Boosting your confidence for when the stakes are high!

Do you ever go into high-pressure situations?

A situation where you need to show up in your most confident ways?

This can be a Townhall you lead, addressing your staff at a quarterly meeting,

or speaking at a convention. One of the most common fears I've encountered is the fear of public speaking.

What happens if a speaker is anxious?

Ever heard of Mirror neurons? When we notice a speaker is overwhelmed, shy, or struggling on stage, we feel with them. We start feeling uncomfortable because our brain is mirroring back the same energy and emotions they put out to the audience.

Research has shown that the quickest way to get a Lion to open its mouth wide is if you drive close to it in a game reserve and if you yawn. It will start mirroring your yawn and open its mouth wide. Crazy right?

It can become a bit of a negative spiral. If you are uncomfortable and show this to the audience, and they mirror it back to you, you can go down a slippery slope of stress.

Over the last few years, I have coached and trained several speakers, CEOs, and leaders on public speaking. I helped them through NLP(Neuro-linguistic programming), creating healthier pathways that give them a positive, confident, and calm state when they speak.

One of my recent coaching clients spoke in the Final contest for the Evaluation category of Toastmasters International. The stakes were terribly high; this was the final round after club, area, division, semi-finals, and the Southern Africa finals for Toastmasters. The contest was happening online, and after 11 hours of no power, their inverter had bombed out; an hour before the contest, the power switched back on.

We had done a coaching session three days before, but doing a quick process over the phone helped anchor her and give her a confident and calm state.

I asked her afterward how she felt: "I felt completely calm and confident and had the belief that I can do this". The results came in, and she was placed second in the contest.

You, too, can access those positive states. When you operate from a positive state, it calms down your audience and increases your reputation and credibility. Your brain can be more creative, apply critical thinking, and you can collaborate much better.

Why does NLP work?

1. The process aligns with the client's core purpose, values, and identity if done well. When we know how something truly matters to us and realize what sacrifices we need to make, we can move forward.
2. It is non-invasive. Where psychology often exposes a wound, delves deeply into it, and allows you to bleed further, NLP is much gentler. It helps you notice what you've been through, learn from it, and take gifts into your future. It helps you to get unstuck.
3. You identify limiting beliefs that are no longer serving you.

In life, the moment we've done something 3 times, it has become a strategy. Neural pathways form the more we do something and also prune when we stop doing something. If you exercise your speaking muscle a lot, you will start feeling more and more comfortable because your brain will get used to you doing it. While if you only practice once before speaking, the pathways won't be fully formed yet.

You might have limiting beliefs around public speaking or leading a team. Perhaps somewhere in your life, that thinking served you. It saved you from being mocked in high school, but now as a leader, your clients, staff, and shareholders value you and need to hear your voice. Your voice matters.

4. New pathways can be created.

When we realize the paths no longer serve us, we can choose to access a state that will serve us. Through NLP, you can access those states much quicker.

What other ways can you build a confident state besides NLP coaching?

1. Visualisations
2. Making a vision board.
3. Making a mind movie.
4. Saying affirmations out loud.
5. Doing power poses.

If your team needs help with boosting their confidence for Public speaking and presenting, let's arrange a call to discuss your needs.