Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to stage a mental rehearsal to boost
Speaker 1: your confidence before any event you hope will go well.
Speaker 1: I received this tip from Alison Shapira, who's a former
Speaker 1: opera singer, so you know she shows something about real
Speaker 1: rehearsals and performances. She since become the founder and CEO
Speaker 1: of Global Public Speaking, a training firm that helps people
Speaker 1: present with authenticity and confidence. She is also the author
Speaker 1: of Speak with Impact, How to Command the Room and
Speaker 1: Influence others. Allison wrote to me that I learned about
Speaker 1: mental rehearsal years ago through Toastmasters and have found it
Speaker 1: to be one of the most powerful practice tools I've
Speaker 1: ever used. Injured athletes will use this tool to keep
Speaker 1: training even when they can't get onto the field. If
Speaker 1: you're nervous about public speaking because of a prior negative incident,
Speaker 1: you can use mental rehearsal to rebuild your confidence. She explains.
Speaker 1: Here's how to do it. Sit in a comfortable place
Speaker 1: and close your eyes. Take a slow breath in through
Speaker 1: your nose and out through your mouth. Continue breathing while
Speaker 1: doing this exercise. Now imagine the room where you will
Speaker 1: be given your speech or presentation. Imagine you feel excited
Speaker 1: to speak. Imagine the warm applause as you walk up
Speaker 1: onto the stage or to the front of the room.
Speaker 1: Now give your speech or presentation word for word in
Speaker 1: your mind. Imagine it going incredibly well. Imagine the warm
Speaker 1: round of applause as you finish the speech, and the
Speaker 1: mixture of relief and pride you feel walking back to
Speaker 1: your seat. Now imagine someone telling you how impactful your
Speaker 1: message was for them personally. Imagine how that makes you feel.
Speaker 1: Allison also notes that you can use mental rehearsal to
Speaker 1: prepare for difficult conversation or any challenging situation instead of
Speaker 1: focusing on how bad things could be. It is a
Speaker 1: powerful way to build your confidence and reframe nerves as excitement.
Speaker 1: I think that doing a mental rehearsal is a great idea.
Speaker 1: I think this is a wonderful idea from Allison. But
Speaker 1: you don't have to limit the rehearsals to just mental ones.
Speaker 1: I give speeches all the time, but I still practice.
Speaker 1: Whenever I've gone more than a week since my last event,
Speaker 1: I stand up in my office and I give my
Speaker 1: whole speech, timing myself to make sure I'm fitting the
Speaker 1: parameters that my hosts have set for me. If you
Speaker 1: haven't done a whole lot of speaking in front of
Speaker 1: other people, you can build that into your practice too.
Speaker 1: Invite a few friends or colleagues to watch you. You
Speaker 1: can use skype if they're located in other places. See
Speaker 1: where they react well and where they look confused or board.
Speaker 1: You'll be able to take anything problematic out before the
Speaker 1: actual high stakes event, or sometimes you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 1: I've kept a few laugh lines in my talks that
Speaker 1: I didn't personally find all that funny, but the majority
Speaker 1: of audiences seem to find hysterical. Speaking and presenting make
Speaker 1: a lot of people nervous, but a lot of these
Speaker 1: nerves stem from not knowing what's going to happen. The
Speaker 1: more you rehearse physically and mentally, the more prepared you'll feel,
Speaker 1: and that will allow you to perform with the presence
Speaker 1: of an opera star, what high stakes situation will you
Speaker 1: do a mental rehearsal for today? In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.