5) Have a personal motivational statement. Develop a short, easy to remember statement that you can say to yourself when you are nervous about something you have to say. Mine is “I am a magnetic, expressive, decisive and real woman”. This statement is something you can rely on to get you through a tough situation. And just like breathing, it gives you something to focus on other than your nervousness and negative self talk.
6) Dress for Success. Appearance matters. Often times we underestimate the impact of how we look. And the greatest impact is on us. Feeling great about how you look gives you that extra edge to be able to speak to people with confidence. So when you have to speak to someone, put on your favorite outfit, iron your clothes, shine your shoes, and hopefully it will be a good hair day!!!
7) Carry a special object or personal item. For at least the first 8 years that I was a professional speaker I always carried this little green stone in my pocket. This stone symbolized all the hard work I had gone through, all the love I had for what I was speaking about, and all the support I had gotten from people in my life. It gave me courage. I never spoke in public without that stone. I highly recommend that you find something that works for you. Something you can hold on to, or just know that it’s there to keep you in your heart and calm.
Visualize what you want. After 15 years of being a speaker I still use this tool. I always visualize how I want a presentation to go. Not only that, but I visualize how I want a conversation with my husband to go, or with my kids. I visualize how I want a difficult phone call to go, or a meeting with a potential client. This is a powerful tool that we get into even more in later articles, but it actually helps to generate the results you want. It doesn’t even take very long. 5 minutes can’t help transform your focus and energy.
Stay tuned for the final 2 tips in this series.
