Managing Anxiety in High-Stakes Situations

In this episode we show you the science of communication. Have you ever been afraid to speak or present? Are you worried about not having the skills or tools to communicate your ideas to the world? We dig into the science and the strategies of mastering skills like speaking and presenting, crushing the anxiety that often accompanies thee high stakes moments, and share evidence based strategies for becoming  a master communicator. Matt Abrahams is a Professor of Strategic Communication for Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He is the co-founder of Bold Echo Communication Solutions and author of the book Speaking Up Without Freaking Out. Matt’s videos and training techniques have been viewed tens of millions of times in TEDx, Inc. and much more!What happens when you rip your pants in the middle of a big speech?Anxiety can have a tremendously negative impact on our ability to to communicateConfidence in speaking and what it means to be authentic and how to be an engaging communicator Anxiety negatively impacts communication in two major waysAudiences have trouble listening to a nervous speakerYou get caught up in your own head A foundational tenant of all communication is to be audience centric - your job is to serve the needs of your audience Research sees anxiety about speaking and communicating as ubiquitous across ages, cultures etcFear of communication is hard-wired intro your brain by evolution and it’s social pressuresThere are two fundamental approaches to dealing with anxietyDealing with the symptomsDealing with the actual sources of anxietySpeaking in high stakes situations is internalized by your body as a threatHold something cold in the palm of your hand it can reduce your body temperature and counter-act sweating and blushing that results from anxiety. Distracting your audience is a great strategy to take their focus off of you. Give the audience something to distract them and get them more engagedIf you gesture more slowly you will actually slow down your speaking rateGreet your anxiety - give yourself permission to be anxious. This is how you short circuit the loop of getting nervous about getting nervous. This works with any emotion, not just anxiety. The powerful learnings from improv comedy that can make you be a more confidence speaker Dare to be dull - don’t strive for perfection. Do what needs to be done, and by reducing the pressure you put on yourself you increase the likelihood that you will actually achieve a great outcome.The “Shout the wrong name” exercise that can help you reduce your anxiety in real timeConstraints and structure invite more opportunities for creativity (in life) and in communicationThe components of confidenceManaging anxietyCreating presence & meta awareness - adapt your communication to what’s happening the moment Convey emotion - confidence speakers convey emotion You have to tie the data and facts back into the emotions - the implications of the science and the dataThe “What?,” “So What?,” “Now What?” Structure The answerWhy its importantWhat you do with the answer that’s just givenHomework - Take the opportunity too build your skills. Like any skill you’re trying to build -  it’s all aboutRepetition - find avenues to speak and give presentationsReflection - ask yourself what worked and what didn’t workFeedback - find a trusted other - a mentor, a colleague, a loved one who can give you honest feedback. We are bad at judging our own communication Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.