Belly breathing wins the day
From time to time even the most experienced presenter gets an attack of nerves or an episode of panic. It happened to me the other evening whilst being Toastmaster at my local public speaking club.
I had prepared well for the meeting. I had my agenda and notes but when I arrived at the meeting things began to unravel. Firstly, we had an unusually high call of rate that night so the audience were thin on the ground and we were short of members to fulfill club roles. Then I discovered that one of the speakers had forgotten to arrange for a laptop for his presentation! Then it was time to start the meeting and Our president and another two speakers had not yet arrived due to traffic problems!
What was I to do? I could feel the anxiety and panic rising within me and I have to admit that I even fleetingly though about walking away! Thankfully I knew I was made of sterner stuff and so I fell back on that tried and tested standby of most speakers, Deep breathing.
After a couple of minutes of proper belly breathing” the fog started to clear and I was able to rearange the agenda and get the meeting started with a topics session. Belly breating is a slow deep breathing techhnique where, when you breath in, your belly expands rather than your chest. Correspondingly, when you breath out, your belly contracts. Just putting one hand on your tummy and experimenting with your breathing will teach you to get it right.
When you breath in this way, you fill the whole of your lungs and get much more oxygen into your lungs which helps you to think clearly. Also that slow, rhythmic deep breathing sends physiological signals which force your brain to calm down.
so next time you feel the panic rising, take a few deep belly breaths, step up to meet your fears and watch them dissolve as your confidence and clarity grows. It works like magic!
