Why Do We Get Nervous Before Presentations and Performances?

“Everyone gets nervous before presentations, you just have to suck it up and do it.”

How many times have you heard something along those lines—the idea that anxious symptoms are inevitable before performances, and the only way forward is to white-knuckle our way through.

Sure, some people are so calm and have so few symptoms that they might as well be asleep, while others who have been giving speeches for decades still get intensely nauseated and have constant thoughts of bailing. But that’s just how it is, right? 

Of course not.

If you’ve been keeping up with all of my other content, you’ll know that anxious symptoms are rarely ever caused by subconscious fight or flight. Instead, they come as a result of one specific behavior we engage in: worrying. When we worry, it creates the adrenaline that causes all of the uncomfortable sensations that follow—the stomach tightness and nausea, the throat numbness, and the shortness of breath. The exact science behind this is available in my book.

In the case of presentations and performances, we feel anxious symptoms because we worry in the minutes or hours before them. We sit and run through how it might go in our head, asking ourselves “what if I get asked a question I can’t answer” or “what if one of these anxious symptoms pop up and make me screw up.” This causes the adrenaline rush and all of the uncomfortable symptoms that follow.

Knowing this, the solution is clear: if we want to solve our problems with nervousness, we have to address our worrying. If we reduce how much we worry, the symptoms we experience before presenting will get weaker and weaker until we barely notice them. We won’t have to do deep breathing exercises or meditate just to feel less nauseated because our body won’t even be producing enough adrenaline to induce nausea at all.

Though I briefly introduced touched on one strategy for this in an earlier post, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solving the problem. There are different reasons why we worry, and trying to apply a one-size-fits-all answer doesn’t work. This is why the methods in my book are not built around a single mantra, but around giving you the tools to make your own solutions. If you’re interested in picking up a copy, make sure to keep an eye on the Facebook page or sign up for the mailing list. The release date will be announced very soon.

For now, I wish you luck on your journey and hope you have a speedy recovery.