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

Translator: Tracey Carro Noya Reviewer: Mario Cal

Palms sweaty,

As palmas suorentas,

heart racing,

o corazón acelerado,

stomach in knots.

nós no estómago.

You can't cry for help.

Non podes berrar por axuda.

Not only is your throat too tight to breathe,

Non só tes a gorxa tan preta que non podes respirar,

but it'd be so embarrassing.

tamén sería tan vergoñoso.

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

Non, non te está a perseguir un monstro.

you're speaking in public,

Estás a falar en público,

a fate some deem worse than death.

un destino que algúns achan peor cá morte.

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

Cando estás morto, non sentes nada;

nun estrado, sentes medo escénico.

at a podium, you feel stage fright.

But at some point we've all had to communicate

Pero nalgún intre todos tivemos que falar diante doutra xente,

in front of people,

so you have to try and overcome it.

logo tes que tentar superalo.

To start, understand what stage fright is.

Para comezar, entende o que é o medo escénico.

Humans, social animals that we are,

Os humanos, coma animais socias que somos,

are wired to worry about reputation.

preocupámonos pola nosa reputación.

Public speaking can threaten it.

Falar en público pode ameazala.

Before a speech, you fret,

Antes dun discurso, sentes desacougo:

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

“E se a xente pensa que son terrible, que son un idiota?”

That fear of being seen as an awful idiot

Ese medo a ser visto coma terriblemente idiota

is a threat reaction

é unha reacción ás ameazas

from a primitive part of your brain

dunha parte primitiva do cerebro

that's very hard to control.

que é moi difícil de controlar.

It's the fight or flight response,

É a resposta de loita ou fuxida,

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

un proceso de autodefensa observado en diversos animais,

most of which don't give speeches.

os máis dos cales non dan conferencias.

But we have a wise partner

Mais temos un sabio compañeiro

in the study of freaking out.

no estudo dos medos.

Charles Darwin tested fight or flight

Charles Darwin comprobou a “loita ou fuxida”

at the London Zoo snake exhibit.

na mostra de serpes do zoo de Londres.

He wrote in his diary,

Escribiu no seu diario:

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

“A miña vontade e razón víronse impotentes

ante a imaxinación dun perigo que nunca experimentaran”.

which had never been experienced."

He concluded that his response

Concluíu que a súa resposta

was an ancient reaction unaffected

era unha reacción antiga inalterada

by the nuances of modern civilization.

polos matices da civilización moderna.

So, to your conscious modern mind,

Para a túa consciencia moderna,

it's a speech.

é un discurso.

Para o resto do teu cerebro,

To the rest of your brain,

built up to code with the law of the jungle,

desenvolvido para afrontar a lei da selva,

when you perceive the possible consequences

cando percibes as posibles consecuencias de estragar un discurso,

of blowing a speech,

it's time to run for your life

é hora de correr para salvar a vida ou loitar ata a morte.

or fight to the death.

Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates,

O teu hipotálamo, común a tódolos vertebrados,

triggers your pituitary gland to secrete

fai que a túa glándula pituitaria segregue a hormona ACTH,

the hormone ACTH,

making your adrenal gland

o que fai que a glándula adrenal

shoot adrenaline into your blood.

libere adrenalina no sangue.

Your neck and back tense up, you slouch.

O teu pescozo e as túas costas tensan. Dóbraste.

Your legs and hand shake

Trémenche as pernas e as mans

as your muscles prepare for attack.

e os músculos preparan o ataque.

You sweat.

Súas. A túa tensión arterial dispárase.

Your blood pressure jumps.

Your digestion shuts down

A túa dixestión detense

to maximize the delivery of nutrients

para maximizar a achega de nutrientes e osíxeno

and oxygen to muscles and vital organs,

aos músculos e órganos vitais,

so you get dry mouth, butterflies.

logo sentes a boca seca, bolboretas na barriga.

Your pupils dilate,

As túas pupilas dilátanse.

it's hard to read anything up close,

É difícil ler cousas de preto,

like your notes,

como as túas notas,

but long range is easy.

mais ver ao lonxe é doado.

That's how stage fright works.

Así funciona o medo escénico.

How do we fight it?

Como o combatemos?

First, perspective.

O primeiro: perspectiva.

This isn't all in your head.

Isto non está todo na túa mente.

It's a natural, hormonal, full body reaction

É a reacción natural, hormonal e de todo o corpo

by an autonomic nervous system on autopilot.

dun sistema nervioso autónomo en piloto automático.

And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety.

E a xenética xoga un papel moi importante na ansiedade social.

John Lennon played live thousands of times.

John Lennon tocou en directo milleiros de veces.

Each time he vomited beforehand.

E cada vez, vomitaba antes do concerto.

Some people are just wired

Algunhas persoas están programadas para sentir máis medo actuando en público.

to feel more scared performing in public.

Since stage fright is natural and inevitable,

Dado que o medo escénico é natural e inevitable,

focus on what you can control.

concéntrate no que podes controlar.

Practice a lot,

Ensaia,

moito,

starting long before

comezando ben antes

in an environment similar to the real performance.

e nun ambiente semellante ao da actuación real.

Practicing any task increases your familiarity

Practicar unha tarefa aumenta a túa familiaridade con ela

and reduces anxiety,

e reduce a ansiedade,

so when it's time to speak in public,

de xeito que á hora de falar en público,

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

tes confianza en ti e no que vas facer.

Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches

Steve Jobs ensaiaba os seus épicos discursos

for hundreds of hours,

durante centos de horas

starting weeks in advance.

dende semanas antes.

If you know what you're saying,

Se sabes o que estás a dicir

you'll feed off the crowd's energy

aproveitarás a enerxía do público

en vez de deixar o teu hipotálamo convencer o corpo de que

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

o vai devorar unha grea de predadores.

for a pack of predators.

Pero o hipotálamo dos vertebrados

But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus

tivo millóns de anos máis ca ti para ensaiar.

has had millions of years more practice than you.

Xusto antes de saíres a escena

Just before you go on stage,

it's time to fight dirty

é o intre de xogar sucio

and trick your brain.

e enganar o teu cerebro.

Estira os brazos cara arriba e respira fondo.

Stretch your arms up and breath deeply.

Isto fai que o teu hipotálamo active unha resposta de relaxación.

This makes your hypothalamus trigger

a relaxation response.

O medo escénico adoita acentuarse xusto antes da presentación,

Stage fright usually hits hardest right before a presentation,

logo dedica ese último minuto a estirar e respirar.

so take that last minute to stretch and breathe.

You approach the Mic, voice clear,

Achégaste ao micro. A voz clara.

body relaxed.

O corpo relaxado.

Your well-prepared speech convinces the wild crowd

O teu discurso ben ensaiado convence á multitude salvaxe

you're a charismatic genius.

de que es un xenio carismático.

Como?

How?

Non superaches o medo escénico,

You didn't overcome stage fright,

you adapted to it.

adaptácheste a el.

E ao feito de que por moi civilizado que parezas,

And to the fact that no matter

how civilized you may seem,

in part of your brain,

nunha parte do teu cerebro,

es aínda un animal salvaxe.

you're still a wild animal,

a profound, well-spoken wild animal.

Un animal salvaxe profundo e benfalado.