The SUNDAY Post; July 13, 2008
Don't 'Die' on stage
A Few weeks ago I attended a function hosted by an international firm in Kuala Lumpur. The occasion was the opening of a new office in city.
The newly appointed manager for Kuala Lumpur branch is a good friend, hence the invitation. As the new boss, it was fitting he should deliver the key speech. Maybe it was the occasion, maybe it was the sight of the many dignitaries but his nerve really wreaked havoc on him. I thought he was going to keel over in the middle of his speech.
Afterward he was depressed. Knowing that I dabble in public speaking quite a bit, he asked me, “How do you get rid of your nervousness?” Well, you can’t and you shouldn’t want to totally get rid of the nervousness. So this article is very for my for my good friend and the many who have to ‘stand up there’ to give it all.
Let’s face it, unless one is a very seasoned public speaker and enjoys such dominance over the audience, the chances are that every time one steps u to the lectern, your pulses will quicken. On a few occasion, I have witnessed speakers in competitions freeze on stage with blank gazes in their eyes.
I am glad to say that as far as I know, such spectacles have been limited to speech contest, where the added pressure of competition blew a fuse in the memory banks of the speakers. In ordinary public situations, I have seen that few odd verbal fumbles here and there, but never to such a dramatic seizure.
Call it podium jitters, stage fright, nerves or what have you if you feel your heart pounding, your throat constricting, your hands trembling and getting clammy, don’t feel bad. You are in good company
. I have heard that even a fiery orator like the late President Sukarno, the ‘great Communicator’ like former President Ronald Reagan and the famous actor Sir Alec Guinness suffered from attacks of nerves before a big performance. They learned how to handle and ride with the nervous tension.
What is it really, this nervous tension? It is an energy surge caused by the adrenaline which the body produces in the face of a challenge. It is said to be the remnant of our primordial defence – the ‘flight or fight’ instinct.
In the face of perceived danger the body naturally produces that extra ‘juice’ to allow one to fight harder or run faster.
As a kid, I was a bit of a rascal, Along with my gang we loved to ait and tease the dogs in the neighbourhood, especially the big German Shepard of a Eurasian family. We called the dog ‘Ang Mo Kau’. We were able to annoy the dog, throwing stones at it, with impunity because it was always firmly tied.
One day I was going about my usual routine, being naughty, but unbeknown to me the dog was off the leash! So as a twelve year-old I was chase by that viscous dog. I could almost feel its hot breath and bear the clicking of its teeth just inches away from my calves.
Driven by fear I flew like the wind. I would have given an Olympic sprinter a good run for his money that day. I reach a stream just ahead of the ranging beast and with one flying leap I cleared the water, leaving the growling brute on the other bank. I must have broken Sarawak’s long jump record, but alas, it was chemically aided by the power of adrenalin.
Nothing beats terror and nerves in putting a boost in one’s engine; for try as I might in later years, I could not achieve that same athletic feat.
Unfortunately without a means of control this pumped up nervous energy is just as likely to give us paralysis as extra mental and physical alertness. Fear and nerves are not such bad things if only we can keep them under control. They can sharpen our reaction and give us that extra edge for better performance.
The first thing I believed we have to do is to recognize what it is that we really fear. Two of our greatest fears in public speaking are the fear of appearing foolish and the fear of failure.
These twin terrors are the main culprits of stage fright. Standing in front of an audience with the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring, the speaker can be driven to paranoia, with every smile taken for a snigger of ridicule, and every frown assumed to be a sign of disagreement. Soon the speaker imagines that the whole audience is against him. Really it is a wrong assumption, for in all my experience as a speaker and as a listener, I have never come across an audience that wanted the speaker to fail.
Many professional speakers recommend the three-pronged method in controlling the nervous energy; relaxation, energy release and visualization.
Relaxation begins mentally. First thing to do is to get rid of the “they against me’ mindset. Understand that no audience wants the speaker to fail, as mentioned earlier when faced with a challenge the body is energized by the extra adrenalin. Tension, which is the opposite of relaxation, is caused by the penned up energy. One way to decrease tension is through efficient breathing pattern. Take a deep breadth, hold it and count slowly up to five then slowly release it. Repeat the cycle until a rhythm of comfortable and steady breathing pattern is set.
Energy release can be achieved through doing some physical movements like stretching, pacing about, jumping up and down, screaming, etc. Needless to say, one has to do these exercises out of sight of the audience.
Visualization and mental rehearsal is widely used by many, including Olympic athletes. The idea is to put oneself in a positive frame of mind. It involves visiting the past and projecting to the future.
Close your eyes and bring yourself mentally back to a moment of past success. This does not necessarily need to be in public speaking, simply a moment of glory and satisfaction. Relieve it, dwell on it for a while and then bring yourself to the future, visualize yourself in front of your audience and see yourself captivating them with your presentation. This should put you in a positive frame of mind, for a good and bad cannot dwell in the same space and time.
Placing oneself in front of a crowd and being the subject of scrutiny can be stressful. But, it need not develop into a mind numbing experience. Accept nerves as a natural reaction to a challenge. Seek not to eliminate it, instead bring it under control so that you can harness its energy for an enhanced performance.
However, the tension releasing techniques I have suggested can only be effective if the speaker is fully prepared for the occasion, as preparation is the bedrock of success. Without thorough preparation, no amount of pacing, jumping and imagining can save the speaker.
