As a communications coach for the past decade, I have found that most people get nervous when it comes to speaking in public. The butterflies in their tummies are not just psychological manifestations, apparently. Part of the reason is the conscious conversation they have in their heads.
Conscious conversations can include the following:
- What if I forget my script?
- Will the audience notice my trembling fingers?
- What if the mike gets faulty?
- Will I look good?
- How can I finish my speech on time?
- Why am I even speaking?
- Etc
Have you ever had this hidden conversations in your head?
The fact is, these seemingly justified rationales will disable your natural ability to speak.
One simple exercise that I usually do with my clients, is a simple visualization activity, where I will ask them to imagine having a conversation with their family members or closest friends. I ask them to mentally note the way they spoke, the body languages they adopted and the sense of confidence they displayed.
The important thing however, is that just before they go into this visualization mode, I will ask them to say out loud to themselves, “I am now going INCOGNITO”.
Incognito refers to the act of going into privacy mode. If you are surfing on your browsers, clicking an incognito tab simply means that you do not wish to have your searches be listed under history.
The only reason why this is important is to establish a subconscious imprint on your mind, that your conscious mind should not be able to access.
What the conscious mind is unable to access , is basically latent power. It therefore is unable to put in “pop up blockers” or “limiting conversations” onto those images.
So when do you access this incognito searches/visualizations?
When you need your empowering beliefs and abilities to surface, of course!
Thus, one of the very practical exercises my clients do, just before they are scheduled to speak or present, is for them to access their incognito tabs! And once you have access to the incognito tabs, you have all the required knowledge and references to handle your nervousness.
Your conscious mind aka open tab, is usually filled with history searches, that are limiting in its nature. Try accessing your incognito tabs. You might just access some interesting things about yourselves!
