4 Ways to Ease Nerves Before Public Speaking: How I Prepare for Sales Calls and Interviews
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When I left teaching to start copywriting, I envisioned peaceful days at home, alone typing away on my laptop.
What I didn’t think about was how I was going to get those writing jobs. The work does not magically land in my inbox. I, in fact, would need to reach out to strangers and have calls with business owners to land the jobs.
Whether you’re going in for a job interview in person, preparing for a presentation at work or in school, or virtually showing up to express your knowledge to a potential client, public speaking is a part of all our lives. It’s also the number one biggest fear we have collectively.
Mindset is a huge factor in helping you have a successful speech, call, interview, or performance. There are also physical practices that can help ease your nervous system to ensure you come off calm, competent, and charismatic.
Check Your Mindset
Checking your mindset is crucial while preparing to show up in front of people you are hoping to impress. If you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t be able to convince others to believe in you.
Your internal thoughts about yourself show up in your body language, voice, and energy. If you don’t work on this area, everyone in the room will feel your discomfort which causes them to lose trust in you.
Even if you are scared, you can still radiate confidence and composure by shifting the way you speak to yourself and the way you look at the situation.
A mantra I love to repeat is: No one is better than me and I am no better than anyone else.
This helps me remember that whoever I am speaking to is just a human. They are not an all-powerful being who can make or break me. They are giving me their time because they need some kind of help. I am there to offer my help. If they want it great. If not, it must not be the right opportunity for me.
Another mantra to repeat is: Everything is happening in my favor.
Whether you get the outcome you want or not everything always works out the way it is meant to, often in ways far more beautiful that you can even dream up.
When you show up with this top of mind, you release the overwhelming pressure because you know that your success is not solely reliant on this one situation.
Journaling the morning of a big opportunity helps you focus on what is important and gain the confidence boost you need to perform your best.
2. Move Your Body
Nerves in the body make you feel like you’re in serious danger. Your stomach flips, your chest clenches, your throat feels like it’s closing, and your whole body might buzz or shake with fear.
Before your big moment, move the fear and nerves out of your body. I do this by going on a walk or run outside a few hours before. This helps me check my mindset and gain clarity while releasing any energetic blocks inside.
Just a few minutes before when the nerves really ramp up, move them out. If I’m at home before a virtual call, I will jump, do handstands, and shake my entire body to release what is not serving me.
If you’re in public, find a bathroom or step outside to shake out your limbs, do a few jumping jacks, or twirl around. Cleansing your energy before you begin speaking helps you feel centered and in control of your performance.
During your big moment, if you feel the nerves pick up, press your hands on your legs to reconnect with your body and bring yourself back to the present moment.
3. Tapping
EFT tapping is an ancient practice that works with pressure points like acupuncture to release negative beliefs and clear your energy field.
By tapping on specific energy points, you are sending signals to the part of the brain that controls stress telling it to restore balance. This process can work on emotional distress and physical symptoms.
While you tap on each energy point, first bring up the issue you are faced with. For this, it may be fear of public speaking, wanting to be understood, or fear of what others think of you.
As you acknowledge the challenge you’re facing, find love and acceptance for yourself.
Here is a commonly used phrase during tapping sessions: Even though I’m afraid this person won’t take me seriously, I deeply and completely love, honor, and accept myself, and everyone else who may be involved in this.
As you tap through the energy points and talk through your discomfort, search for better-feeling thoughts by finding the truth in the situation. Tap as you uplift and support yourself through this challenge until you find a state of confidence.
To understand where to tap and what to say, especially if you’re new to this, watch Tap with Brad on YouTube.
I like to follow along with Brad’s tapping sessions every morning before I start my workday to maintain balance and work through limiting beliefs. Before a speaking event or interview, try this tapping session to ease nerves and feel prepared for your big moment.
Tapping can feel silly at first and you may question how something so simple can make any difference in the way you feel. Tapping works with energy to heal and uplift you naturally. Try it a few times and see how you feel before dismissing it.
During times of stress, it’s common to leave your body to protect yourself. This is a natural experience, but when this happens it usually causes you to not perform the way you want.
You can use tapping to reconnect with your body during the stress in a way that won’t look silly to the person you’re engaging with.
If you have a video call, you can tap bilaterally to align your nervous system and send the signal to your brain that you are safe. Do this by tapping your feet under your desk, left, right, left, right. You can also tap your hands on your lap by tapping your right hand to your right knee, then left hand to left knee, and repeat.
If you are in person, you can tap your toes inside your shoes, bilaterally. Try these simple tools to help you perform your best.
4. Breathwork
Your breath is a powerful tool. It is literally the thing that keeps us alive usually without us even thinking about it. Because it is so natural, many of us forget how powerful intentional breathwork can be to calm the nervous system and restore harmony in the body.
Nose breathing is best for physical health and emotional regulation because it is the way humans are designed to breathe when in a resting state. Your nose has a natural filter to limit the intake of harmful bacteria and toxins. Plus it is the fastest way to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system.
Before a call or speech, take a minute or two to breathe slowly and mindfully. Breathe in through your nose for 6 seconds, hold your breath for 6 seconds, then breathe out through your nose for 8-10 seconds. Repeat that cycle of breathing for 5 rounds. You will instantly feel your muscles relax and your heart begin to pump more naturally.
This cycle of breathing will put you into a parasympathetic state so that you can think clearly and speak intentionally.
During the height of your stress—right when the client enters the video call, when you step on stage in front of a crowd, or when an interviewer asks you a question you don’t immediately know the answer to… come back to your breath.
While under intense stress our voice gives away so much. If we aren’t thinking about it we’ll start to talk too fast and radiate the anxiety we have inside to whoever we’re talking to. We can also start to use the question inflection while trying to state facts. This is when your voice raises up as if you’re asking a question. For example: I can help you improve your marketing???
This question inflection makes the person you’re speaking to lose trust in you and view you as less competent.
The moment you feel your heart pound and your body go into fight or flight, come back to your breath. It’s okay if people can see you breathe. It doesn’t look weird to take a moment to gain your composure before you start speaking. Take two of those deep nose breaths before speaking to bring you back into your body.
Go For Your Dreams
I used to let fear stop me from going after the life that I wanted. With these 4 steps, I’ve learned to trust that I can take care of myself no matter what situation I’m in.
It feels good to have your own back. When you believe in yourself, you’ll be surprised how quickly things work out in your favor.
You have control over the way you speak to the world.
For more tips like this, connect with me on LinkedIn where I share a daily takeaway Monday-Friday.
🤍 Jaclyn
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