It’s natural to question ourselves from time to time, and it helps us grow. It’s what makes us realise we may need further training in a particular area, thus enabling us to become better practitioners of our art. But if our self-questioning turns to attacking self-doubt, it becomes a problem.

Have you ever experienced the undermining voice that says: “WHAT IF I CAN’T DO IT?! WHAT IF I LET THEM DOWN?!”

So many of us have thought this. It’s a thought that makes the bottom drop out of my stomach just writing it! In the context of public speaking, it may mean “what if I open my mouth and nothing comes out?!” Or “what if I forget everything I was going to say, or say it all wrong?!” or even “ What if I can’t put the point across well enough to persuade them?” It may lead onto anxiety about the outcome of our feared failure: “What if we don’t win the contract? What if they don’t invest? My boss will think I’m to blame!” This is the voice of our fear; thefear of failure and humiliation. Sometimes this voice calls on an uncomfortable memory from the past as evidence to convince us that we will fail.

“It went wrong once before, what if it happens again?” Left unchallenged, this thought process can undermine our confidence, and trigger physiological symptoms of nerves.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

Challenge the thought process. Ask yourself how likely is it that the exact same thing will happen again? This particular negative voice depends on you not having developed, grown up, or done anything to improve your situation since your uncomfortable experience. Put simply, you are not the same person you were when you felt it went wrong before, (and probably the people who heard you then didn’t think it went as badly as you did!). You have developed as a person and as a professional since then. And this is the important thing: we learn and we progress. Depending on how long ago the unfortunate experience was, it is possible that not a cell in your body is the same as it was then!

When you notice this thought process starting up in your mind:

1. Identify it: see it for what it is – not the truth, but the voice of your fear
2. Take action to help yourself, if there is room for skills development.  If you feel you need help to improve your confidence or style of presentation delivery , you can contact a presentation coach like myself to work with you.  You can research some of the free courses available on LinkedIn. If it’s the content of the presentation that is your challenge, there is help available for this too. A good Communications Coach can help you find the most effective way to present your ideas to an audience. The fact that you are reading this blog, says that you are interested in your professional development and in taking steps to move yourself forward.
3.  Instead of asking yourself, ‘What if I can’t do it?”, ask yourself: “What if I can do it?!” Picture yourself succeeding in your delivery, and getting your message over. Imagine how good that will feel. Let yourself indulge in some healthy daydreaming about how well your presentation will go.
4. Look at the evidence: question your doubt. Ask yourself what evidence is there to suggest that the thing that went wrong once before will happen again? Think of the number of presentations you’ve given that haven’t gone wrong. Believe in the numbers.
5. Reframe your thought: Remember that the people listening to you want to hear what you have to say. We know this is true, because they’ve given up their time to come and hear what you have to say. We need to take the focus off ourselves, and onto them. What do they need? When we focus on our audience’s needs, instead of our imagined failures, the whole picture changes. We can get past the fear of not being able to deliver, and focus instead on delivering to help someone else.

Name it, reframe it, take action to change it!

In my next blog, I’m going to deal with a very insidious voice that some of us have from childhood: the voice that says: “Who do you think you are?!”

Julia Caddick is a Voice and Presentation Coach, Training Workshop Leader, and Singing Teacher. She has a thriving practice in Cambridge and coaches 1:1 in person and remotely.