Transforming Public Speaking Anxiety Workbook

This workbook is designed to accompany “5 Proven Methods to

Transform Public Speaking Anxiety,” which is Part 2 of Your True

Voice: How to Speak with Power and Presence.

Please refer to the video for full details. Then, print out this

workbook and go through it to personalize your experience.

First, let’s normalize fear around public speaking.

There’s nothing wrong with you!

Nervousness and Discomfort are just other names for Fear. Don’t

get stuck on the name!

What do you call your experience?

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Why do you call it that?

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When does fear arise in you?

c Weeks or months before a speaking engagement

c The night before

c Right before a talk

c During a talk… when something goes wrong

c I don’t do speaking engagements because of the fear

Often, strange things happen in the body. What happens for you?

c Shaking hands or knees

c Dry mouth

c Heart beating intensely

c Sweating

c Flushed face

c Can’t think or speak clearly

c Other: _________________

Did you know that these experiences are common? And… that

there’s nothing wrong with you?

c Yes

c No

Why does fear and nervousness arise?

There are several very common reasons.

First and foremost, this is a nervous system response.

You may have heard of the fight, flight freeze response – as well as

the lesser known analyze. These are what occur when we feel

threatened or unsafe.

Ø Fight: Less common for speaking, we get argumentative,

defensive, or blaming.

Ø Flight: We want to flee and run away because it doesn’t feel safe.

Ø Freeze: Think of the “deer in the headlights,” frozen with fear:

we tense up and can’t think clearly. This is the most common

nervous system response to public speaking anxiety.

Ø Analyze: Instead of taking appropriate action, we tend to

overthink an issue.

What are your patterns you easily recognize? And

when do they tend to occur?

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Second, most people don’t know how to effectively

prepare beforehand.

Most people just look over a talk and think about what they are

going to say… which isn’t enough to really get ready to be in the

vulnerable position of speaking in front of others… as well as to get

ready to knock their socks off!

This results in feeling nervous beforehand, as well as not doing a

great job the first few minutes (until you get warmed up).

Unfortunately, that costs you a good first impression, which you

have to try to earn back later.

How do you usually prepare for a talk?

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Third, it’s common to have a negative mindset.

For example, we become overly worried about what the audience

is going to think. We are afraid of judgment and rejection.

Or, we might believe that being an introvert means we can’t speak

well – which isn’t true. Many great speakers and performers are

introverts!

There are countless other negative mindsets. These basically are

false beliefs that limit us. Remember… FEAR is False Evidence

Appearing Real!

List some of your negative mindsets/beliefs here:

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Fourth: Aversion.

Many people avoid speaking… or they avoid dealing with the

anxiety or nervousness. If you aren’t facing it, you actually are

continuing to create, to perpetuate, a bad relationship with it.

Details can be found 9 minutes into the video.

What’s your relationship with speaking? Is it healthy?

Do you want it… but push it away? Write about it here:

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Fifth, most people don’t truly know what it takes to

become a powerful speaker.

You might have created assumptions based on what you saw…

Or someone made it seem easy, and yet you still found it to be

challenging…

Or the fear never went away.

What are your beliefs around what it takes to be a great speaker?

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5 Methods to Transform Fear and Anxiety

All five of these methods are necessary. Transforming nervousness,

discomfort and anxiety generally cannot be solved by taking a pill:

there are several necessary steps.

1) Shift your state. Learn how to transform, repattern and

reprogram your nervous system response.

a. Learn how to totally relax your body.

b. Breathe diaphragmatically, with your belly. This will also

help you enhance the resonance of your voice.

2) Learn how to warm up! You need to warm up:

a. Physically – because speaking is an embodied act.

b. Vocally – warm up your voice to access all of its

dynamics.

c. Emotionally and Mentally – how to get yourself “in the

game” and be fully emotionally ready.

3) Cultivate a Confidence Mindset. There are so many good

ones! And they’re different for different people. However,

here are some that surely will help:

1. The audience wants to you be great! No one wants to be bored.

Everyone wants to be inspired – even people who are pessimistic or

jaded. Maybe even especially them.

Name a time in your life that you felt appreciated:

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2. Stop taking yourself so seriously! When we make something

Really Important, we put a lot of stress and pressure on ourselves

that works against us.

So… put your talk in perspective. Have gratitude for all that you

have in your life!

And then… have fun! Relax. Enjoy this amazing gift you were given!

Name some ways you could get perspective… and some things in

your life you are grateful for:

_____________________________________________________________

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3. Cultivate a positive relationship with speaking! Imagine it like a

relative of yours, or a friend, you want to be closer to. How could

you treat it well? And, how could you treat yourself well?

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Note: #1, #2, and #3 all require time to transform. Stay tuned for details about

the Claim Your Voice training, which addresses these comprehensively.

4) Explore the fear and nerves around speaking. Rather than

avoid it or pretend it isn’t there, examine it.

Go to around 15:30 in the video to be guided through a powerful

exercise. You can then answer these questions here as well.

What images come up around public speaking?

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How does the fear protect you or keep you safe?

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How does the anxiety work against you, against your well-being,

happiness and success?

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What sensations in the body arise when you imagine or experience

anxiety around speaking?

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What is the quality or texture of the sensation?

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Does it have a shape?

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Color? _______________________________________________________

Texture? _____________________________________________________

Does it have a temperature, like warm or cold?

___________________________________________

Be guided through releasing it, and turning into your personal

power, and reclaim your energy, around minute 18:30.

5) You must know what it takes to become a

powerful, masterful speaker.

It’s important to take the mystery out of what you need to do to

become a powerful speaker. When you see it clearly, it becomes

possible for you to go to the next level.

We’ll go into detail about this in Part 3 of Your True Voice, “The

Powerful Speaker Blueprint.” Be sure to stay tuned.

In the meantime, you can take the Speaker IQ quiz. It’ll take just a

few minutes, and will help you: 1) get a sense of your skills now, 2)

see what you need next… and 3) get a better idea of what’s

possible for you overall as a powerful speaker.

Remember: Fear is simply trapped power.

And the world wants you – the real you – as an inspiring presence in

the world.

So be sure to release the old stories, and to find your confidence…

so that you can be the change the world needs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Bender, MS, MFA has

helped thousands of

entrepreneurs and professionals

become confident, authentic and

dynamic speakers who change

lives. Jonathan’s work blends

professional speaking skills with

performance technique (acting,

voice and movement) with

personal development.

The founder of the WholeSpeak™ Method, he also trains and

certifies coaches. Jonathan is also the creator of Connection

Jams™ and The Performance of Your Life™. He holds Masters

degrees in both communication and performance, and is a theatre

director, actor and creator.

A coach for 20 years, he specializes in working with those who care

as much about growing themselves as they do their careers: his

clients range from CEOs to entrepreneurs to actors, and people

from 5 continents have taken his trainings.

Visit YourTrueVoice.com for more.