Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Meditation and the fear of public speaking anxiety...
zen_world
Veteran
As part of my profession I have to give presentations regularly. Over the last couple of months my presentation anxiety become unbearable and I am having very hard time. I tried a lot of techniques including over the counter drugs but nothing helped so far.
Is there any way to eliminate this fear thru specific meditation techniques?
Is there any way to eliminate this fear thru specific meditation techniques?
0
Comments
U need a script though.
Propranalol is a great advice...I read other people's experience and it sounds promising. I will try..thanks...
continual confrontation and gradual acceptance of fear allows one to move beyond fear.
to be honest with you that is the only method i know of. it worked for me. trial by fire.
it is the fastest and most practical way to manage fear.
i took a speech class in high school, i took theater, i was in all of our school's productions, and even so, i have crippling stage fright at times. i look back sometimes and wonder how i could have survived, lol. i once had a solo without musical accompaniment in one of our plays!
but the trick for me has always been to forget about everyone else. to focus very intently on myself and what i need to do, whether it is sing, talk, read my report, whatever. meditation has helped me with this. sometimes i return my focus to my breath. while singing, i can sometimes have such severe stage fright that my vocal chords actually constrict. i can tell when i have succeeded in separating myself from the room (focusing on myself and not "them") when my voice will actually change and allow me to hit the notes like i know i can (you know, when i'm in my shower, lol).
good luck with your anxiety zen_world. but i'm afraid i don't think there is any way to tackle this problem without actually... tackling the problem, if you know what i mean. face your fears, so to speak.
Then when I shot the ball I just let go of all the desires and thoughts and just sort of used 'the force'. If it missed then I moved my feet to get in position for action.
So like zombiegirl I recommend familiarizing yourself, getting into your speech spontaneous and feeling it in the zone. Then position yourself for questions. happy feet and letting go.
I love playing soccer. I play my 'A' game when I am in the zone - no fear of missing a shot, no fear of winning, no fear of losing. I JUST PLAY!
And, I tried to speak more as I would just talk.
But the best advice I ever got -- and of course, whether you can use this depends on the topic on which you are speaking -- was, when possible make it personal. Tell the story as I personally saw it. Bring in things you've experienced. Make the stories real...not about just data or cliches.
good advice. you need the correct data to be taken seriously in some topics, but nobody is going to remember the data. They will remember you. And the story.
Give up the tendency to resistance in regard to painful feelings...
The tendency to formulas, the tendency to mind games...
You could also focus on a specific area not focused on the crowd but above them ie a clock or something.
Or imagine them all naked
If all else fails, join Toastmasters. It's an org full of people like you; people who have to speak in front of groups regularly, and were terrified of the prospect in the beginning. So they support each other, they speechify to each other, give feedback, etc. I've never joined 'em, but I know people who have, and they say it really helps.
How I have coped with it is first by using beta blockers, to take the 'edge off it' in that it stops the mouth from becoming dry, and stopped me from literally holding my breath so I was gasping like a fish out of water after the first couple of sentenses. Following this I developed my own technique of breathing which stopped me losing control and allowed me to get through it. It did not stop those horrible feelings of fear, but in time I did accept these feelings and knowing I was not going to pass out or have to walk out of the room, meant each time I became a little more confident, which in turn reduced the feelings of panic. If anyone wants to know the breathing technique I used, feel free to contact me.
I want to know!!
Yes, I would like to know too...I scheduled an appointment with my doctor and I will ask him to prescribe me beta blocker...
How is beta blocker? Does it work like magic?
All it does is reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety. So lets say your regular BP is 110, and lets say when you give a speech your fear raises your BP by 30, so now your BP is at 140. At 140 your heart accelerates and you get all those physical symptoms which can include shaking, sweating, flushed face, dry mouth.
So now before you go do a presentation, you take a beta blocker and it lowers your BP to lets say 90, but now with the increased anxiety your BP only goes up to 120 where the symptoms are not nearly as pronounced.
I read something about how blowing on your thumb is supposed to help with anxiety, but I'm not sure why.
I promised myself if betablockers work then I would let others know.
I took @ric advice and went to my doctor. He prescribed me beta blockers for about a month ago. I used it in several times right before big presentations and it worked wonderful. I can't believe how effective this drug is. Its miracle...No side effects, no change in my consciousness or awareness, and it is not addictive..
I really recommend it if you are suffering from performance anxiety.
thats great news! its a lot of performers little trick ! I guess its my ego but im really happy I could help
don't inflate your ego though:)
It's called 'self centred fear'. How do I overcome this? By trying to be less self centred and not to take myself too seriously (Rule 62 applies at all times).
Taking ourselves too seriously is not good for us.
Here's a quick shorthand of what I can remember:
1.We are all human, and thus are equal, and have the same right to happiness. (this helped because it made me realized that I was not bellow others. That I shouldn't consider my desire to speak some kind of sin. Like I was not worthy of speaking in the presence of other people. This was my issue, stemming from low self esteem.)
2. There is a reference to a story from the doctor who co-wrote the book, and he mentioned a friend who was afraid to ask out a woman out of fear of rejection. The doctor decided to get to the root of why, and it was because the man felt guilty or innapropriate asking out a beautiful woman with less than perfect intentions. He explained buddhist views on sexuality, and the man realized that he was not doing anything wrong, and just knowing that they were both equals, and adults, and that he had no reason to avert his gaze, or feel guilty for talking to her, he asked her out. She refused, already having a lover, but he wasn't upset, he was just happy that he was no longer afraid to ask.
I think this hints at the idea that there are two factors in anxiety most the time.
1. Low self esteem. In which the best mantra would be "I am human. All humans have the right to be happy. I have the right to be happy". Then repeat with another person in mind "You are human...". The key is to not just say it, but to think of what happiness actually means to you. What do you wish for yourself, and with that same happiness on another human being.
2. Ill intention. If ones intentions aren't pure, or you feel like what your saying lacks significance, a feeling of wasting other peoples time, or being inappropriate arises. Just remind yourself whenever you meet someone, that your intentions are not bad, and therefor you have nothing to fear. If you slip up, then just explain your lack of ill intent, and most people, being on the same level as yourself, will be bale to understand what it's like to slip up.
This is the only advice I can give, and though I'm still not the most sociable guy in the world, coming to understand this has made it much easier for me to speak to people, or in the case of public speaking, at people.