Overcoming Stage Fright

1
Stage Fright

-- fear that affects a

person who is about
to face an audience

2
 Symptoms of Stage Fright

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Symptoms of Stage Fright
• Stomach butterflies
• Pounding heart
• Shortage of breath
• Sweaty palms
• Dry throat
• Unsteady voice

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Symptoms of Stage Fright

• Dry mouth
• Cold hands
• Fast pulse
• Wobbly knees
• Tied tongue
• Trembling hands

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright
• Select a familiar,
relevant topic.
Prepare 150 percent.

• Use positive self-talk.

• Convert your fear

into anticipation and
enthusiasm.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright

• Shift the focus from

yourself to your
visuals.

• Give yourself
permission to make
an occasional
mistake.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright
• Ignore stumbles; keep
going. Don’t apologize.

• Make the listeners your

partners. Get them
involved.

• Just before you speak,

practice deep
breathing.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright
• Concentrate on how
good you are.

• Pretend you are just

chatting with friends.

• Imagine the audience

listening, laughing and
applauding.
Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright
• Remember happy
moments from
your past.

• Think about your

love for and desire
to help the
audience.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright

• Use eye contact. It

will make you feel
less isolated.

• Look at the friendliest

faces in the audience.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright
• Take quick drinks of
tepid water.

• Don’t hold notes. The

audience can see them
shake. Use 3 X 5 cards
instead

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright
• If your legs are
trembling, lean on
a table, shift your
legs or move.

• Double check your

audiovisual
equipment.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 Ways to Overcome
Stage Fright

• Concentrate on your
ideas.

• Say something to
someone to make sure
your voice is ready to
go.

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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 motivation: the driving force

Communicating in organizations

leading: inspiration and direction - managers and leaders; are they different?

power - who gets power? power tactics

groups : group pressures, group decisions group conflicts

managing conflict - organizational conflict: concepts and models

the manager's job -what effective managers really do

book: readings in managerial psych - Harold J. Leavitt, Louis R. Pondy and David M. Boje 4th Edition, 1989
USA: The University of Chicago Press

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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Mary Ellen Guffey, Business Communication: Process and Ch. 15, Slide
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