Dealing with speech anxietyWe’ve got some tips and techniques to help you deal with any speech anxiety and speech nerves you may be experiencing before and during the big day. If you are feeling a bit anxious or more than a bit nervous about delivering your wedding speech, you are not alone. Did you know that the number one fear or phobia in the population is not snakes, spiders or even heights but actually public speaking. Standing up in front of a crowd and speaking brings freaks more people out than anything else! Why is this? Well it may be that you: Don’t want to look like an idiot in front of everyone Hold on a minute. Let’s get things in perspective. This is a wedding, right? Let’s not forget why you are here and why you are doing this in the first place. You are making a speech in honour of someone you care very much about. You will be speaking in front of a whole bunch of people that all have a common interest. The same interest as you – they are all friends and family of the happy couple. And they are rooting for you. They want to see you do well. They want to listen to what you have to say. They want to laugh at your jokes – yes even the weak ones! So hold that thought! First of all let’s get an understanding of what actually happens to us when we start to get nervous. Coping with speech anxietyThe body has its own defence mechanism which is called our fight or flight response. It’s a biological response, a reflex action that automatically leaps into action when we are under acute stress. It prepares the body to stand and fight or flee when faced with harmful situations by releasing chemicals such as adrenalin, noradrenalin and cortisol into the system. So as we start to get nervous and have feelings of anxiety the body starts to react and release hormones into the body. Blood is redirected to our limbs and muscles to prepare us for our fight or flight response to the situation which speeds up our heart beat. We start to shake as all the energy is being sent to our muscles and we produce more sweat in an effort to cool our bodies down. The more nervous we become the more out of control we feel. But everyone gets nervous – it’s part of being human. Use your nerves to your advantage. Don’t let all that adrenalin coursing through your veins go to waste. There are a few simple things you can do to alleviate your anxiety: 10 Top Tips to Manage your Nerves1. First of all choose a format and style of speech that suits you and you are comfortable with. Check out these speech ideas to help you choose.2. Be yourself – don’t try and be something you are not 3. Keep it simple and keep it short 4. Use the audience. Make eye contact and acknowledge their reactions. 5. Prepare well. Start well before the big day and do your research to get as much good quality material for your speech as possible. 6. Don’t put yourself under pressure to learn your speech by heart. Create your own speech ode that you can read straight off the page 7. Slow down and breathe! 8. Sip water to help lubricate a dry mouth and pace yourself 9. Master your emotional state by creating an anchor to give you confidence 10.PRACTICE, PRACTICE AND PRACTICE! Take a look at these speech anxiety techniques to help you manage those nerves. Making a speech is not something we do every day so you are not expected to be the perfect after dinner speaker. It’s ok to make a mistake, simply move on. Put these tips into practice and you'll be able to alleviate your speech anxiety and keep your nerves under control. Remember this: You get what you focus on – so if you are focussing on the things that can go wrong – beware! For more in depth information on how to manage speech anxiety www.no-fear-public-speaking.com has some terrific resources to help you.Return from Speech Anxiety to Home page
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