Do You Fear Public Speaking?
Public speaking can feel as if you find yourself in the eye line of a lion who is yet to decide on lunch.
Though logically we know we are not in physical danger, when we get up to present, we still feel that age-old fear from our primitive brains.
Yet even when facing a real threat, if you demonstrate effective communication, it can give you an incredible advantage.
One of the most memorable examples of this is when Napoleon escaped Elba and Royalist troops had orders to shoot him on sight at Grenoble.
When he encountered these soldiers with orders to kill, he shouted with confidence while throwing open his famous grey coat:
‘Soldiers, I am your emperor. Know me! If there is one of you who would kill his Emperor, here I am’.
They, very much against the orders of their commander, abandoned their weapons and ran towards him shouting ‘Vive l’Empereur!’.
Unlike Napoleon, often when speaking in front of a group we protect ourselves with posture as an automatic biological response to perceived threats - sometimes in ways we’re not even conscious of.
The last time you watched a presentation, did any of these things occur?
The presenter angled themselves side-on to the audience to decrease the vulnerable surface area to attack.
Did they slightly hide behind an object such as a podium, chair, or table?
Were they touching an object for security and positioning themselves next to it as you would to a shield from a weapon?
Were they positioned near a door or a window which could serve as a potential exit?
Though these gestures are natural and seen in many people’s responses to giving a presentation, they can also have unintended consequences.
This is because when you obscure information about yourself, such as physically blocking yourself with a podium, other humans’ brains automatically default to a negative perception of you.
Conversely, the more present and visible you are, no matter how unnatural it may feel at first, the more optimistic people will be about you as leader, and the more you will stand out and be seen.
There’s a reason that public speaking is a more common fear than death though one is a much more permanent state than the other.
If you’d like to win trust, gain credibility and learn from the man who teaches the G7 how to speak, stay tuned for our upcoming collaboration with Mark Bowden.
