The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it) - Mikael Cho

1,613,979 views ・ 2013-10-08

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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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.
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