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Palms sweaty,

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heart racing,

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stomach in knots.

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You can't cry for help.

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Not only is your throat
too tight to breathe,

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but it'd be so embarrassing.

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No, you aren't being stalked by a monster,

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you're speaking in public,

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a fate some deem worse than death.

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See, when you're dead, you feel nothing;

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at a podium, you feel stage fright.

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But at some point
we've all had to communicate

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in front of people,

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so you have to try and overcome it.

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To start, understand what stage fright is.

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Humans, social animals that we are,

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are wired to worry about reputation.

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Public speaking can threaten it.

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Before a speech, you fret,

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"What if people think I'm
awful and I'm an idiot?"

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That fear of being seen as an awful idiot

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is a threat reaction

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from a primitive part of your brain

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that's very hard to control.

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It's the fight or flight response,

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a self-protective process
seen in a range of animals,

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most of which don't give speeches.

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But we have a wise partner

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in the study of freaking out.

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Charles Darwin tested fight or flight

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at the London Zoo snake exhibit.

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He wrote in his diary,

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"My will and reason were powerless
against the imagination of a danger

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which had never been experienced."

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He concluded that his response

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was an ancient reaction unaffected

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by the nuances of modern civilization.

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So, to your conscious modern mind,

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it's a speech.

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To the rest of your brain,

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built up to code
with the law of the jungle,

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when you perceive
the possible consequences

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of blowing a speech,

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it's time to run for your life

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or fight to the death.

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Your hypothalamus, common
to all vertebrates,

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triggers your pituitary gland to secrete

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the hormone ACTH,

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making your adrenal gland

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shoot adrenaline into your blood.

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Your neck and back tense up, you slouch.

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Your legs and hand shake

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as your muscles prepare for attack.

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You sweat.

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Your blood pressure jumps.

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Your digestion shuts down

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to maximize the delivery of nutrients

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and oxygen to muscles and vital organs,

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so you get dry mouth, butterflies.

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Your pupils dilate,

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it's hard to read anything up close,

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like your notes,

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but long range is easy.

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That's how stage fright works.

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How do we fight it?

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First, perspective.

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This isn't all in your head.

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It's a natural, hormonal,
full body reaction

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by an autonomic nervous
system on autopilot.

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And genetics play a huge
role in social anxiety.

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John Lennon played live
thousands of times.

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Each time he vomited beforehand.

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Some people are just wired

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to feel more scared performing in public.

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Since stage fright
is natural and inevitable,

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focus on what you can control.

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Practice a lot,

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starting long before

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in an environment similar
to the real performance.

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Practicing any task
increases your familiarity

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and reduces anxiety,

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so when it's time to speak in public,

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you're confident in yourself
and the task at hand.

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Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches

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for hundreds of hours,

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starting weeks in advance.

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If you know what you're saying,

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you'll feed off the crowd's energy

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instead of letting your hypothalamus
convince your body it's about to be lunch

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for a pack of predators.

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But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus

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has had millions of years
more practice than you.

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Just before you go on stage,

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it's time to fight dirty

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and trick your brain.

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Stretch your arms up and breath deeply.

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This makes your hypothalamus trigger

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a relaxation response.

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Stage fright usually hits hardest
right before a presentation,

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so take that last minute
to stretch and breathe.

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You approach the Mic, voice clear,

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body relaxed.

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Your well-prepared speech
convinces the wild crowd

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you're a charismatic genius.

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How?

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You didn't overcome stage fright,

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you adapted to it.

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And to the fact that no matter

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how civilized you may seem,

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in part of your brain,

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you're still a wild animal,

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a profound, well-spoken wild animal.