NEVER Feel Anxiety Again When Giving A Speech (5 EASY Methods)

Summary

In his candid and engaging talk, Vinh Giang shares his personal journey and the invaluable lessons he's learned about conquering anxiety when giving a speech. Reflecting on his early career mishaps, he delves into five effective methods to tackle nerves before and during any high-pressure speaking situation. From controlling body tremors through box breathing to shifting the focus onto the audience, Vinh offers practical strategies. He emphasizes desensitizing fear through gradual exposure, such as making simple toasts in casual settings, and managing adrenaline through brief exercises. Through these methods, Vinh encourages embracing and overcoming the fear of public speaking.

Highlights

• Vinh Giang opens up about his early failures and how they taught him valuable lessons. 🤦
• Box breathing is a simple yet powerful technique used by Navy Seals to control anxiety. 🏴‍☠️
• Focusing on service rather than self helps shift anxiety away from yourself. 💁
• Slowing down your rate of speech can trick your brain into feeling less nervous. 🚶‍♂️
• Regularly facing small speaking challenges helps decrease overall fear of public speaking. 💪

Key Takeaways

• Control your body's physical response with techniques like box breathing to stay calm. 🧘‍♂️
• Shift the focus from yourself to serving the audience to reduce self-consciousness. 👥
• Slow down your speech to break the cycle of nervousness and calm your nerves. 🗣️
• Manage excess adrenaline with light exercises to avoid feeling jittery. 🏃‍♂️
• Desensitize your fear of public speaking by gradually increasing speaking challenges. 🎤

Overview

Vinh Giang takes his audience on a rollercoaster of emotions as he recounts one of his first public speaking mishaps. His nervousness was so palpable that he attempted to disguise it with dark clothing to mask excessive sweating. But beyond this humorous anecdote, he delves into his transformative journey of mastering the art of public speaking and the lessons he gleaned from early failures.

Central to Vinh's message is the idea of controlling both mind and body to mitigate anxiety. He introduces audiences to 'box breathing', a highly effective technique borrowed from elite military forces, to help control involuntary shaking by relaxing the body. Coupled with a mental shift towards focusing on the audience's needs rather than personal fears, Vinh illustrates a holistic approach to managing stage fright.

Lastly, he emphasizes the importance of gradual exposure to public speaking to reduce anxiety. Whether it's making toasts among friends or standing during team meetings, Vinh asserts that by progressively challenging oneself in low-stakes situations, individuals can build confidence and resilience in their oratory skills, eventually making the fear of public speaking a thing of the past.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Personal Story The chapter begins with a personal story from the author about a significant failure they experienced early in their career as a professional speaker. This occurred during one of their first speaking engagements for a Building Association in Sydney, New South Wales. Despite their excitement, the author was extremely nervous and chose to wear black clothing to conceal sweat stains from their anxiety. Although they initially thought the presentation went well, they sensed that it might not have been successful as they walked off stage.
• 00:30 - 01:00: The Encounter with the CEO This chapter, titled 'The Encounter with the CEO,' describes a nerve-wracking meeting between the narrator, referred to as Vin, and a CEO. Upon arriving, Vin notices the CEO's slightly nervous demeanor, which only amplifies Vin's own anxiety. The handshake that follows is loose and awkward, setting a tone of discomfort. During the conversation, the CEO questions Vin's experience, further increasing Vin's apprehension. The chapter concludes with Vin's reflection on how this was one of the worst experiences of his life due to his inability to manage his nerves. He then outlines five strategies he would employ in hindsight to better handle such anxiety-inducing situations.
• 01:00 - 02:30: Body Control In this chapter, the focus is on understanding and controlling body tremors in high-stakes situations. The chapter explains that trembling bodies lead to trembling voices, not the other way around. A practical exercise is suggested: hold your hand steady, then tense it to observe the difference, illustrating how tension affects control and steadiness.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Mind Control The chapter titled 'Mind Control' discusses techniques to control physical tension and anxiety through box breathing. It highlights that when individuals are nervous, their bodies often tense up and may start to shake. To combat this, the method of box breathing, used by Navy Seals and military personnel, is recommended. This involves a cyclic pattern of breathing: inhaling for four counts, holding the breath for four counts, exhaling for four counts, and holding again for four counts. The process is encouraged without judgment to aid in relaxation and control.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Pause and Slow Down This chapter discusses the importance of pausing and slowing down, as well as breathing techniques like box breathing. The technique is introduced through instructions to inhale, hold, exhale, and hold again, each for four counts. This exercise is described as an incredibly powerful tool that is readily accessible whenever needed.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Adrenaline Management The chapter 'Adrenaline Management' discusses techniques to manage anxiety and nervousness during high-stakes situations like presentations, speeches, or job interviews. It emphasizes the importance of relaxing the body through breathing to prevent voice trembling, and controlling the mind by adopting a mindset of service. This mindset shift from focusing on oneself to serving the audience helps alleviate self-consciousness and reduces anxiety.
• 06:00 - 07:30: Understanding and Desensitizing Triggers This chapter discusses strategies to manage and desensitize personal triggers related to self-consciousness and nervousness. It emphasizes shifting focus from oneself to the audience to alleviate anxiety. By concentrating on others rather than dwelling on personal nerves, one can reduce self-centered consciousness. Additionally, the chapter advises controlling both mind and body through tactical approaches like pausing and deep breathing when feeling overwhelmed, which can help in calming down, particularly if someone notices their voice trembling.
• 07:30 - 08:00: Conclusion The chapter discusses the impact of speech rate on anxiety and nervousness during speaking. It highlights how speaking faster is a common response to nervousness because people want to get through the situation quickly. However, this can create a feedback loop, where speaking rapidly signals to the mind that one is nervous, thus exacerbating anxiety. The chapter suggests that consciously slowing down the rate of speech can have a calming effect, helping to alleviate nervousness and prevent the 'spiral of doom.'

NEVER Feel Anxiety Again When Giving A Speech (5 EASY Methods) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 oh I can't believe I'm sharing this this is my biggest fail as a professional speaker one of the first speaking gigs I ever did in my career was for a Building Association in New South Wales in Sydney and I remember the first time I did the speech I was super excited but I was so nervous inside and I knew that I was going to be nervous I wore a black shirt and black pants to hide all the sweat stains because I was sweating here I was sweating there I didn't even know I could sweat here and down here I was sweating everywhere and I did the presentation I thought it kind of went well but I knew deep in my soul that it was probably bad but as I walked off
• 00:30 - 01:00 stage the CEO was already there to greet me he had a slight nervous look on his face which made me feel even more nervous and then I sweat even more and then as I went to shake his hand he shook my hand really Loosely and he said Vin have you have you done this before a man saying that gives me the hey jeebies right now that was one of the worst experiences of my life I didn't know how to deal with nerves and as a result I bombed if I had my time back here's five things I would have done to manage those nerves before you
• 01:00 - 01:30 go into a high stake situation you want to control your body the reason why your voice is trembling is because your body is trembling it's not that the voice is shaking the body is shaking which then causes the voice to shake I mean try to hold at your hand like this okay hold your hand out like this and just hold it there as still as you can it's pretty still isn't it yeah it is now I want you to tense your hand tense it really hard and when you're tensing it what happens to your hand when you tense it look I'm trying to tense it really hard and I'm
• 01:30 - 02:00 like I'm like vibrating right do you notice that when you're nervous your body tenses up and when it tenses up it starts to shake so you want to control the body and the way you can control the body is box breathing right Navy Seals do this the the military use this all the time and box breathing is you breathe in for 4 counts you hold for 4 counts you breathe out for 4 counts you hold for 4 counts try it I'll talk you through it just try just try it don't judge it just try it just fully exhale breathe in for 1 2 3 4 hold 1 2 3
• 02:00 - 02:30 4 breathe out 1 2 3 4 hold 1 2 3 4 how do you feel it's incredible right it's such a powerful tool that we all have access to anytime we need it so when you use something like box
• 02:30 - 03:00 breathing it relaxes your body and when your body's relaxed your voice is not going to tremble that's the first thing you could do that's with your body the second thing is you want to control your mind and in your own mind you need to think to yourself that this high stake situation that I'm going into this presentation that I'm walking into this speech that I'm about to give for my best friend for at their wedding this job interview that I'm going into get into a mindset of service I'm here to serve the people that are in front of me it's not about me it's not about me because if you become really
• 03:00 - 03:30 self-conscious and you keep thinking about yourself you're going to become more nervous because you're thinking me me me me me me me right instead of doing that think about the audience focus on the audience and by taking that self-consciousness taking that Consciousness away from the self and placing it on others it starts to reduce the nervousness as well so you want to control your body and you want to control your mind there's a tactical thing you can do as well if you are in the moment and you're noticing yourself getting really worked up and your voice is trembling well there's one thing you can do you can pause take a deep breath
• 03:30 - 04:00 and then significantly slow down your rate of speech by slowing down your rate of speech it calms you down and I can tell you right now that when someone is nervous one of the most common things they do is they speak faster because they want this to be over and done with so they speak faster and then as a result they and then the faster you speak the more you're communicating to your mind that you are nervous and this is where that spiral of Doom starts to happen because the faster you speak the
• 04:00 - 04:30 more nervous you think you are the more nervous you think you are the faster you speak and then it's just this terrible terrible cycle so that's a wonderful tool to be able to snap you out of that cycle in the moment manage your adrenaline adrenaline gets released when we are in those fight or flight situations before you go on stage and deliver if you're starting to feel those nerves and you're going oh my goodness I can feel the hands trembling it's not only because it's tense but because your body is St to release excessive amounts of adrenaline to get you ready for fight or flight now going up and giving a
• 04:30 - 05:00 speech there's no reason to to produce all that adrenaline you you don't have to fight anybody you don't have to run away so you want to get rid of some of that adrenaline and the way you do that is a little bit of brisk exercise again you don't do this in front of everyone but just out in the hallway just do 10 push-ups or even go for a 5minute brisk walk by doing that you get rid of all the excess adrenaline which therefore will help you manage the shakes the last bonus one is understand your triggers understand what triggers you and once you understand what triggers you you
• 05:00 - 05:30 then can manage it so if you know precisely that speaking in public is a trigger even by being able to label it and by understanding it and by knowing that makes you nervous that's going to help already after that then desensitize it so say for example you know that speaking in front of 10 people is really nerve-wracking right he like ah then the next time you're at dinner with your friends and there's only two or three people I mean that's public speaking right but to just up the ante a little bit while you're speaking to to your friends say hey I want to make a toast
• 05:30 - 06:00 this evening and as you're sitting there by you just saying hey I want to make a toast this evening all of a sudden now this changes the frame from this is just being a conversation but I'm going to deliver a speech and deliver a 30-second speech to your friends at dinner three of them and just go hey I want to make a toast this evening I want to make a toast to Great friendships I want to make a toast to being the the kind of friend that no matter what time you call me during the day no matter what time you call me during the night I'm going to answer right and and just make a speech and do a 30C speech and then you
• 06:00 - 06:30 will you'll start to feel that fear trust me and then do you know what level two of that is the next time you're with some different friends stand up and make a toast don't just sit stand up and make a toast I already know what some of you are thinking you're like oh then that's so weird it's only weird if you make it weird stand up and say hey I just want to take a moment to to share my appreciation for the two of you you know it's it's and also I'm I'm I'm going to call this out tonight I'm going to be paying for dinner so I want to say I love you I'm grateful for you and here's
• 06:30 - 07:00 to Great friendships do a little toast sit back down I'm serious because all of a sudden as you do this you're starting to desensitize the fear of presenting right and then you can go to level three of this and level three of this is when you're at work next time and you're on a zoom call stand on the zoom call because it feels more like you're presenting when you're in your team meetings and there's four or five people stand as you deliver your part of the meeting and again it's only weird if you make it weird all you have to if you want to stand in the team meeting is and it's
• 07:00 - 07:30 your turn to talk you go hey everyone do you mind if I just quickly stand I need to stretch my legs I've been sitting all day do you mind if I stand for this 5minute presentation that I'm about to do thanks everyone stand and then deliver it the more you do it the more you'll desensitize that fear and if you want to continue The Learning Journey and go down the rabbit hole with me click this next video you're going to love it