to practice this way, put on your suit and shoes exactly how you’re going to be dressed during your presentation, give your entire presentation in front of your friends or family, or even an empty couch, you may even want to do this more than once in one day.

P.s.
you can try yoga and obvious breathing techniques, such as breathing in quickly, followed by breathing out slowly, repeat this many times, and you can try to just self suggest, tell yourself to relax, and so on, these obvious techniques are taught in the military, these things do have some limited effectiveness.

[DuracellBunny]

Well the way it goes is I’m just having a conversation with one person who pretends to be the customer while everyone else watches. I need to find out how to focus on that conversation instead of thinking about everyone watching.

It's a seduction in a bar. You concentrate on engaging them and then closing whilst ignoring everything else going on around you in the bar.

You aren't trying to impress everybody else in the bar, you are trying to get laid. The principle is the same: close.

[desslok]

Well the way it goes is I’m just having a conversation with one person who pretends to be the customer while everyone else watches. I need to find out how to focus on that conversation instead of thinking about everyone watching.

Do you have to do it just this once or ongoing? I had a fear of speaking at a funeral, like deathly fear, but then felt bad about not being able to speak at the funeral. So I went and joined a local Toastmasters group and went to every weekly meeting for like a year. Ended up getting promotions from giving presentations to CEOs amd stuff at work now.

[batmanman]

The main thing is to actually have something you wanna say

I remember how bad it was doing a report on like Sacagawea or some dumb **** in middle school and being nervous

but halfway thru public speaking in college I started making topics about shiit I actually wanted to tell people about, things I found interesting or had a good take on

talk about sloots and how they have too high of bodycounts and you'll speak well

[dopamine72]

Retired former top level performer checking in,

First and foremost, I have to warn you that any and all strategies anyone can give you pale in comparison to pharmaceuticals, that’s just reality, so if you want a quick solution, then get the smallest ***** available, which is 0.25 mg and you’re already going to feel a huge difference, take it anywhere between 45 minutes and an hour and a half before your performance or speech. These things are available these days without prescription online, and of course any reasonable doctor will readily prescribe you such a miserably small dose if you simply explain to them the situation, if a doctor refuses, simply talk to another doctor. If you were to do this with any degree of regularity, your body will get used to the drug and you will need half a milligram, I strongly suggest that you never raise this any higher under any circumstances.

If for whatever reason you require more Pharma then a standard cocktail top level classical musicians use for example would be to add a very small amount of a beta blocker propranolol a.k.a. Enderal to the *****, 5 mg, maximum 10 mg if your body is already used to it.

Now, briefly about the natural alternatives, you will no doubt feel some difference if you take a typical antianxiety supplement, which usually will contain things like HTP5, Ashwagandha, magnesium, GABA, and other well-known typical herbs minerals and vitamins known to cause stress relief. There is a homeopathic supplement for that as well from boiron. Cbd oil works too. And these days mushroom supplements containing stuff like lions mane or Rishi mushrooms and some others are showing promise in reducing anxiety. Notice that with natural cures because they’re weaker, you will have to use generous amounts, and you will have to take them all, not just one or two of them. This is your best chance to achieve synergy.

Another natural remedy to keep in mind is obviously exercise, it’s a good idea to exercise, not only regularly, but also on the day of your event. Exercise should include both some cardio, preferably outside, and resistance training.

Lastly, it’s a great idea to avoid caffeine and other stimulants. Eating a banana is popular with opera singers, since they contain a small amount of a beta blocker.

Back in the day, before all of this was known and appreciated people had to rely on drugs, like painkillers and alcohol, which isn’t a very good idea. Last thing to add is just practice performing, old-school classical music performers used to practice this way, put on your suit and shoes exactly how you’re going to be dressed during your presentation, give your entire presentation in front of your friends or family, or even an empty couch, you may even want to do this more than once in one day.

P.s.
you can try yoga and obvious breathing techniques, such as breathing in quickly, followed by breathing out slowly, repeat this many times, and you can try to just self suggest, tell yourself to relax, and so on, these obvious techniques are taught in the military, these things do have some limited effectiveness.

solid advice

[Lunatic]

2mg of ***** will help the anxiety.

[kusok]

Imagine all your listeners are nude

Ewww, bruv… that’s gay. And what if there are fat bitches there? Ouch…

[crupiea]

After you do it a few times you will settle down. Go way slower then you think you need to. Its really easy to talk super fast because you will be excited. Try to think about slowing it way down. Slower than you think is normal will actually be just right to the audience. If you are asked a question for example, count to 5 in your head before answering. It will seem like an eternity but to everyone else it just seems like nothing.

[jtaylor2010]

Lots of good advice so not much to add other than breathing exercises. Those helped me in the past, and can be used for other causes of anxiety besides just public speaking. In addition to lowering the anxiety they also clear and slow your mind so you can perform better.


And the main thing is to just keep doing it. It’s a lot like the exposure therapy that helps people get over any type of fear they may have. As you get exposed to it over and over you realize it isn’t bad at all and that you can actually turn it into a positive experience. I think a little bit of that adrenaline is good though because it helps with confidence and drive.


Lastly, it seems like your situation is a little unique in that you aren’t really presenting but it’s more like acting. Maybe if you start out by just trying to ignore the crowd and focus on the person you’re “selling” to it will help you focus and treat it like any other potential customer. But really, you’re probably just gonna have to suck it up for a while until it gets better.

[mikeasu]

Good advice here - one of the best lessons learned from a public speaking course at community college years back was when we not only peer-reviewed, but did a self critique - we filmed our speeches and watched them after, and the thing I really discovered? Yeah, you feel nervous, twitchy - but in many cases, what people will actually be able to notice is only about 5% of what you think they'll notice - especially once you start and get into your groove. That was a huge lesson to learn. Prep well, know your material, so you talk natural to it, instead of memorizing a speech.

[BullittEV]

Practice (rehearse) as much as possible. Do your whole schpeel out loud and get a practice audience who'll give you feedback if possible.

This.

I never needed an audience, though. As long as you really know what youre talking about, you should be fine. If youre presenting something important and dont know, then youre fked, either way.

Good advice here - one of the best lessons learned from a public speaking course at community college years back was when we not only peer-reviewed, but did a self critique - we filmed our speeches and watched them after, and the thing I really discovered? Yeah, you feel nervous, twitchy - but in many cases, what people will actually be able to notice is only about 5% of what you think they'll notice - especially once you start and get into your groove. That was a huge lesson to learn. Prep well, know your material, so you talk natural to it, instead of memorizing a speech.

Also, this. You feel way more intense than you look. Taking solace in that fact will make you more relaxed in the moment.

[pengh]

2 shots of liquor and some mouthwash/tiktacs

[pengh]

A beta blocker can help and doctors do prescribe it for public speaking because they aren't a narcotic. But the best way is to just do it and over come it through experience.

I used to eat 2 bananas before performing on stage (music). I read bananas have natural beta blockers. Not sure if placebo, but that sh*t worked.

[SamIAm1892]

90% of those people are afraid to talk to crowds as well.

And...just be confident bro.