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

怯场中的科学（如何克服怯场）--Mikael Cho

翻译人员: Minglei Wang 校对人员: Xuwen Zhu

Palms sweaty,

手掌出汗、

heart racing,

心跳加速、

stomach in knots.

肠胃纠结。

You can't cry for help.

你无法大声求救。

Not only is your throat too tight to breathe,

不仅是因为喉咙紧的无法呼吸，

而且那也会十分尴尬。

but it'd be so embarrassing.

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

不，你并没有被恶魔纠缠，

you're speaking in public,

只是你正要准备当众演讲，

a fate some deem worse than death.

在一些人看来，是比死亡还惨的经历。

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

当人死去后，并不会有任何感觉；

但身处讲台，你却会感到怯场。

at a podium, you feel stage fright.

But at some point we've all had to communicate

然而从某种程度上讲，我们都避免不了

in front of people,

在众人面前交谈，

so you have to try and overcome it.

因此你必须要尝试去克服它。

To start, understand what stage fright is.

首先，我们要了解什么是怯场。

Humans, social animals that we are,

人类是一种社会性动物，

are wired to worry about reputation.

奇怪的是，我们十分在意名声。

Public speaking can threaten it.

而公共演讲恰恰能威胁到它。

Before a speech, you fret,

演讲前，你会担心：

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

“人们会不会认为我很愚蠢？”

That fear of being seen as an awful idiot

这样“害怕别人认为自己愚蠢”的恐惧

is a threat reaction

是一种威胁反应，

from a primitive part of your brain

它来自人脑的原始部分，

that's very hard to control.

而且难以控制。

It's the fight or flight response,

这便是“战斗或逃跑反应”，

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

这种自我保护过程在很多动物身上都被发现，

most of which don't give speeches.

但它们可不需要公众演讲。

But we have a wise partner

可我们却拥有一位

in the study of freaking out.

研究恐惧的智者。

Charles Darwin tested fight or flight

查尔斯•达尔文在伦敦动物园的蛇展上

at the London Zoo snake exhibit.

验证了“战斗或逃跑反应”。

He wrote in his diary,

他曾在日记中写到：

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

“我的意愿和理智

在想象中的

从未经历过的危险面前都是无力的。”

which had never been experienced."

He concluded that his response

他认为自己的反应

was an ancient reaction unaffected

是一种古老式的反应，

它并不受现代文明差异的影响。

by the nuances of modern civilization.

So, to your conscious modern mind,

因此，在人们有意识的现代思维面前，

it's a speech.

这种危险便是演讲。

大脑的其他部分

To the rest of your brain,

也相应建立起“弱肉强食”的法则，

built up to code with the law of the jungle,

when you perceive the possible consequences

当你意识到由于演讲失败可能

产生的结果时，

of blowing a speech,

那便是你拔腿逃跑

it's time to run for your life

或殊死奋战的时刻。

or fight to the death.

Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates,

与其他脊椎动物一样，你的下丘脑

triggers your pituitary gland to secrete

引起脑下垂体分泌

the hormone ACTH,

促肾上腺皮质激素，

making your adrenal gland

它使肾上腺

shoot adrenaline into your blood.

向血液中射出肾上腺素。

Your neck and back tense up, you slouch.

因此你的脖子和后背开始紧张，

Your legs and hand shake

显得无精打采。

你的腿和手开始颤抖，

as your muscles prepare for attack.

因为你的肌肉已处于备战状态。

You sweat.

你会出汗。

你的血压会猛涨。

Your blood pressure jumps.

你的消化系统停止工作，

Your digestion shuts down

to maximize the delivery of nutrients

以便最大程度的向肌肉和重要器官

and oxygen to muscles and vital organs,

输送营养和氧气，

so you get dry mouth, butterflies.

因此你感到口干、心慌。

Your pupils dilate,

你的瞳孔扩散，

it's hard to read anything up close,

这时阅读眼前的一切都十分困难，

like your notes,

比如你的笔记，

but long range is easy.

但你却能看清远处的东西。

That's how stage fright works.

这就是怯场的原理。

How do we fight it?

我们怎样克服它呢？

First, perspective.

首先是认识。

This isn't all in your head.

这不完全是由人脑所引起的。

It's a natural, hormonal, full body reaction

这是一种自然的、生理的全身反应，

by an autonomic nervous system on autopilot.

它是由自主神经系统在无意识状态下产生的。

And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety.

同时遗传因素在社会焦虑中也起重要作用。

John Lennon played live thousands of times.

约翰•列侬有过数千场演出。

Each time he vomited beforehand.

可每次演出前他都要呕吐。

Some people are just wired

有些人只是比别人更能感受到

在公共场合表演时的恐惧而已。

to feel more scared performing in public.

Since stage fright is natural and inevitable,

既然怯场是正常而难免的，

focus on what you can control.

那就集中精力于你能掌控的。

Practice a lot,

反复的

练习，

starting long before

尽早开始

in an environment similar to the real performance.

在一个与真实表演场景相似的环境中训练。

Practicing any task increases your familiarity

练习每一项任务来增加熟悉度、

and reduces anxiety,

减少焦虑感，

so when it's time to speak in public,

这样，到演讲时

你对自身

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

和手中的任务就会信心十足。

Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches

史蒂夫•乔布斯在准备他那史诗般的演讲时，

曾花费数百小时，

for hundreds of hours,

starting weeks in advance.

在数周前就开始练习。

If you know what you're saying,

如果你清楚自己在说什么，

你将会从众人中吸取能量，

you'll feed off the crowd's energy

这就避免了下丘脑

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

使你的身体认为

“你将成为捕食者们的午餐”。

for a pack of predators.

但是，脊椎动物下丘脑的这种反应

But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus

要比你多上数百万年的练习。

has had millions of years more practice than you.

当你走上讲台前，

Just before you go on stage,

是时候和你的大脑

it's time to fight dirty

and trick your brain.

耍点儿把戏了。

伸出你的手臂，然后深呼吸。

Stretch your arms up and breath deeply.

这会使你的下丘脑产生

This makes your hypothalamus trigger

a relaxation response.

放松的反应。

怯场通常在

Stage fright usually hits hardest right before a presentation,

即将开始演讲时最强烈。

因此，用最后的时间来伸展和呼吸。

so take that last minute to stretch and breathe.

You approach the Mic, voice clear,

你走向麦克风，音色清晰，

body relaxed.

身体松弛。

Your well-prepared speech convinces the wild crowd

你成竹在胸的演讲使广大的听众感到

you're a charismatic genius.

你是个魅力十足的天才。

How?

怎么做到的呢？

你并没有克服怯场，

You didn't overcome stage fright,

you adapted to it.

你只是适应了它。

事实上，不论你看起来

And to the fact that no matter

是多么的温文有礼，

how civilized you may seem,

in part of your brain,

在大脑中的某个部分，

你仍是一只野兽，

you're still a wild animal,

一个博学的、健谈的野兽。

a profound, well-spoken wild animal.