Shift Public Speaking Fear
Read below or choose a perfect Desktop Shift, iPhone Shift, or Android Shift to shift into your ideal state of mind today.
Let's take a long, deep breath.
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Notice the shift that occurs inside you after you take a long, deep breath.
Notice that bit of a shift that occurs inside your body.
That's what we're tracking here.
That's what we're noticing together when we shift.
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Take another deep breath.
Then, notice your mini-shift into presence.
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Let go of any feelings of anxiety.
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Let go of any thoughts that are producing anxiety.
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Let go of anything that's distracting you.
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Come into presence.
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Notice how you feel again.
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Good.
One of the reasons I began teaching people how to shift is pretty simple.
When I had to give a presentation at school I would get stressed.
It’s the most normal thing in the world.
We know it's the number one ranked stress for many people — public speaking.
It's funny in a way because it ranks ahead of some really potentially painful and tragic alternatives.
In our minds, public speaking can get built up as a major stress.
And it had done that for me.
So, I set my mind to solving the problem.
The simplest way I could find to solve that problem was to take a long, deep breath.
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And then, immediately notice how my experience had shifted.
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Let's take a long, deep breath now.
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You always physiologically shift when you take a long deep breath, and intend to let thoughts go, and let stress go.
You shift at least a little bit.
It happens every time once you get the hang of it.
Feel it?
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I realized that if I could feel that mini-shift anytime, I had a great solution.
All of a sudden, I felt great about public speaking.
It struck me that this very basic kind of a solution is a lot like what you sometimes hear people describe when they talk about a pharmaceutical solution for anxiety.
If they know they have their pharmaceutical solution (e.g., an anti-anxiety drug) with them, they feel more relaxed.
They know they have a solution.
They can take their pill at moments when they think they will need it.
But the biggest impact of their pill (i.e., of their solution) is that they know they have a solution.
My solution (i.e., my pill) became regularly taking a long, deep breath and noticing a mini-shift.
Let’s take another long, deep breath.
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And again, notice how you feel different inside as you shift.
Always remember to take notice, if you can.
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Feel the mini-shift?
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Perfect.
This solution of taking a deep breath to create a mini-shift became a public speaking fear antidote for me.
When you think about it deeply though, what is this antidote actually doing for me?
It’s true that a deep breath is actually doing something physiological.
A deep breath can be a little like taking a pill, or having a sip of beer or wine, in that it chemically settles your physiology a bit.
That’s especially true when you take a few deep, slow breaths in a row.
Let’s try that now.
Take 3 long, slow deep breaths in a row.
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Breathe and notice how you feel.
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Breathe and notice how you feel again.
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Feel a shift?
If you do, you know that deep breaths can relax you immediately — to some observable degree.
However, I estimate that ~80% of the strategy’s psychological value as it relates to alleviating fears of things like public speaking comes from knowing that you have a solution in your back pocket — so you don't get stressed as much in the first place.
Using that strategy as a daily habit — taking a long, deep breath and noticing a mini-shift anytime you get stressed at all — is the solution I implemented to address my stress about public speaking.
It can work well if you practice consistently.
You can practice on your own or complete a Shift anytime to practice.
Through testing Shifts and researching, we’ve also discovered that most people can shift from a state of relaxation into other states of mind and body as well — like a flow state.
Ideally, you’ll match your mind state to your chosen activity in any moment.
Just choose a Shift title based on how you want to shift.
Or, create a personalized Shift in the OnePerfect Shift app —
Today, let’s stick with taking a long, deep breath — and then noticing the difference in how your body feels while you’re taking a deep breath.
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Nice.
If you have any anxiety issues, I suggest you set a clear intention to remember to take long, deep breaths and notice how you feel regularly.
Consistently shifting your mind and body throughout the day will help relax you over time.
Millions of people are struggling with anxiety right now.
Try building this simple, powerful advice into your daily routine.
Be patient and consistent.
I bet you'll find the results are phenomenal.
It can be life-changing.
As you relax more, you’ll also likely connect with people more — both during and outside of public speaking or other currently stressful experiences — because you won’t be as stressed about whatever fear-story was stressing you out before.
You also likely begin to loosen (or entirely release) your anxiety-based story about how something ‘might not’ go well — be it a public speaking presentation, or any other future-oriented story.
If you’re like me, you’ll find that connecting with people authentically is extremely soothing and emotionally reinforcing too.
Life can be beautiful when you look forward to connecting to it.
Let’s take one more long deep breath.
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Nice.
Have an incredible day.
Stay present.
Talk to you soon,
Sean
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Contact us to shift your team into a better state of mind in under 10 minutes anytime.