How to control public speaking anxiety
If you have ever been nervous or anxious about public speaking, join the club – there are about 7.5 billion of us! Public speaking is often listed among the top causes of anxiety, but you can totally manage those nerves using your own physiology. You don’t need medication, liquid courage or your favourite lucky charm in your pocket. You already have what you need. Most of the anxiety during public speaking is caused or exacerbated by forgetting to breathe. Our brain then goes into panic mode about that, which we interpret as panic about speaking. The average adult has a lung volume of about 6 litres of air. During normal breathing, when we are not thinking about it, we exchange about 500mls of air during each breath. However, when we focus and take a long slow deep breath, we exchange at least 3 litres of air. As we breathe in, our […]