Your heart is pounding so strongly you can feel it in your throat. You’re hot all of a sudden, maybe nauseous, too. You worry about what the audience might think of you. What if you forget what you’re going to say? What if you trip as you walk in? Recognise any of this? If so, then you know what it’s like to be sabotaged by nerves.

Is there anything we can do to turn this around?

There is one incredibly simple, significant way to break this cycle and change our experience of performance nerves — that is to switch our focus from ourselves to our audience.  If we can remember this one thing, it changes everything: when we speak in public, it’s not about us. It’s not about you — it’s about the audience and their needs.

Whether you’re trying to sell your fantastic entrepreneurial idea or just sharing the latest progress on a project with your colleagues, the thought you need to have as you look at your audience is this: What do they need to know, and how can I help them understand it? 

You are the expert here — your job is to put your message over to your audience as clearly as possible. By turning our focus on to our audience and their needs in this way, we stop paying attention to our own imagined inadequacies, and start to think about how we can be of service to our audience; how we can deliver our message so as to ensure it lands. It’s an act of generosity as well as self-preservation.

This act of generosity switches us to pay more attention to how we deliver our message. How can we help them understand what we’re saying better? In response, we adjust the pace we use, make more effective use of pauses, increase our inflection and emphasis to express the nuance of what we’re saying. This switch of focus from our own concerns to the needs of others is transformative both for us, and for our audience.

And if, when we switch our focus to our audience in this way, we still feel a little on edge before we start, we shouldn’t be scared of the feeling. A bit of nervous anticipation is helpful to launch us with the necessary energy to keep our performance exciting. A little nervous energy and adrenalin can help keep us on our best game. In my next blog I’ll be sharing how to use breathwork in preparation for this launch moment.

Once you’ve done all the preparation, you’ve rehearsed and you’re all good to go, if you still feel that little edge of nervousness, reframe it — change your mindset. Tell yourself: it’s about their needs, not yours. You’re in a position to help your audience understand something new. Render that service with enthusiasm. Be generous in it and and remind yourself: you’re not nervous, you’re excited.

My next blog will concentrate on breath work to steady your nerves and manage your heart rate.

Based in Leytonstone, London, UK, Julia Caddick is a dynamic voice and presentation coach with over 30 years of experience in music, theatre, and communication. She helps business leaders, teams, and individuals present themselves and their ideas with clarity, authenticity and impact — both in person and online.