Public speaking can be a stressful and nerve-wracking experience for some. When you’re up on stage, with the spotlight shining down on you, it’s common to feel a bit of anxiety. But what if I told you that there was a way to help calm those nerves before your next important presentation?
This is where meditation comes into play. It can help you reach a state of mindfulness and relaxation which will give you the focus and clarity needed to give an amazing performance.
In this article, we’ll explore what meditation is, why it’s so helpful for public speakers, and how one can include it in their daily routine by creating a meditation habit!
What Is Meditation?
Meditation has been around for thousands of years, but it still remains relatively unknown to much of the population. However, its popularity has been quickly growing due to its many benefits – from mental clarity to helping ease chronic pain – that have been discovered thanks to modern research.
Today we’re going to break down what meditation is and how it helps with public speaking specifically:
1. Reduce stress and anxiety
2. Increase your ability to focus
3. Improve your memory
4. Increase your emotional intelligence
5. Improve your overall health
Chances are, you’re already experiencing some of the benefits just by reading this article. Meditation is an excellent way to relax and come back to the center before a stressful event like giving a presentation or speech. It will help give you the clarity and mindfulness needed to handle the situation with ease.
Why does meditation work with public speaking?
The reason meditation works are because simply put, it just slows everything down. It can help us realize that all of our thoughts are just that – thoughts – which means that they aren’t necessarily true or based on reality.
This clears your mind and helps you see events in your life from a different perspective, giving you a fresh take on the current situation at hand.
In addition, many people experience stress because their mind is constantly jumping from one thought to another without their control. As mentioned above, when we meditate we become more aware of what’s going on around us as well as inside of us so we gain greater control over our mental processes and reactions to outside stimuli.
Lastly, meditation can help us recognize when we are stressed or overwhelmed so that we can take action to solve the issue. This is extremely helpful because it enables us to get rid of stress before it even begins instead of allowing it to become an ongoing problem.
How To Implement Meditation Into Your Daily Routine
1. Find a comfortable position that will allow you to sit down for 5-30 minutes at a time – cross-legged or in a lotus pose on the floor or in a chair is a good option. If you’re worried about your comfort level, bring a pillow or cushion to help with your position.
2. Keep your back straight and look straight ahead – it’s going to be hard at first, but eventually this will become extremely comfortable for you!
3. Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth – try to focus on your breath as you do so, whether that means counting how many times you breathe in each minute or just focusing on what the air feels like as it enters and exits from your body.
4. To end a session of meditation, simply open your eyes and stretch a bit before going off into the rest of your day!
5. Start small – begin by meditating for just 5 minutes per day. Once you feel comfortable with that, increase your time by a few more minutes each day until you reach 10, 15, 20 or however long you’d like to go!
The Benefits of Meditation On Public Speaking
Now that we’ve covered the basics of meditation and how it works in general, let’s take a look at how it can specifically help public speaking:
1. Improved memory
2. Better focus and attention span
3. Reduced feelings of nervousness and anxiety
4. More control over our reactions to outside stimuli
5. Better physical health And so much more!
Meditating has been shown to drastically reduce stress levels due to its calming effects on both the mind and body.
There’s also a strong correlation between public speaking and stress, so utilizing meditation when you’re up on stage can make the experience significantly more enjoyable.
Other Ways To Implement Meditation Into Your Life
Meditation has been shown to help with many different aspects of life once you begin to practice it regularly. Below we’ll list just some of the ways that meditation improves your overall quality of life:
1. Improved relationships – with yourself and others
2. Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety
3. Helps improve mental health in general
4. Increases confidence levels
5. Reduced addiction over time
6. Fewer panic attacks And much more!
If you want to live an overall healthier lifestyle, incorporating meditation into your daily or weekly routine is a great place to start!
How do you meditate before a speech?
Meditation is an excellent way to center yourself before you present a speech or start filming for a video.
It is also great to do beforehand if your job requires that you regularly give presentations because it will help you hit the ground running and immediately find yourself in the zone. Here are three ways to meditate before you speak:
1. Find somewhere quiet and comfortable
The first step to meditating before a speech is to find somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed. If you’re in a room with people who are making too much noise, it might be difficult for you to focus on what’s important.
This is why it’s crucial that you find a calm space before beginning your meditation session. It could even help if there was some soft music playing in the background, as this can evoke feelings of serenity.
2. Get comfortable
Once you’ve found a good spot and gotten settled into your chair or cushion, take some time to make sure that your body feels okay. You want it to feel like an extension of yourself; loose but not limp, and open but not spread too far apart.
It’s also important to make sure everything below the neck feels good. This includes your posture, your stomach muscles, and your legs. If there is a part of you that isn’t feeling right, adjust it until it does.
3. Listen to yourself
In order to have a successful meditation session before a speech or video-recording session, you need to spend some time listening to what’s going on inside of your head. Don’t try to quiet those thoughts as soon as they come up; just listen!
This is harder than it sounds because we tend not to want to pay attention when our inner monologues are negative or distracting. When you meditate with these thoughts in mind, though, you notice what kinds of thoughts come up and you get used to them.
This is important because when it’s time for your presentation, you know exactly what kinds of thoughts to tune out. Even if a distracting thought comes up mid-presentation, you have learned how to just let it pass by without dwelling on any nagging feelings that may follow it.
This allows you to focus on giving your presentation or filming your video with ease and simplicity instead of worrying about whether or not the words are coming outright. That is the ideal state in which to present!
If these three steps seem like too much work, consider taking meditation classes at your local college or community center. It’s also possible to find guided meditations online; some even come with music that helps guide you along.
Finally, it’s helpful to find a meditation buddy who can show you the ropes when it comes to how they prepare for their presentations or videos.
If none of these work for you, just remember one thing: at its core meditation is about finding some peace and quiet before an important speech or presentation. Take some time by yourself to center yourself on what matters most!
An example meditation session before an upcoming presentation might look like this: “Set aside ten minutes in your day to meditate with intention, sitting comfortably where you won’t be disturbed (for example).
Sit tall (with your spine lengthening), close your eyes, and begin taking deep breaths into each part of your body, imagining that every cell is replenished with fresh energy. As you inhale, breathe in calm feelings of love and gratitude. Exhale any tension or stress.”