your arms. Shout aloud, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Keep going until your heart is
beating fast and you are breathing heavily.
Turn off the music and, while still breathing heavily, begin to talk about
your topic. Talk about the main ideas. If you have already planned the
speech, do the whole thing. As you talk, move your body. Walk from one
point of the room to another. Use strong gestures to make your point.
Continue to smile.
At first this will likely be difficult, as you’ll be out of breath. Your heart
will be beating fast and it may be difficult to think of your speech. It’s okay.
Continue smiling and do the best you can. When you finish, turn on the
music again and repeat the entire process.
Repeat this exercise at least four times a day. Each day, try to get your
heart beating even faster before you practice your speech.
This exercise accomplishes several things. First, you create a positive
anchor. By playing music you love and jumping and having fun, you
generate strong positive emotions. Feeling great, you then begin your
speech. With repetition, these great feelings become connected to the act of
giving a speech. Eventually, just thinking about doing a presentation will
make you feel excited automatically.
This exercise also trains you to deal with the major symptoms of
nervousness: fast heartbeat, fast breathing, sweating, etc. Most people
practice a speech when they are feeling calm. Because they always practice
in a calm emotional state, they are unready for the flood of emotions that
come just before the real speech. By practicing with an elevated heart and
breathing rate, you are training your mind to expect these reactions and
handle them. On the day of the speech, you won’t get scared by these
symptoms because they’ll be normal and familiar to you. Instead, you’ll be
used to channeling this physical energy into positive emotions and strong
actions.
This is the difference between training and practicing. Those who
practice simply review their speech. Those who train do their best to
recreate the emotional and physical conditions that will occur during the
