Sweaty Hands. Shaky voice. Wobbly Knees. We all experience these sensations and we desperately want to get rid of them. Chapter 6 of Elaine Cogan’s book, How to Talk to (Almost) Anyone About (Almost) Anything: Public Speaking for the Non-Public Speaker talks about these symptoms and shows us how to overcome them.
According to Elaine, preparation is key: “Know your speech so well that you have the confidence you can act quickly and assuredly to deal with anything unexpected that may happen.” The more prepared that you are. the smoother your speech will be and you won’t have to deal with all those uncomfortable negative situations.
But even the most prepared speaker can still get butterflies. Elaine also helps us manage our own nervousness and, in her words, “get all the butterflies flying in the same direction.”
