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How to not get nervous when having to speak in front of group.?

I get really twitchy and nervous when I have to go to meetings at work. I think part of it is intimidation of sorts, I feel like a low-man on the totem pole, but yet I must still administer instructions. My heart feels like its going to jump out of my chest and I cant shake it, I start screwing up when I talk because I am nervous the entire time. I need some kind of trick, like "imaging that people are in their underwear" kinda technique, cause no matter how much I keep doing it, I get just as nervous as the last time. I cant shake it

3 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Do not tell yourself you are going to be nervous and mess up the next time you have to speak in front of a group. You will just create a self fulfilling prophecy. Try and trick yourself into looking forward to it even if your dreading it. This will trick your body to feel anxious because of excitement rather than anxious because of nerves. If this doesn't work, just tell yourself you are confident. Also, tell yourself you do not care what anyone thinks. That you are all the same and all human. This will make you feel like your on the same level as people rather than feeling lower than people. You can also fake confidence. Do all the things you would assume a confident person would do like talk loudly, look people in the eye, and stand up straight. Even if you studder a couple of times, if you LOOK confident, people will assume that you ARE confident. Good luck :)

  • Pipsy
    Lv 5
    1 decade ago

    I suggest a style similar to systematic desensitization meaning that start small just talk in front of your mirror. Afterwords escalate into something bigger say a single person whom your similar with then build up from there attain a bigger family. For what I'm seeing from description is your condition response from a unconditioned stimulus meaning you associate public speaking with nervousness. As a result I suggest a systematic desensitization system in order to associate the feeling of comfort that I'm assuming you have when your practicing in front your mirror with public speaking. So to ensure I am clear when you practice in front of the mirror imagine your talking to a crowd of some sort. Then move onto the next stage practice in front of person whom comfortable with. Then build up higher get more and more people while keeping the feeling calm when you were practicing in front of the mirror so in theory when you get bigger groups even when you are talking unfamiliar environments you can associate the feeling of your prior experiences of calm while public talking. Therefore, your essentially associating your feeling of calm while talking in front of the mirror with public speaking instead of the nervousness you are associating it with now. Furthermore, I am going to say this is not a quick fix solution we are talking about your behavior a very primal things so I would think it would take a considerable amount of time.

  • 1 decade ago

    Just remember that they are all people, and they are not expecting you to do perfect. Your not the first person in the world who has done this. They aren't expecting anything special. Good luck:)

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