Quick fixes won’t make your public speaking anxiety disappear, or turn you into a confident communicator overnight. To do that, you have to deal with what’s causing your anxiety – not just the symptoms. This is at the core of the Ultraspeaking methodology.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t get started with some quick wins and practicing today.
Here are 3 simple techniques we recently shared on Lenny’s Podcast, each designed to help you:
✅ Look better
✅ Sound better
✅ Feel better
…all while tackling the root causes, not the symptoms, of speaking anxiety.
Look up to look confident
Pausing is one of the best tools we have in our speaking toolkit. A pause can help clarify what you want to say, giving you time to gather your thoughts before answering a question, or moving on to your next point.
For many people, it feels natural to look down when taking a pause. But looking down can send the wrong message, especially in virtual environments like Zoom meetings. Your audience might think you’re looking at your phone or just zoned out.
That leads us to our first technique: look up.
Instead of looking down, turn your gaze upwards to the left or right. You’ll look thoughtful, not disengaged. And thoughtful people seem naturally confident and at ease with themselves. It’s an easy switch with a big impact.
Quick tip: Looking up might feel a little bit awkward or unnatural the first time you do it. Write “Think Up!”, on a Post-it and put it on your computer as a reminder. Once you’ve done it a few times, it’ll become second nature.
End strong with summary prompts
Wrapping up a presentation or speech can be one of the hardest parts of speaking, even for seasoned communicators.
Maybe you tend to taper off at the end, because you run out of things to say.
Or you’re not sure how well your answer is being received, so you qualify it with: “I don’t really know if that makes sense.“
Without a strong ending, it doesn’t matter how well your presentation went – you’re telling your audience that you weren’t confident about it. That’s the last thing they’ll take away.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to end strong, even when you’re not sure how you want to conclude your speech: use a summary prompt.
When you get to the end of your speech or presentation, instead of tapering off, try one of these:
- “So to wrap up…”
- “My point here is…”
- “What I want you to remember is…”
When you start a sentence with a prompt, your brain will help you out by naturally filling in the blank. It’s almost like you’re tricking yourself into giving a quick, polished conclusion.
Quick tip: Practice each of these summary prompts the next time you’re speaking in a meeting. Which one feels most natural to you?
Stay in character
When we’re speaking, we’re hyper-aware of what we’re saying. We notice every little mispronunciation and mistake, no matter how small.
The thing is, little flubs and errors happen all the time, even to the most talented public speakers. To your audience, you still look like a normal, competent and confident speaker. But internally, you might be feeling like that one error is the only thing people will remember.
What most people do when this happens: they break character and start “leaking,” shining a spotlight on their anxiety.
They’ll say, “Oh, man, I’m not making sense right now,” or they’ll laugh nervously after mispronouncing a word.
In reality, when you reveal those feelings to your audience, you’re putting a magnifying glass on something they probably didn’t notice. It’s like saying, “hey, check out this mistake I just made.”
And the good news is, the solution is very, very simple: no leaking!
Don’t share your insecurities with your audience. Act like they don’t exist.
Think of it as faking it til you make it: act confident, and that’s how your audience will see you. Eventually, you’ll realize that if you don’t show your insecurities, they won’t see them. The instinct to leak will fall away.
We shared these techniques and more on Lenny’s Podcast – check out the episode for a top-to-bottom guide to becoming a more effective, confident communicator. Plus, watch Tristan and Lenny play through Ultraspeaking’s exercises live on camera.
