Hypnotherapy for Public Speaking
By now we’ve all heard the line “People would rather die than do public speaking.”
Honestly, death would be the easier of the two options because dealing with the fear and overcoming it will take work. If you’ve found your way to this article then I imagine you understand the power of public speaking and you’re just wondering “How do I overcome public speaking anxiety.”
The First Step: Reframing the Trauma
Did you have some sort of childhood trauma that is leading to panic attacks before public speaking now? Events from our time in the classroom as kids is a common root cause of a fear of public speaking.
Let’s take Jane for example. When Jane was 6 years old and in first grade the teacher called on her to spell the word “cat” on the chalkboard. Jane writes it as “Kat”. The teacher exhales frustratedly and says “We’ve been working on this word all week, what’s wrong with you?” Meanwhile the other kids laugh at her.
As an adult Jane has a crippling fear of public speaking because she believes that when she speaks in front of groups she’ll make a mistake and be ridiculed. This belief quickly developed from this one Initial Sensitizing Event (ISE) because it has 3 of the 6 ways we take in new ideas involved in it.
We take in new ideas or beliefs when any of these six are present. Our subconscious mind opens up and lets new things get in. I’ve bolded the three that Jane had in her situation:
Authority Figures tell us something
Peer Group is present
High Emotion
Repetition
Hypnotic State
When we say “Yes”
Using hypnosis for public speaking anxiety is an easy way to reverse the trauma and instill ideas that things go wonderful when you present. In Jane’s case a regression hypnosis session was done to find this event and then we reframed it. While in the event she realized that yes the other kids were laughing, but it was more nervous laughter because they had spelled it wrong in their heads too. Jane now reinterprets this as ‘they are like me’ and is now part of the group instead of feeling exiled.
Jane also notices that the teacher is impatient with all the class and really should have retired years ago. This event has nothing to do with Jane, and everything to do with the teacher. The teacher’s response meant nothing about Jane. This helps Jane flip from a belief that ‘I am stupid’ to ‘I am smart’.
Now in her subconscious mind we’ve flipped the belief from ‘when I speak in front of groups I’ll make a mistake and be ridiculed’ to ‘Groups are like me and I am smart’.
If you struggle with an intense fear or panic attacks then doing hypnosis for public speaking is a great way to quickly desensitize that initial event and update your subconscious with supportive beliefs. This is just one of many “hypnotherapy for anxiety” success stories I have.
Step Two: How To Be More Confident in Public Speaking
Or step 1 if you didn’t have a sensitizing event that needs to be dealt with. There isn’t always an event in our history to be dealt with. I’ve found it’s more common in extreme fear cases or if someone is having panic attacks.
The simple answer to this is to get training on public speaking. There are a lot of resources out there to improve your presence and skill as a public speaker. Whether it’s for work presentations, sales conversations or big stage speeches. Learning presence is a skill that will serve in all facets of your life.
In fact, this year I joined a masterclass with an amazing coach, Mari Geasair, who is helping me develop these skills. Here are some of the important takeaways that I’ll share. (Link to her website below if you are ready to take the next step and level up your skills).
Our fear often stems from a lack of belonging. To help with nerves do a similarity check with your audience instead of focusing on all the differences
Learn the art of the pause. Filler words happen because we don’t pause and completely finish the word we were speaking.
Focus on your audience and what you’re giving them. Speaking actually has nothing to do with you! It’s all about the gift you’re giving to your audience.
Don’t memorize a whole speech word for word. Chunk it down to grouping of ideas you want to share and memorize that. When we try to give a memorized speech and make a misstep then it’s harder to get back on track because we start panicking about what we forgot.
Before you start even writing your speech determine what you want your audience to feel, to know and to do as a result of your presentation
As you’re looking for training opportunities, evaluate if the instructor or group can teach you the why behind things. There are many places you can practice and build skills, but some of them just teach you to do things without telling you why. Knowing the why is the foundation you need to gain confidence in your skills and abilities as a speaker.
Tips To Calm Nerves Before Public Speaking
Do the Macarena! Seriously. Here’s a video in case you’ve forgotten how!
This is what my teacher calls a brain-body warmup. It helps to reconnect both sides of your brain if they’re not up to speed and being silly helps you release excess nervous energy. To get the most benefit from it you’ve got to really get in it and not remain up in your head thinking about how well you’re doing it.
You can pick any activity that gives you cross body movement and helps you feel silly. This is the secret ‘How to calm nerves before public speaking’ that you won’t learn just anywhere.
Another way to calm nerves is to do a grounding exercise and notice things around you. Start with noticing 5 things of the same color, 3 far away sounds and 3 textures.
Lastly, get into a state of gratitude. Think of three gratitudes and really let yourself fill up with that feeling.
Hypnosis For Public Speaking
Hacking your subconscious to improve your public speaking is a great way to accelerate your confidence in your skills.
Hypnotherapy is called for if you have a severe fear or almost phobia of public speaking. This means there are some events in your history to process through before your subconscious will accept new ideas about presenting being an enjoyable activity.
Self-hypnosis for public speaking is a great tool as well if you don’t have panic attacks or other intense reactions. Here are a few affirmations to work with:
Because I focus on my audience and the gift I’m giving them I am calm and focused when speaking publicly / presenting (pick the term you like best)
I am confident in myself and my skills therefore I joyfully share my knowledge
I easily speak from my natural voice and allow it to resonate
I naturally pause when speaking to allow the impact of what I say to settle in the audience therefore my speech is clear and concise
My voice easily flows through a variety of tones creating wonderful vocal variety in my speech
Because I expect love and acceptance from my audience I feel like I belong
I naturally use gestures and speak with my body as well as my voice
Resources
Mari Geasair - She is fantastic at teaching the Art of Public speaking online and in-person. If you’re looking for public speaking anxiety classes then check her out. Or if you just want to level up your skills. https://www.more-impact-less-stress.com/
Vinh Giang - I just started following him on insta and signed up for his online course. He seems stellar at what he does and someone you can learn a lot from https://linktr.ee/askvinh
