If your heart races every time you're asked to "say a few words," you're in good company. Roughly 75% of adults experience some form of speech anxiety. The good news: anxiety is a physiological response, which means you can interrupt it with physiological tools. Here are the five I teach every coaching client.
1. Box breathing (4-4-4-4)
Used by Navy SEALs and TED speakers alike. Breathe in for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four. Three rounds slows your heart rate and signals "safe" to your nervous system. Do it backstage, in the bathroom, or under the desk — no one needs to see it.
2. Reframe nerves as energy
A Harvard Business School study found that simply saying out loud "I am excited" before performing improved confidence and outcomes more than trying to "calm down." Anxiety and excitement share the exact same physical signature — racing heart, alert muscles. You're not nervous, you're activated.
3. The two-minute power posture
Hands on hips, chest open, chin slightly up — for two full minutes before you walk on stage. The research is debated, but the felt experience is real: an open, expansive posture interrupts the body's contraction response. You'll walk in feeling bigger.
4. Anchor on one friendly face
Don't try to "connect with the room." That's too vague for an anxious brain. Instead, pick one person who looks engaged — and speak the first 30 seconds directly to them. Your nervous system reads it as a one-on-one conversation, which it has decades of practice with.
5. Pre-write the first sentence
Most stage anxiety lives in the opening. Memorise — word for word — the first sentence you'll say. Not the whole talk. Just sentence one. Once your mouth is moving, your body remembers what to do.
Anxiety doesn't mean you're not ready. It means your body cares about getting it right. Channel it.