Ask people about their biggest fear and most will say it’s public speaking. When I ask my clients why they’re afraid, they’ll give some answer that boils down to this: fear of humiliation. Public speaking can leave a person feeling vulnerable, raw, exposed and many are terrified that they’ll make a big mistake in the front of the room and never be able to recover. They imagine that these mishaps only happen to inexperienced or nervous presenters.— Until Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour. As Oprah was walking on stage talking about balance of all things, she lost her footing and slipped and fell. It wasn’t a small slip. She fell on her butt. You could hear her body hit the stage. She sat there for a minute and then said, “Wrong shoes.” She then got up and continued barefoot. While the fall may be the talking point of the moment, it won’t effect the outcome of her tour. Oprah showed us how to recover with grace.
A friend and motivational speaker wasn’t as lucky. As she walked from the center to the front of stage, her heel got caught (There’s that heel again). She fell off the stage and injured her leg. But that didn’t stop her. After some assistance she continued her presentation from a chair. Afterwards, she left the event and received medical care.
If we avoid public speaking because we fear we’ll fail or fall in this case, we’ll never have the impact, visibility, and mobility that we desire. Mistakes will happen. It’s not about the event it’s how you recover. Consider the Olympic ice skaters. We’ve all seen them take a spill when the stakes are high. They know in that moment they won’t win a medal but they pick themselves up and carry on giving it their all. These skaters know how to recover.
I once had a woman tell me she was afraid of getting up to speak in public. I asked her what was her worst fear. She said,”What if I fall? What if I trip over a wire?”
I asked her “What if you do? What could you say? “ How about “I want you to know I’ve been practicing that entrance for weeks.” Or, “Never let it be said I don’t know how to make an entrance.” She laughed. It didn’t occur to her that she could take charge and recover from a disaster.
According to neuroscience, when we are in a fear state the animal brain or amygdala gets triggered. This starts off a fight or flight reaction. The speaker either freezes or runs off the stage. Not everybody is a quick thinker. But if we plan for the disaster, we can access our frontal cortex. The frontal lobes are involved with problem solving, spontaneity, language, judgement and impulse control. By using this part of the brain, presenters can prevent fear from overtaking them.
I’m sure that Oprah never expected to fall. But when she did, she picked herself up and recovered.
And that’s what champions are made of.
To become a champion public speaker, contact DiResta Communications.