Most people with public speaking anxiety imagine they need to conquer or overcome their fear. They hope that one day they will speak without a single flicker of nerves.
The bad news is that this is not realistic. You will probably always feel some nervousness before speaking to an audience, especially in a high-stakes situation.
The good news is that you do not need to feel calm to perform well. In fact, a few nerves are essential for optimal performance.
There is a sweet spot. Too calm and you risk coming across as low energy or underprepared. Too anxious and you risk panicking. Researchers have mapped this relationship between stress and performance. It is known as the Yerkes Dobson Law. In simple terms, it tells us that performance increases as nerves rise, until they hit a tipping point and drop sharply.
There is a Goldilocks level of nervousness. Not too little and not too much. Just right.
I know exactly when I have reached that sweet spot. Before I speak, I feel a little nervous, but I also trust that these nerves will not overwhelm me. When I begin speaking, the nervousness shifts into energy. At my best, I reach a flow-state. I am present, thinking clearly, and often speaking more powerfully than when I practised.
It was not always like this.
There is an important difference between normal nerves and debilitating anxiety. I spent years in the anxious zone, and it absolutely affected the way I performed.
One of the most helpful shifts for me was realising that I did not have to eliminate the nerves. All I had to do was reduce them to a manageable level. That felt achievable in a way that “conquering fear” never did.
It is also the reason I named my business Fear-less Public Speaking. The hyphen matters. It represents reducing the fear while accepting that some nerves are normal, natural and even helpful.
You do not need to become a perfectly calm speaker. You just need to learn how to bring those nerves back into the zone where you can thrive.
If this idea resonates with you, you might like this related post: Why it is OK to be a nervous speaker. It is a good starting point if you want some practical tips on how to shift your mindset from eliminating nerves to using them.
Article written by Catherine Syme
