Hi everyone,
As you prepare for your speech on Monday or Tuesday, consider these points:
1. Research on stress indicates that the way a person respond to and deals with pressure is more important to well being than any particular source of stress itself.
2. When you feel stress, your tendency is to rely on old comfortable (and mostly ineffective) habits. By using your awareness and breathing and centering, you can alter your physiological state, making your new skills more operational.
3. Oxygen is the brain’s major nutrient. Breathing and centering in stressful situations increases the oxygen to the brain when it is most needed.
4. When you are centered, you relate from a grounded sense of power. Your nonverbal behaviors reflect a dynamic, relaxed strength, rather than static tension and stress.
Try this exercise:
Think about or visualize yourself giving a speech. As you dp, let yourself breathe deeply (especially when you experience any tightening). As you breathe, let yourself relax into your center (abdomen area), and feel your whole body become more solidly grounded as you step into your experience. See if when you practice your speech from this place of relaxation that your speech is better.
Good luck giving your first speech. Remember, practice, practice, practice!
Email me if you have any questions or need additional support.
Jane