The Number One Tip For Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking - Part Two - The Science Bit
In my previous article, I talked about how training yourself to run positive mental movies is my number one tip for overcoming fear of public speaking.
I wanted to follow this up with some of the scientific evidence behind it.
You may not know this, but the brain and body can't tell the difference between something you vividly imagine and the reality.
When you learn something new, a pathway is created in your brain between neurons.
This pathway is your brains way of remembering.
Because the brain can't tell the difference between real and vividly imagined events, even mental practice can help establish new patterns, or correct old ones.
Visualisation has been proven to effect the body's electroencephalographicwaves (EEGs - this is a measure of the electrical activity in the brain.
)Brain scans have shown that people visualizing activities have the same level of brain activity as those actually performing the tasks.
Unfortunately we're all well practices in this vivid visualization - except with most people it's called 'Worry'!When we worry, imagine the worst, see clearly in our minds it all going horribly wrong etc.
etc.
We're reinforcing those neural pathways and making them stronger.
The only way to correct this is to start running some pretty good, pretty vivid positive images - and fast! "Formulate and indelibly stamp on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding.
Hold this picture tenaciously.
Never permit it to fade - and you mind will seek the develop the picture.
" Norman Vincent Peale , author of The Power of Positive Thinking Are you convinced yet?Okay, maybe this will convince you: New Scientist recently reported a study where researchers asked a group of volunteers aged between 20 and 35 to imagine flexing their biceps five time a week.
The scientists recorded the participant's brain activity during these times and also monitored their muscles to make sure that they weren't unintentionally tensing or moving their arm muscles.
The group increased their arm strength by 13.
5% over the period of the testing, and they maintained this increase for 3 months after the experiment had finished.
Remember, all they did was think about exercising! One of the greatest exponents of using positive mental movies was Mohammad Ali, former world heavyweight boxing champion.
Ali used to call it 'future history' and said: "The man with no imagination has no wings" He said that he always rehearsed the fight in his head, again and again before he even stepped foot in the ring.
He was famous for his pre-fight predictions, told in his own inimitable style ("Archie More, you're going in round four" was just one typical example.
)What's so amazing however is that out of the 19 pre fight predictions he made, 17 of them were correct! So just how can this help you to become a better, more confident public speaker?Well, wouldn't you like to know that there was a sure fire technique that you could do cheaply, easily and without relying on anyone else and that was scientifically proven to improve your performance?Wouldn't that make you feel more confident?And to have the added bonus of knowing that every time you ran your positive mental movie you were a step closer to it coming true? Here's my suggestion.
How about if you practices for 10 minutes each day? We can all find 10 minutes, right?And for those 10 minutes, imagine speaking in front of an audience.
What is the best performance you can possibly imagine giving?Play that movie, and make little tweaks and corrections along the way until it's exactly how you want it.
Imagine everything going perfectly -speaking eloquently and confidently, handling the room like an expert, forming brilliant and persuasive arguments, having them in turns rolling in the aisles with laughter and weeping tears of compassion.
Really go for it.
Then for the rest of that day, watch closely for those negative movies - the worry ones.
When you realize one's starting up, stop it.
And go back to your positive movie instead.
Remember, if the positive can have such an effect on your neurology, so can the negative so guard against it.
I wanted to follow this up with some of the scientific evidence behind it.
You may not know this, but the brain and body can't tell the difference between something you vividly imagine and the reality.
When you learn something new, a pathway is created in your brain between neurons.
This pathway is your brains way of remembering.
Because the brain can't tell the difference between real and vividly imagined events, even mental practice can help establish new patterns, or correct old ones.
Visualisation has been proven to effect the body's electroencephalographicwaves (EEGs - this is a measure of the electrical activity in the brain.
)Brain scans have shown that people visualizing activities have the same level of brain activity as those actually performing the tasks.
Unfortunately we're all well practices in this vivid visualization - except with most people it's called 'Worry'!When we worry, imagine the worst, see clearly in our minds it all going horribly wrong etc.
etc.
We're reinforcing those neural pathways and making them stronger.
The only way to correct this is to start running some pretty good, pretty vivid positive images - and fast! "Formulate and indelibly stamp on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding.
Hold this picture tenaciously.
Never permit it to fade - and you mind will seek the develop the picture.
" Norman Vincent Peale , author of The Power of Positive Thinking Are you convinced yet?Okay, maybe this will convince you: New Scientist recently reported a study where researchers asked a group of volunteers aged between 20 and 35 to imagine flexing their biceps five time a week.
The scientists recorded the participant's brain activity during these times and also monitored their muscles to make sure that they weren't unintentionally tensing or moving their arm muscles.
The group increased their arm strength by 13.
5% over the period of the testing, and they maintained this increase for 3 months after the experiment had finished.
Remember, all they did was think about exercising! One of the greatest exponents of using positive mental movies was Mohammad Ali, former world heavyweight boxing champion.
Ali used to call it 'future history' and said: "The man with no imagination has no wings" He said that he always rehearsed the fight in his head, again and again before he even stepped foot in the ring.
He was famous for his pre-fight predictions, told in his own inimitable style ("Archie More, you're going in round four" was just one typical example.
)What's so amazing however is that out of the 19 pre fight predictions he made, 17 of them were correct! So just how can this help you to become a better, more confident public speaker?Well, wouldn't you like to know that there was a sure fire technique that you could do cheaply, easily and without relying on anyone else and that was scientifically proven to improve your performance?Wouldn't that make you feel more confident?And to have the added bonus of knowing that every time you ran your positive mental movie you were a step closer to it coming true? Here's my suggestion.
How about if you practices for 10 minutes each day? We can all find 10 minutes, right?And for those 10 minutes, imagine speaking in front of an audience.
What is the best performance you can possibly imagine giving?Play that movie, and make little tweaks and corrections along the way until it's exactly how you want it.
Imagine everything going perfectly -speaking eloquently and confidently, handling the room like an expert, forming brilliant and persuasive arguments, having them in turns rolling in the aisles with laughter and weeping tears of compassion.
Really go for it.
Then for the rest of that day, watch closely for those negative movies - the worry ones.
When you realize one's starting up, stop it.
And go back to your positive movie instead.
Remember, if the positive can have such an effect on your neurology, so can the negative so guard against it.
