Page 158 - The New Articulate Executive_ Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader

HOW TO BEAT FEAR 149

4. Have fun. If you have read this book and you are a player, you
will. But if you still have a problem, at least tell yourself that you’re
having a good time. Sounds laughable, but it can help. Look at your
speaking assignment as you would any other fun challenge in life—a
tennis or golf game, for example. Then mentally put yourself right
back in that bar with your friends.

5. Pump yourself up. Remind yourself of times in the past when you
had to speak. You may not have always been perfect. But you sur-
vived. Perhaps it went very well, in which case you can congratulate
yourself on a job well done and recall what it was like, how it went,
what you did right, and how you felt afterward.

6. In your mind, picture yourself talking to just one person. If it
helps, pick out one person in the audience and speak directly to him
or her.
These mental games may not eliminate all your butterfl ies, but
they should help change anxiety into a sense of excitement and chal-
lenge, which is the same frame of mind that champion athletes cul-
tivate to win in sports.
With the architecture we’ve been talking about, and the founda-

tion, and now the confidence to command the room, you are almost
ready.