Recently I’ve been asked to do a series of stress management programs rather than pure public speaking programs. I think this is a reflection of the level of anxiety present in our world today. Since all my speaking programs are focused on helping people find their calm center, I’ve found it easy to re-cast my More…
Tag: calm down
Lessons from a lint filter, water bottle and electric toothbrush
Somehow, as much as I’m trying to slow down and simplify my life, I always seem to be in a hurry. Every time I do my laundry I’m reminded that hurrying through my tasks isn’t the most efficient way to get things done. I always seem to want to quickly empty the lint filter in More…
Openings… The biggest stumbling block
“The first few moments of a presentation always terrify me.” “I know my subject really well and know what I want to say, I just don’t know how to get started.” “If the first few minutes go well, then I relax for the rest of the talk.” Statements like these are almost universal. It seems More…
The yoga of public speaking
I’ve been a yoga practitioner for more than 20 years. At one time I taught yoga. I now take every opportunity I can to study with different yoga teachers from different traditions. I do so to expand my experience of myself and to extend my ability to return to a state of inner quiet while More…
Speaking with both feet on the ground
Several weeks ago I gave a workshop on this topic with the intention of, for the first time, beginning to clarify what I mean by the phrase “embodied presence”. Here is some of the thinking that went into the workshop. Where we put our attention, that’s where energy goes. This is probably the core principle More…
Fear of the first few minutes in public speaking
I swim for exercise. I swim in pools that are kept relatively cool so that lap swimmers don’t overheat when they work up a “sweat”. This means that it’s always hard to get into the pool at the beginning of my swim. Once I’ve been in the water for even one lap, the chill wears More…
Contemplative practices reduce anxiety
Several weeks ago, I gave a talk with Dr. Sara Lazar, neuroscientist and researcher at Mass General Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital. Sara’s research is centered on changes in brain structures that result from meditation and yoga. Her results are very interesting! Basically they show that regular awareness (or contemplative) practices like yoga and meditation More…
Consciously slowing down can reduce anxiety
I just caught the tale end of an interview on NPR with Michael Tilson Thomas, music director for the San Francisco Symphony, talking about the audition process for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. I tuned in to the interview just as he was talking about how musicians tend to speed up when they are nervous. My More…