Benefits of enhanced stage presence
We all need to exercise leadership from time to time, whether in our jobs
or in voluntary or community roles we undertake. However, many of us shy
away from opportunities for personal growth because an element of 'performance'
is required.
In career terms, stage presence is an essential quality if we are to be
able to put forward our position to groups of people. Probably most of
us have experienced the situation where we have been wonderfully persuasive
on a one to one basis, and then completely failed to win over a larger
audience.
Socially, many of us are happy to stay in the background. We may even
have constructed a world view in which we associate reserve with virtue,
and possibly we are suspicious or condemnatory when we encounter highly
polished performers. Yet a full social life demands that we expose ourselves
to public view. Attending a party is a form of social exposure. Meeting
new people, indeed any new activity we undertake requires us to step up
to the plate and expose ourselves. Even if you have no desire to be the
life and soul of the party, even if you quietly distrust people who are
very outgoing, nevertheless you need to become relaxed about exposing
yourself to the scrutiny of others, simply to be able to participate fully
in life.
There is another key reason to develop stage presence. Your integrity
sometimes asks a lot of you. Being true to yourself may require you to
deal with difficult interpersonal situations for which you have had no
prior preparation. Perhaps you are in a shop where a youth verbally bullies
a child. The shop is full and everybody drops their gaze - group dynamics
have taken over. Will you speak out? Can you conquer social pressure and
remain calm under (social) pressure? Stage presence is about much more
than presentation and window-dressing. It is intimately wrapped up in
the process of becoming true to your core values.
A person with no stage presence can only be honourable in thought,
not deed, because we act with and through others.
Losing the stress
Do you find public speaking stressful? Do you believe that it is possible
to speak in public without stress? In order to understand how to remove
stress from public performances, we first need to recognise where the
stress comes from. The key to stage presence is to understand that we
become tense when we perceive a threat. That threat may be physical or
psychological, real or imaginary.
Size of group + Context = Perceived Threat
Perhaps you perform perfectly well in front of one person in a friendly
context. You may not regard this as stage presence - an audience of one
wouldn't keep theatre alive! but it's simply a matter of degree. Maybe
you are fine speaking socially to a group of three or four, then you are
asked to make a formal presentation to 60 people, with a great deal riding
on the outcome. Is it any surprise you feel tense? Your previous experience
may not have prepared you for this level of escalation.
What is wrong is the degree of preparation. You wouldn't go from jogging
a mile one week, to running the London Marathon the next. The slope would
be too steep. Yet you know that you could run the marathon, if you prepared
properly.
Psychological preparation is the key to developing high levels of stage
presence. You can work your way up the scale from small informal gatherings
through to formal speeches in front of huge audiences. Effective preparation
will enable you to see each successive challenge as part of a game, something
to look forward to rather than something to dread.
The Burden of Experience
We all have to deal with past experiences. If you have experienced a sense
of personal failure, or simply tension, in public speaking or making presentations
in the past, this will generate tension for future events. Your natural
stress response includes a sharpening of your memory-making processes.
When we are under stress, our brain chemistry actually changes quite markedly.
One of the effects is that we lay down particularly strong unconscious
memories of the event which caused the stress. This is a protective mechanism
it's there to help us to recognise dangerous situations. If this only
happened when we did something which was physically damaging - say, putting
our hands near a flame we might not have any complaints. However, the
same mechanism 'protects' us against psychological harm also, by recognising
situations which have hurt us in the past.
You can see the problem. If you have suffered severe performance stress
in the past, you will go into the next presentation or speech with a strong
sense of foreboding, exactly as you would if you were going into battle.
By eliminating our unconscious memories of failure, and reinforcing our
memories of success, we can cut down the tension we experience whenever
we make a public presentation. In effect, we need to treat public speaking
as a phobia to be eliminated.
The Confidence Club hypnotherapy CD 'Developing Stage Presence' is based
on the following principles :
- use of post-hypnotic suggestion to increase calmness in public speaking
situations
- use of positive imagery to 'pre-play' successful outcomes
- replay of past experiences to reduce or eliminate negative associations
This approach works most effectively when you consciously select events
to practice with, starting with small events and working up. For example,
you might begin by using the CD prior to attending a business meeting,
to eliminate the slight stress felt when you need to make a contribution.
It all depends on the situations where you begin to feel exposed.
Working your way up a 'ladder' of increasingly challenging public events
allows you to build a personal history of success in public speaking.
After a while you will be able to set the CD aside, confident that you
now have sufficient successful experience to sustain you for the challenges
which lie ahead.
FAQs
Is hypnotherapy safe?
Hypnotherapy is probably the safest form of therapy available. You must
not use the CD whilst driving, or operating machinery, for obvious reasons.
If you suffer from epilepsy, are under any medication, or undertaking
any form of psychotherapy, you should consult your physician before undertaking
hypnotherapy.
What changes will I experience through using the 'Developing Stage
Presence' CD?
You will feel much more relaxed when speaking in public. Your ability
to communicate your views and wishes will be much less hampered by anxiety
about your performance. You will find it easier to project your true personality
in large group settings.
How often should I listen to the CD?
In the early stages, 2 - 3 times per week. After the first month, reduce
this to once per week. After 6 months, reduce to once per month. Set aside
private time when you can listen to the CD in comfort, with no external
distractions. Some of the messages are explicit, whilst others are indirect - they will influence your behaviour in ways which are not clear to you.
This time commitment is important. Taken over the course of a year it
is a trivial amount of time, although you will need to be quite disciplined
in the early stages. Changing patterns of behaviour requires commitment.
My confidence profile indicates that I need to develop in more than
one area. Which should I focus on first?
Focus on the one which most inspires you. Personal development is a continuous
process - change is a constant in our lives - so you can feel free to
start your program at any point. The important thing is to start somewhere.
Once the benefits of your more relaxed, more confident self begin to emerge,
you will find it easy to continue with your program of self development.
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