Froze up giving a presentation last Tuesday, then tried that 'pretend you're explaining it to your buddy' trick and it actually worked

Had to present Q3 numbers to my boss and his boss in a conference room with no windows, started stammering after two slides, then pictured my friend Mike asking me about the data over beers and suddenly the words just came out natural, has anyone else tried switching who they're talking to in their head?

2 comments

2 Comments

ward.jamie5d ago

That's a solid trick and it makes total sense to me. The brain just works differently when you're talking to a friend versus talking to a boss. Your fight or flight doesn't kick in as hard when you picture a buddy's face. I've done something similar where I just look at the back wall or a window and pretend nobody else is in the room. It takes the pressure off because you're not performing, you're just talking. Might not work for everyone but in my experience it's worth a shot.

jade_johnson3d ago

Gotta admit I used to roll my eyes at that whole "pretend you're talking to a friend" thing, thought it sounded too simple to actually work. But then I had to give this safety training update to the whole floor and my voice went all squeaky on the first sentence, so I pictured my buddy Dave in the back nodding along and it totally clicked. The brain is weird like that, it just switches off that "being judged" feeling when you make it casual. I guess it takes the edge off because you're not trying to impress anyone, you're just explaining stuff like you would over coffee. Funny how the simplest tricks end up being the ones that actually help.