How to manage self consciousness

Roger Elliott

Self consciousness is an essential part of being human, but it can make social situations really tricky sometimes. Here's what you can do about it if it happens to you.First, let's look at what mean by self consciousness. Here's an example...

Self consciousness in action You're standing with a group of friends, happily chatting away, the conversation going along nicely. Then someone says to you, "John, you're good at that, why don't you tell us how you do it?" And Bang!, the way you feel changes completely. It's as if a spotlight has been turned on you and the rest of the room lights dimmed. All of a sudden, your cheerful, easygoing nature of 10 seconds ago is nowhere to be found! What happened?Well basically, your focus of attention has shifted to yourself, otherwise known as self consciousness.You may also have received a shot of adrenaline as a stress response.Now we have 2 potential problems:If your adrenaline levels go too high, your brain will cease functioning in a way that allows you to think clearly, and you will feel like running away.

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Five Tired, Worn Out Speaking Cliches

Melissa Mayers Lewis

The subject of public speaking is riddled with tired, worn out cliches we ought to throw out. Here are a few to let go of:1. "Public speaking is the #1 fear." You can count on hearing this one any time you take a presentation skills class. The problem is, there's nothing to substantiate it. The quoted source for this "fact" is usually The Book of Lists, which, even in current editions, shows a tiny blurb in the Sunday Times of London from October 7, 1973, as its source.

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Lose Stagefright Over Your Lunch Hour

Melissa Mayers Lewis

While teaching a two-day Speaking Confidence program to a group of 25 government secretaries, I wanted to give them practice using their personal experience to help others. So I gave them a simple assignment to ponder over their lunch hour: Think of a lesson they'd learned in life and share that lesson with the group when they came back. A petite woman named Judy nervously came to me as the group was disbursing. Judy begged me to excuse her from this exercise. "Please! You don't understand.

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Speak With a Relaxed Body and Mind

Sandra Schrift

Fear of public speaking is No.1. Death is No.4. So most people would rather get a root canal and pay their taxes than speak in front of an audience! 1. Sure you have catecholamines all speakers do (including Sir Winston Churchill and Presidents Kennedy, Carter, and Reagan). These are the chemicals that make you sweat, make your heart beat fast, and make your hands shake.

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Five Ways to Expand Your Comfort Zone

Skye Thomas

Expanding your comfort zone isn't quite the same as building self-confidence. However, the two do fit together rather nicely. The one begets the other. So many people feel stuck in a rut... bored from a routine that is safe and comfortable but not very exciting.

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Practice, Practice, Practice

Skye Thomas

It may sound silly but the key to self-confidence and building more self-esteem is through practice. Practice what it is you want to feel more confident about and eventually, the confidence will show itself. That makes sense if we're talking about a skill like playing the piano. With enough practice, you naturally begin to get good at it and then you feel more confident. But what about tougher things like public speaking or meeting new people? How do you practice something that you're terrified to do in the first place?If you have extreme self-esteem issues then you might want to seek professional help, but if you've determined that isn't necessary, I would suggest that you start out by finding something that you genuinely love to do.

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How to Use Public Speaking to Attract Clients

Steven Van Yoder

When Robert Middleton moved his marketing consulting practice, Action Plan Marketing, to Palo Alto, California several years ago, he started his business from scratch. He had left his well-established client base several miles away and now had to find strategies to generate new clients. Because Middleton had always spoken to promote his business, he turned to public speaking with a vengeance. He researched local organizations whose members comprised professional business owners, his target clientele. He called chambers of commerce, business groups and others likely to be interested in his three-hour marketing workshop.

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