Taming The Beast Within Six Presentation Coaches Share Their

taming the beast within six presentation coaches share their secrets for conquering speaking anxiety http://www.presentations.com/presenta

Taming the Beast Within
Six presentation coaches share their secrets for conquering speaking
anxiety
http://www.presentations.com/presentations/delivery/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1480350
By Mark Merritt
Year after year, The Book of Lists ranks fear of public speaking as
the No. 1 bogeyman in people's minds, ahead of such surefire
nail-biters as death, disease and nuclear war. Just last year, a
Gallup News Service poll found that in America, where people are free
to be afraid of anything, public speaking was second only to a fear of
snakes.
Indeed, there's something about stepping in front of an audience that
is almost pathologically frightening to many people, even
professionals who do it every day. About the only people for whom this
is good news are presentation coaches and consultants, who make a
living by, among other things, teaching people how to overcome their
fear of the podium.
Presentations magazine recently talked to six of the nation's top
presentation consultants to find out how they teach their clients to
overcome speaking anxiety and take control of their nerves. In the
process, we found that there are as many ways to tame the nervous
beast within as there are speaking coaches to teach you how. All use
different techniques to help people keep their inner coward at bay.
And, in case you're wondering, none of their methods have anything to
do with envisioning an audience in its underwear.

Susan Peterson
Founder, Susan Peterson Productions, Washington, D.C.
Susan Peterson specializes in training, coaching and counseling
professionals for media interviews, speeches, presentations and crisis
situations. She is also the president of The Communication Center and
Susan Peterson Productions Inc. in Washington, D.C. She can be reached
at 202.463.0505 or her Web site, www.susanpeterson.com.
Susan Peterson founded her business in 1983, after 10 years as an
on-air correspondent for CBS and NBC news. In her opinion, the biggest
misperception about the fear of public speaking is that people tend to
believe their nervousness will last forever, or that the fear will
invade their body and ruin a presentation.
"I try to teach the difference between harmful anxiety and adrenaline
rushes," she says. In fact, she avoids using the term fear altogether.
She prefers using the term anxiety because fear implies something
unfixable and entirely debilitating, whereas anxiety is something that
can be managed.
Peterson's approach with her clients is down-to-earth and practical.
"Our approach is that this isn't brain surgery or any sort of
razzle-dazzle. We give people the reassurance that 'we can fix this.'"
Before actual training sessions begin, clients are urged to keep a log
of exactly what happened during a speech to cause their nervousness
and what they did or didn't try to get over it. By cataloguing their
experiences, individuals assess their own strengths and weaknesses, as
well as areas in which they need to improve. Possible solutions to
their problems are identified as well -- for example, deep breathing,
better preparation, a site visit before the speech -- with the goal of
creating an anxiety- control package, which is a list of practical
solutions for that individual's specific problems. "Our method allows
people to decipher what solution suits their situation, which usually
leads to a sense of self-assurance and control," Peterson says.
A presenter also needs to identify possible physiological factors that
can result in an extra dose of nerves. One of Peterson's cases
involved the chief financial officer (CFO) of a Fortune 100 company
who delivered weekly presentations to the company board and president.
"He was absolutely terrified, so much so that I was sent to his office
with only a few hours before his presentation," she says.
She addressed his physical self first, finding that he usually drank
about six cups of coffee before speaking, which multiplied his already
high level of anxiety. Switching to decaf settled him down somewhat.
They then concentrated on specific presentation techniques. "[The CFO]
was so intimidated he wouldn't come up for air and look anyone in the
eye," recalls Peterson. To combat this common problem, she videotaped
him speaking so that he could see what he was doing wrong, then she
addressed how to get him to ease up in front of the audience. One
technique that helped was something Peterson calls "switching
paradigms," which, in this particular case, meant teaching the CFO to
switch the spotlight off himself and onto the audience, to combat the
feeling that his every movement was being scrutinized.
Peterson's clientele cover a wide spectrum of corporate managers,
associates and managers in government agencies. She's found that
although every case of anxiety is slightly different, most people have
one fear in common: admitting their vulnerability. "Oftentimes it
seems that [speaking coaches] are like therapists without a license:
We have to be tough with these people and remind them they cannot
skirt around the problem, since avoiding it is a sign of an even more
debilitating disease," she says. For clients who already have a
therapist, however, Peterson notes that she works closely with
psychiatrists to make sure her program for dealing with a client's
speech anxiety won't interfere with their professional progress in
other areas.
Robert Hickman
Founder, FirstVoice, Santa Monica, Calif.
Robert Hickman has more than 15 years of experience in training
business professionals, architects, writers, directors, performers and
producers in the techniques of storytelling. He has taught workshops
for clients as varied as Mattel Toys, the Ford Motor Co., The Limited,
The American Film Institute, Morgan Stanley, UCLA and New York
University. Hickman is also the founder of FirstVoice in Santa Monica,
Calif. He can be reached at [email protected] or his Web site at
http://first-voice.com.

Having spent more than 20 years in the entertainment business training
actors, writers and directors, Robert Hickman takes an organic, almost
Zen-like approach to the process of easing people's speaking fears.
Hickman works to bring speakers' attention "down into their belly" so
they can feel their weight on the ground and be "present" in mind and
body, as well as "authentic" in their delivery.
"When you're present, in your breathing and in your body, your mind
won't race with such thoughts as, 'Oh my, the PowerPoint linkage isn't
working,' or whatever may take us out of the present," he explains.
Learning how to be present is perhaps the most essential ingredient in
speaking confidently, says Hickman. But after you've connected with
yourself and are physically comfortable with your surroundings, you
still have to connect with the audience, which not only means being
comfortable in your own skin, but also being passionate about what you
are saying. "If you don't have passion about what you're going to talk
about, please, don't go out there," warns Hickman.
Many people aren't tremendously passionate about their subject matter,
though, so their task is to find something in their own experience
that can impassion them. For Hickman, this often means finding -- and
telling -- a story. "You don't need a college degree to tell a story,
but in front of an audience people get amnesia and freeze with fear,"
he says. To combat this fear, Hickman teaches clients how to identify
a compelling narrative in their presentation, breaking it down into
the elements of a story: the beginning, middle, climax, resolution.
Breaking a presentation down into these familiar elements helps a
person remember the thread of her presentation, giving her confidence
and helping her develop passion for her topic through the power of
storytelling.
Hickman's teaching philosophy doesn't try to eliminate people's fear
and nerves -- they are organic, too, after all -- but to transform
their fear into something else. "The fear never goes away, and in most
cases, if there's no fear, then nothing's at stake," explains Hickman.
"The nervousness is like ice. You want to heat the fear up to release
this tremendous potential of energy."
Presentness and passion don't preclude the need for rehearsal,
however. "Oddly, because we're afraid, we'll procrastinate and bluff
the importance of the presentation," says Hickman -- a reaction that
is self-defeating at best. Hickman encourages clients to think about
presenting the way a great artist thinks about his work and to
approach it with the same sort of meticulousness and perseverance.
"Take [the work] seriously but joyously," counsels Hickman, and
realize that every speaking opportunity is a privilege and "a great
opportunity to influence people."

Sheri Jeavons
Founder and president Power Presentations Inc., Brecksville, Ohio
Sheri Jeavons is a professional speaker and communications consultant.
Her specialty is presenting a two-day seminar training corporate
professionals in speaking and communication techniques. She is the
founder of Power Presentations, a Brecksville, Ohio, training company.
Jeavons can be reached at 440.526.4400 or her Web site,
www.power-presentations.com.
People think that to be good you have to either be born with talent or
spend a lot of time preparing. Neither is true," claims Sheri Jeavons,
a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the author of
Tips for Your Talk. In her experience, fear of speaking occurs because
most people are highly self-critical; the last thing they want is for
others to see their insecurities.
But getting rid of speech anxiety can't happen in a vacuum, Jeavons
insists; it requires a group environment of instruction. "You just
don't say, 'Today I'm mastering my fear of public speaking.' You need
to learn the new skills of how to give a presentation in front of a
group," she says, and the only way to do that is to participate in a
group experience. "You need to be an active participant, standing and
presenting, with videotaping, coaching and instruction in a group
environment." It's important for the participants to feel safe and
positive about the group (which is the coach's job), and when they do,
that's when people "start to thrive on learning."
One specific method Jeavons promotes is beginning a group presentation
by talking to one person in the group at a time. "We tell them not to
worry about the group as a whole, but to go to one person and state
your first sentence, then calmly move your eyes and body to the next
person and so on." Once the person has connected with a small pocket
of people, he repeats the process, which Jeavons finds makes the room
appear to shrink, reducing the stress of thinking that everyone in the
room has to be spoken to all at once.
Sam Del Brocco
President, PCI Communications Inc., Washington, D.C., and New York
City
Sam Del Brocco is a speaker and trainer on the subjects of
organizational communication and presentation training. His client
list includes AT&T, British Telecom, Duracell, IBM Corp.,
Lockheed-Martin Corp., MCI Group of WorldCom, Pfizer Inc. and Sony
Corp. His company, PCI Communications, has offices in Washington,
D.C., and New York City. He can be reached at 703.823.1600 or the PCI
Web site at www.pcicom.com.

Sam Del Brocco has found that most public-speaking anxiety is rooted
in the fear of embarrassment, of coming across as foolish or stupid.
"People don't analyze the actual possibilities of what could go wrong,
but are immediately shaken with the notion that they won't be
respected or liked," says Del Brocco. To get past these fears, he
prescribes one sure-fire cure: practice.
Before starting PCI Communications, Del Brocco trained as a
psychologist, then turned to an entertainment career as a
singer-songwriter, which deeply influenced his philosophy of
leadership communication. He aims his approach at the spirit of the
presentation, which, he says, is different than pure technical
coaching. "Presenters need to get into the spirit of what it feels
like to be a leader, and it has to come from the soul," he insists.
"I'm a believer in using what I call the communications muscles -- not
only in public speaking but in all aspects of communicating as a
leader," he says. An athlete's muscles have to be continually
developed and exercised. Likewise, developing one's presentation
"muscles" requires exercising them regularly. "If you want to rid
yourself of fear of speaking, the most effective way is to take every
opportunity you can to use those muscles," he claims. This doesn't
simply mean giving 20 speeches a month, but also practicing with "the
same kind of feeling and fear that you would confront during an actual
presentation."
A method Del Brocco believes in, but many speakers and coaches do not,
is knowing the precise words you are going to use, not just the
essence of the subject or material. "You have to know not only what
you're going to say, but how, and to spend a great deal of time
working through the material," says Del Brocco. Even if you're working
from bullet points, familiarity with the material -- anecdotes,
transitions -- will produce more energy, authority and confidence and
go a long way toward alleviating anxiety. "Most people don't appear
this way because they're fishing for their words, and they haven't
really dug to make the soulful connection with their material."
Many executives fall into this camp. Del Brocco recalls a senior-level
executive who "believed he was a fine communicator but would never
spend time with the words until the day of the presentation." On the
morning of one such presentation, Del Brocco listened to the executive
rehearse. The presenter's stammering, stutters and what Del Brocco
calls "not honoring thy punctuation" was noticeable. "He put together
these incredible run-on sentences and would add a comma every two
words," says Del Brocco. It took an audience member to tell him that
he didn't sound sincere for him to start taking the development of his
presentation skills seriously.

Melanie De Bond
Founder and president, Speaking Solutions, Federal Way, Wash.
Melanie De Bond has more than 10 years of experience as a public
speaker and presentation consultant specializing in the treatment of
speech anxiety. She is a scholar in the field of instructional
communication and president and founder of Speaking Solutions in
Federal Way, Wash. De Bond can be reached at 253.835.4565 or her Web
site, www.speakingsolutions.net.
Public speaking is not only something nearly everyone has to do, but
it's also something that can affect your career and credibility or
make and break companies," says Melanie De Bond, founder and president
of Speaking Solutions. De Bond believes anxiety comes with the
territory, but it can also be a motivating force.
De Bond spent years designing and teaching undergraduate
public-speaking courses at the University of Washington, including a
course specifically for students with speech anxiety. At Speaking
Solutions, she works with business executives, employees,
small-business owners and anyone who is crippled with this fear and
has a desire to get past it.
"There are quick fixes [that can reduce anxiety] like abdominal
breathing," says De Bond, "and there are actually four well-researched
methods within the speech-communication discipline that have been
proven to help people reduce or eliminate anxiety."
One method is skills training, which involves training that targets an
area in which someone needs to improve, whether it is believing that
they are boring or stumbling over and forgetting words. Another method
is visualization. "You begin at the point that makes you the most
nervous, which for some might mean the morning of the speech or right
before the walk on stage," she says. The presenter then visualizes in
great detail the entire presentation, all the while imagining two
things: that the speech is going well and the experience is relaxing
and enjoyable.
A third technique is cognitive restructuring, which involves
identifying all the illogical, irrational beliefs people associate
with public speaking -- such mental clutter as, "I can't do this,"
"I'll die if I have to give a speech," or "They'll think I'm a fool."
Says De Bond, "We identify those fear-inducing thoughts and replace
them with more positive and constructive beliefs, such as, 'I can do
this' or 'It's not the end of the world if I make a mistake.'"
The fourth method, systematic desensitization, De Bond likens to
Pavlov's stimulus-response experiments. "Using deep-muscle relaxation
techniques, you train your body into relaxing in response to public
speaking," she explains. Clients create a top-10 list of
anxiety-provoking situations related to presenting. The coaches then
have a speaker visualize the first thing on his list, which usually
causes the body to become anxious and tight, at which point the
visualization is stopped, the client focuses on tensing and relaxing
specific muscles and the process repeats until the subject can relax
on his own.
True fear is difficult to conquer, however. "One executive I worked
with was of the opinion that all good speakers have dynamic
personalities or some innate ability to present well," she says. "He
felt he was boring, so he would stand up, ramble off words and sit
down as fast as he could." De Bond had to reassure him that speech
anxiety is a real thing and anyone suffering from a high level of it
knows it's not as simple as calming down and practicing. "There are
nerves and butterflies," which most people have, says De Bond, "but
real fear takes more than a quick solution to overcome."
Luanne White
Owner and president, Theatre Techniques for Business People Inc.,
Atlanta
Luanne White is a speaker and trainer on the subject of incorporating
theatrical techniques within the corporate world. The president of
Theatre Techniques for Business People Inc. in Atlanta, her client
list includes Coca-Cola Co., BellSouth Corp.'s cellular division,
Johnson & Johnson, Hallmark Corp. and Brystol Myers-Squibb Co. She can
be reached at 770.913.0400 or her Web site, www.energyspeak.com.

The techniques Luanne White teaches originally developed from the
performing arts world. White, who has appeared in numerous stage
performances and television shows, believes people are fearful when it
comes to presenting because they don't know how their physical
mechanism -- their body -- works. "People can only get over their fear
by first going on a tour of this mechanism, taking command of their
'control room,'" she explains, "and then understanding what
performance energy is and how to get to that level, which is where
their best self will emerge."
Anxiousness, then, can be a powerful ally when presenting, if it
involves flowing adrenaline. If you want to engage someone in
conversation, for example, you have to do more than look and speak;
you have to direct your energy toward them. "When you connect
correctly, you get rid of your fears and become engaged," White says.
Transfer this idea to speaking at a podium. You still need a level of
engagement, but you must direct an equal amount of energy toward the
audience. "Like an electrical current, think of any performance you've
seen where there's someone onstage who has the high energy that
fixates you," White suggests. "They aren't the loudest people; they
just have that performance energy that captures you." When presenters
realize their potential and exercise their control-room switches, they
will have less fear, she says.
"Fear starts when we're children, when we're humiliated," White
explains. "We're usually in [a state of] high energy and having fun
until something happens," causing us to be laughed at or get in
trouble. After that, she says, "your cellular memory is developing
negatively and conditioning [you] that when in high energy with other
people, [you'll] end up embarrassed."
Fear of judgment, humiliation and embarrassment are the big issues for
presenters. To fix this cellular programming, White teaches people how
to reprogram themselves to think the experience will be good -- of
benefit to the audience and themselves.
To accustom clients to the energy level needed to be an effective
speaker, White uses trigger exercises to teach people how to get their
energy up in a snap -- exercises that will allow them to walk into a
room and be in command.
"One exercise I use is to get a speaker to marry their physical energy
with an icon to create an association which will create relaxation
onstage," White says. She has clients raise their heart rates until
they are almost out of breath (using activities such as running in
place), then stop and close their eyes. "When this cardiovascular
energy is roaring through their body, I coach them to be aware of it
and to associate it with something -- a firecracker going off, a gong
sound or a volcano erupting -- coupling the high energy level with the
image," she explains. "I have them do it at least once a day for two
to six weeks, so when they do walk on stage, if the nerves are there,
they can click onto their energy by associating it with the trigger
icon." The beauty of this technique, says White, is that it's
available for the rest of their lives, in any situation.
Mark Merritt is a freelance writer living in Minneapolis.
Originally published in the March 2002 issue of Presentations magazine
Copyright 2002, VNU Business Media
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