Useful Tips to Overcome Stage Fright

Last time I posted some information about my physiological reactions to stress of public speaking. Now I`d like to post 3 Top Tips which I find useful for me to overcome stage fright and to minimize my unpleasant reactions. I promise to use them every time when I have to deliver a public speech✋ I`ll check if they really work and share my observations with you in the future.

My 3 Top Tips to Overcome Stage Fright

1. Use your large muscles. Those contracted muscles are waiting for you to throw a spear at a mastodon, and until you do, they can`t relax. Walk briskly around the building a couple of times, throw your arms around, or punch at a nearby wall. Clench your fists, scowl, make ugly faces, and then relax those smaller muscles too. Focus on your back and neck muscles, stretching and rolling your head until they relax. 

This tip is extremely useful for me, because I have a problem with trembling jaw (and even the whole body). To stop it from trembling, I shouldn`t try to hold my contracted muscles straight and still. In fact, I have to do quite the opposite thing: to exercise a little bit and to loosen up my muscles.

2. Watch what you eat. Figure out what your own digestive system does (or doesn`t do) under stress, and see that you time your food intake to accommodate it. You`d better avoid milk, maintain sugar levels (but avoid a sugar high), eat sensibly (don`t eat proteins and fats before you speak, choose pasta, pizza or rice dishes which contain a complex of carbohydrates a couple of hours before the presentation), avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. 
I chose this tip, because I usually feel nausea and other unpleasant reactions connected with my digestive system. Frankly speaking, I haven`t ever thought of what kind of food is better to eat before giving a public talk. However, it turns out that this point is extremely important. I`ll try to change my eating habits before the presentation to see if it works. 

3. Make yourself laugh. Making yourself laugh, whether you meant to or not, will nearly always help you relax. The more enjoyment you are feeling, the easier it is to think with your cortex instead of reacting with your adrenal glands.
This tip definitely suits me, because I adore laughing and having a good time. Laughter really helps me in stressful situations, for example, when I have to have my blood analysed, I always talk to the nurse and try to make some jokes. This helps me to relax and to be in a good mood. I believe that in case of public speaking laughter will also be useful. Laughter is the best medicine for everything!

Please, tell me which tips do you use to deliver a speech successfully? It will be very interesting for me to read your pieces of advice. See you soon!