WEBVTT

00:00:07.809 --> 00:00:08.845
Palms sweaty,

00:00:08.845 --> 00:00:09.555
heart racing,

00:00:09.555 --> 00:00:11.005
stomach in knots.

00:00:11.528 --> 00:00:12.903
You can't cry for help.

00:00:12.903 --> 00:00:14.781
Not only is your throat too tight to breath,

00:00:14.781 --> 00:00:16.924
but it'd be so embarrassing.

00:00:16.924 --> 00:00:19.093
No, you aren't being stalked by a monster,

00:00:20.616 --> 00:00:22.333
you're speaking in public,

00:00:22.333 --> 00:00:25.099
a fate some deem worse than death.

00:00:25.099 --> 00:00:26.860
See, when you're dead, you feel nothing;

00:00:26.860 --> 00:00:29.233
at a podium, you feel stage fright.

00:00:32.309 --> 00:00:34.346
But at some point we've all had to communicate

00:00:34.346 --> 00:00:35.347
in front of people,

00:00:35.347 --> 00:00:37.488
so you have to try and overcome it.

00:00:37.488 --> 00:00:40.709
To start, understand what stage fright is.

00:00:40.709 --> 00:00:42.878
Humans, social animals that we are,

00:00:42.878 --> 00:00:44.977
are wired to worry about reputation.

00:00:44.977 --> 00:00:46.719
Public speaking can threaten it.

00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:48.865
Before a speech, you fret,

00:00:48.865 --> 00:00:51.691
"What if people think I'm awful and I'm an idiot?"

00:00:51.691 --> 00:00:53.571
That fear of being seen as an awful idiot

00:00:53.571 --> 00:00:54.801
is a threat reaction

00:00:54.801 --> 00:00:56.209
from a primitive part of your brain

00:00:56.209 --> 00:00:58.211
that's very hard to control.

00:00:58.211 --> 00:00:59.795
It's the fight or flight response,

00:00:59.795 --> 00:01:02.335
a self-protective process seen in a range of animals,

00:01:02.335 --> 00:01:04.970
most of which don't give speeches.

00:01:04.970 --> 00:01:06.459
But we have a wise partner

00:01:06.459 --> 00:01:07.876
in the study of freaking out.

00:01:07.876 --> 00:01:09.969
Charles Darwin tested fight or flight

00:01:09.969 --> 00:01:12.357
at the London Zoo snake exhibit.

00:01:12.357 --> 00:01:13.867
He wrote in his diary,

00:01:13.867 --> 00:01:14.934
"My will and reason were powerless

00:01:14.934 --> 00:01:16.863
against the imagination of a danger

00:01:16.863 --> 00:01:18.897
which had never been experienced."

00:01:18.897 --> 00:01:20.068
He concluded that his response

00:01:20.068 --> 00:01:21.893
was an ancient reaction unaffected

00:01:21.893 --> 00:01:24.283
by the nuances of modern civilization.

00:01:24.283 --> 00:01:25.739
So, to your conscious modern mind,

00:01:25.739 --> 00:01:26.863
it's a speech.

00:01:26.863 --> 00:01:27.899
To the rest of your brain,

00:01:27.899 --> 00:01:30.037
built up to code with the law of the jungle,

00:01:30.037 --> 00:01:31.964
when you perceive the possible consequences

00:01:31.964 --> 00:01:32.983
of blowing a speech,

00:01:32.983 --> 00:01:34.229
it's time to run for your life

00:01:34.229 --> 00:01:36.153
or fight to the death.

00:01:49.951 --> 00:01:52.788
Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates,

00:01:52.788 --> 00:01:54.732
triggers your pituitary gland to secrete

00:01:54.732 --> 00:01:56.528
the hormone ACTH,

00:01:56.528 --> 00:01:57.774
making your adrenal gland

00:01:57.774 --> 00:01:59.728
shoot adrenalin into your blood.

00:01:59.728 --> 00:02:01.077
Your neck and back tense up,

00:02:01.077 --> 00:02:01.773
you slouch.

00:02:01.773 --> 00:02:03.116
Your legs and hand shake

00:02:03.116 --> 00:02:04.943
as your muscles prepare for attack.

00:02:04.943 --> 00:02:05.608
You sweat.

00:02:05.608 --> 00:02:06.803
Your blood pressure jumps.

00:02:06.803 --> 00:02:08.292
Your digestion shuts down

00:02:08.292 --> 00:02:10.039
to maximize the delivery of nutrients

00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.500
and oxygen to muscles and vital organs,

00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:14.824
so you get dry mouth, butterflies.

00:02:14.824 --> 00:02:16.290
Your pupils dilate,

00:02:16.290 --> 00:02:18.101
it's hard to read anything up close,

00:02:18.101 --> 00:02:19.183
like your notes,

00:02:19.183 --> 00:02:20.785
but long range is easy.

00:02:20.785 --> 00:02:22.504
That's how stage fright works.

00:02:22.504 --> 00:02:23.790
How do we fight it?

00:02:23.790 --> 00:02:25.983
First, perspective.

00:02:25.983 --> 00:02:27.366
This isn't all in your head.

00:02:27.366 --> 00:02:29.563
It's a natural, hormonal, full-body reaction

00:02:29.563 --> 00:02:32.257
by an autonomic nervous system on autopilot.

00:02:32.257 --> 00:02:35.221
And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety.

00:02:35.221 --> 00:02:37.623
John Lennon played live thousands of times.

00:02:37.623 --> 00:02:39.783
Each time he vomited beforehand.

00:02:39.783 --> 00:02:40.944
Some people are just wired

00:02:40.944 --> 00:02:43.150
to feel more scared performing in public.

00:02:43.150 --> 00:02:45.709
Since stage fright is natural and inevitable,

00:02:45.709 --> 00:02:47.442
focus on what you can control.

00:02:47.442 --> 00:02:48.733
Practice

00:02:48.733 --> 00:02:49.478
a lot,

00:02:49.478 --> 00:02:50.459
starting long before

00:02:50.459 --> 00:02:53.031
in an environment similar to the real performance.

00:02:53.031 --> 00:02:55.701
Practicing any task increases your familiarity

00:02:55.701 --> 00:02:57.201
and reduces anxiety,

00:02:57.201 --> 00:02:58.665
so when it's time to speak in public,

00:02:58.665 --> 00:02:59.831
you're confident in yourself

00:02:59.831 --> 00:03:01.289
and the task at hand.

00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:02.910
Steve Jobs rehearses epic speeches

00:03:02.910 --> 00:03:04.034
for hundreds of hours,

00:03:04.034 --> 00:03:05.494
starting weeks in advance.

00:03:05.494 --> 00:03:06.601
If you know what you're saying,

00:03:06.601 --> 00:03:08.121
you'll feed off the crowd's energy

00:03:08.121 --> 00:03:09.375
instead of letting your hypothalamus

00:03:09.375 --> 00:03:11.383
convince your body it's about to be lunch

00:03:11.383 --> 00:03:12.719
for a pack of predators.

00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.483
But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus

00:03:14.483 --> 00:03:17.275
has had millions of years more practice than you.

00:03:17.275 --> 00:03:18.649
Just before you go on stage,

00:03:18.649 --> 00:03:20.127
it's time to fight dirty

00:03:20.127 --> 00:03:21.311
and trick your brain.

00:03:21.311 --> 00:03:23.657
Stretch your arms up and breath deeply.

00:03:23.657 --> 00:03:25.064
This makes your hypothalamus trigger

00:03:25.064 --> 00:03:26.908
a relaxation response.

00:03:26.908 --> 00:03:28.450
Stage fright usually hits hardest

00:03:28.450 --> 00:03:29.900
right before a presentation,

00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:32.034
so take that last minute to stretch and breath.

00:03:32.034 --> 00:03:34.044
You'll approach the mic, voice clear,

00:03:34.044 --> 00:03:35.414
body relaxed.

00:03:35.414 --> 00:03:38.039
Your well-prepared speech convinces the wild crowd

00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:40.036
you're a charismatic genius.

00:03:40.036 --> 00:03:40.862
How?

00:03:40.862 --> 00:03:42.270
You didn't overcome stage fright,

00:03:42.270 --> 00:03:43.779
you adapted to it.

00:03:43.779 --> 00:03:44.853
And to the fact that no matter

00:03:44.853 --> 00:03:46.590
how civilized you may seem,

00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:47.588
in part of your brain,

00:03:47.588 --> 00:03:48.865
you're still a wild animal,

00:03:48.865 --> 00:03:52.566
a profound, well-spoken wild animal.