Page 101 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

68 Part 1 Foundations

before they speak. The research is clear. These techniques will serve you well
only if you commit to their systematic use.

Stage Two: Managing Anxiety

During Your Speech

Some of the same factors that give rise to pessimism before a speech also under-
mine the speech transaction itself. Negative self-talk frequently plagues speakers
as they speak. But there are other factors we haven’t discussed, for example, inac-
curate perceptions of the audience and unjustifi ed concerns about appearance.

The Audience

A recent study confi rms that many beginning speakers view their audience as
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hostile toward them. They convince themselves that the members of their audi-
ence are just waiting for them to trip over their feet, lose their train of thought,
blow a quotation, or mumble through a sentence. Along the same lines, it is not
uncommon for beginning speakers to read into the nonverbal feedback they re-
ceive from their audience such false conclusions as “they’re bored to tears” or
“they think I’m terrible.” This is anything but the case, of course. Audiences,
with rare exception, want speakers to succeed and are silently rooting for them
to do so. Plus, research shows that audiences actually underestimate the level of
anxiety experienced by speakers. 12
In recognition of this fact, consider the case of the late Mary Martin, a well-
known and highly praised stage actress who fi rst popularized the Broadway pro-
ductions of Peter Pan and Annie Get Your Gun. She used to do something before
a performance that you may wish to try. Just before going on stage, she would
close her eyes, take a deep breath, and say 100 times to herself, “I love my audi-
ence.” Next she would repeat the process, but this time tell herself, “My audi-
ence loves me.”
Beginning speakers also may convince themselves that their audience expects
more from them than they can deliver. Such expectations about an audience can
easily become a self-fulfi lling prophecy. The students you face are in the same
boat with you and want you to succeed as much as you do. If you still need con-
vincing, consider how you feel when you are a member of an audience gathered
to watch a public performance. Do you silently root for the performer to fail
miserably? Do you take perverse joy in seeing the performer make an obvious
mistake? Do you expect more from the person than he or she could ever deliver?
We didn’t think so!

Appearance

This is an appearance-obsessed culture. We are not so naïve as to recommend
that you try to convince yourself that appearance is unimportant. However, we
do recommend that you try to be reasonable in this regard. Although you cannot
transform your body type or radically alter your appearance for your speech
class, you can dress appropriately for the occasion. All too often we see students