Director Michael Bay’s Fear of Public Speaking
Last week I watched the video of Michael Bay attempting to speak at the CES show. He had a teleprompter but it obviously wasn’t working properly and he completely blanked. My heart went out to him since that is one of the worst feelings and to have it happen so visibly is gut wrenching.
So how could this have gone differently? First of all to not depend on technology because sometimes it will let you down. But the main fix is to get rid of the fear so that if there is a problem, you forget your notes or your power point won’t boot up you have the ability to present.
How do you get rid of fear of public speaking? This is usually a deep seated fear of being judged or criticized or sometimes it is based on a bad speaking experience, as in the example of Michael Bay
The way I help my clients move past this fear and become a speaker free of those extreme fears is a 5 step process.
- First step is to help the aspiring speaker to have more control over worry and negative thinking.
- Then to find positive experiences and moments of confidence in their past and use these positive memories to increase their ability to feel confident now.
- The next step is to take away the negative emotions and fear from past negative experiences. Also, to work on changing any negative beliefs about themselves.
- Use NLP phobia cure to further clear out any negative emotions associated to speaking or presenting.
- Finally, I use a process of visualization in hypnosis to see the speech or presentation going well, sort of a mental rehearsal.
Occasionally I may need more than one session for the earlier steps in the process. But usually by using these 5 steps, using hypnosis, NLP and perhaps some regression therapy, I am to help someone change from a fearful, worried presenter to someone who feels much calmer and in control in any speaking situation.
