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When you're waiting for your turn to speak at the podium, calm, quiet relaxation will probably be the last thing on your mind. However, knowing how to calm your nerves ahead of time can make an otherwise stressful speech a relative breeze. Below are just a few patented techniques to help minimize problems caused by a case of the jitters during your speech: Rapid heartbeat: Breathe deeply and slowly. Concentrate on someone in the room you're comfortable around, like a friend or family member. Start delivering the words of your speech you'll naturally relax once you start talking. Racing, panicked thoughts: Take deep breaths. Look out into the audience and see the humor in their blank, expressionless faces. Alternatively, imagine that the members of the audience are somehow unimportant or laughable (e.g., that they're all in their underwear, etc.) Dry mouth: Bring a bottle of water with you onstage to drink as you need it. Consider also chewing gum before (but not during) your speech. Mimicking the process of eating can have a calming effect on the emotions. In addition, it can stimulate saliva production, preventing a dry mouth. Trembling: Breathe deeply and slowly. If necessary, try slowly tensing and releasing the muscles in the trembling body part to work out the excess energy from your adrenaline high. Above all, relax. You've prepared, so you have no reason to worry about how the speech will turn out. Worrying will only make it harder to deliver the great speech that you're perfectly capable of giving. Even people who otherwise have no tics or neuroses sometimes develop strange repetitive behaviors when put under pressure in public. The best cure for nearly any sort of tic is to relax with the techniques listed above. However, in addition, making a mental list of common speech-giving tics ahead of time can allow you to catch them if you notice them appear while you're delivering your speech. Below are just a few of the most common problems you'll probably want to avoid: Hurrying or rushing through your speech. Mumbling Fidgeting or messing with something in your hands Swaying from side to side. Coughing/sniffling excessively As noted above, one of the most common problems that inexperienced speakers have is that they can tend to rush or mumble through their speech unintentionally. The way you speak when you're giving a speech shouldn't be the same way you talk to people you're close to in a casual setting you want to speak slower, more clearly, and somewhat louder than you normally would. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to dwell on every word and take long pauses between your sentences, just that you should make an effort to ensure that even the hard-of-hearing in the audience can understand you. When you give an acceptance speech, you're addressing the audience, so you'll want to look at the audience for most of your speech just as you'd look at the person you're addressing if you were talking to only one person. It's OK to give the notes or the outline you have with you a quick look to keep your speech on-track. Try to limit this to short glances no longer than a few seconds or so long. The rest of the time, hold your head high and speak directly to the audience in front of you. If you can remember to do so, try to gradually move your gaze from side to side as you look at your audience. Sweeping your eyes back and forth gives the members of the audience the impression that you're addressing them all individually. If this "sweeping" motion is tricky for you, try randomly picking individuals in the audience to look at for a few seconds at a time as you talk. To someone who's nervous about giving a speech, the audience can seem like one big, scary, imposing entity that must be confronted and appeased. In fact, the audience is anything but this it's actually made up of many different individuals, all of which have their own internal motives and preoccupations (just like you!) Some of the people in the audience may be thinking about their own problems or simply daydreaming while you give your speech. Others may be practically (or literally) asleep. Some may not even be intelligent enough to understand your speech! On the other hand, some may find your speech interesting or important. Few, however, are likely to find it as important as you do, so don't be scared by your audience! Thinking of your audience as a collection of real, imperfect people, rather than as a faceless, monolithic crowd is a sure-fire way to make it easier to relax.
Manage your anxiety with stress-fighting techniques. Know what to avoid. Speak slowly and clearly. Make eye contact. Remember that everyone in the room is a human being.