Redbull before a speech, Will that help?

Adrenaline_

Hello

Dear Readers

I'm Henry,
Without making the topic breif i'd drop the question

Redbull before a speech, will that help?

I am a kind of guy who gets real nervous during speech's. i've heard redbull helps to overcome that as redbull is a stimulant it increases my heart rate. I am not sure if that helps but if there is any other way to feel confident with use of any liquid/drug OR Any other methods please let me know.
i've speech headed over my way this august 18th.

Regards
Henry.

bobze

No. Redbull has lots of caffeine which will only worsen the fight/flight response (and surge of catecholamines) that is caused by anxiety triggered in certain situations. Like public speaking.

In fact, for people with really bad nerves we can help alleviate symptoms by giving them a small dose of something that has effects opposite of caffeine on your body; beta-blockers. You should not up and dose yourself with a beta blocker on your own accord however. If public speaking gives you such bad anxiety that you are unable to overcome the symptoms however, you should speak with your PCP about it and they can help you decide if a pharmacological intervention like a beta-blocker prior to a speech is a treatment option for you.

Monique

Beta-blockers? No, don't start popping pills. You shouldn't be dependent on drugs to perform.

Behavioral therapy is in place, start by practicing the presentation so that it's fluent. Do that while visualizing that you're standing before your intended audience, be confident. You'll always be nervous before a talk, but that's normal, you should start feeling more calm a few minutes into the presentation and practice will help.

bobze

I agree, which is why I pointed them to their PCP. CBT and other types of behavioral therapy can help, but the fact is it doesn't always help and under some circumstances it is appropriate for a pharmacological intervention. Only the OP and their PCP can determine what will work best for the patient.

pa5tabear

Confidence comes from the way you live your life and cannot be achieved quickly. Be disciplined, do things that improve yourself, minimize your time wasting, and be proud of everything you do. Live shamelessly.

If there are sources for your insecurity (when are there not?), address them, if you can. Ignoring/enduring is a weak way to live. Though sometimes it is the only choice.

==============

As far as drinking caffeine, I find that it can help with fluency of speech. I don't always get enough sleep, and on these sorts of days, it can really help maintain my focus, which is essential to speaking well.

Unstable

I totally agree with Monique. Start practicing your presentation as soon as possible. Talk loud (!), clear and slowly to an imaginary audience. If you are maybe afraid about some participants, picture this guys during your practicing.

I gave a talk some time ago to 600 people and I practiced every day for two weeks. What also extremely helped me was to reflect about all sort of possible questions. If you are convinced about yourself that you had the best possible preparation you feel much more comfort.

genericusrnme

I've always found this phrase a little out of context.. Using drugs once is not the same as being dependant on drugs to perform and no behavioral therapy is going to have any drastic results in two weeks.

Monique

Using drugs once? So what will happen the next time a presentation needs to be given?

Two weeks is a lot of time for practice, take some time everyday and speak out loud: slowly and confidently. Visualize and feel the nerves, process the emotion so that you can deal with it.

It definitely helped me, I've received A+ (10/10) grades for my presentations. I still get nervous, but that disappears after the first few sentences. I don't know what it is, since I'm not a big speaker. The feedback from my last presentation: "sitting back home on my couch I just feel to say once more that this was a masterpiece today". Visualize doing well and that will be your outcome. I might sound simplistic, but it's worth the try.

How does a musician master a new piece of music? Through practice.

genericusrnme

By the next time a presentation needs to be given the person will have had ample time to do whatever confidence building he needs to.

Monique

Again, over two weeks is a lot of time.

SW VandeCarr

I've always focused on getting started. Once I'm into my presentation, the stage fright vanishes. Sometimes a joke or light banter at the beginning helps, but you must know exactly what you are going to say. Once you're into the material, you should be able to cover your points without having to memorize anything. If you know the subject matter, this should not be a problem.

Drakkith

I remember having to record speeches for my speech class I was taking. The single greatest thing I did was practice in front of someone. It helps you memorize what and how you are going to say something, and it also helps to eliminate the fear of speaking in front of others.

Another thing to realize is that no one really gives a crap whether you're an amazing speaker or not. Get your point across with minimal interruptions and you'll do fine. Practice WILL help with this. If you absolutely know your material because you have practiced and practiced, you will do fine. Realize that even if you have a little hiccup or stutter, no one cares! (Except maybe a speech class teacher) The key is to practice practice practice!

Evo

You don't always have a chance to practice. In my old job, you'd be told to write up an assessment and be ready to deliver it at a meeting in 30 minutes. Worse was when you were told the reason you were presenting was because the executive VP had just flown into town.

A mild tranquilizer at a time like this can do wonders.

Also, know your topic back and forth, but don't rehearse. If you rehearse, you'll sound like you rehearsed. And if you make a flub, you can lose your place in the rehearsed speech and sound like a dolt.

Just know your topic, then you can speak confidently about it.

My job for 30 years was to meet company owners, CEO's, Boards of directors, and speak to thousands at shareholder conventions. I knew my topic, but had no rehearsed speech. I took cues verbally and non verbally from my "audience" and changed my focus mid-sentence if necessary in order to keep them interested. But I always managed to "get my message" across. But I'm talking about the real world, not school. In school you can be more robotic and just recite what you memorized.

Evo

+1..

Monique

I think there are different kinds of speeches, for my job it requires a powerpoint presentation and the show of data so there's always going to be a story line that needs to be followed. Evo, from your story I get that's not the case?

In no way do I recommend writing out a speech and memorizing that, it's the worst way to go. Indeed: that's when people get lost midway in a sentence and black out on the whole presentation.

Rehearsing a presentation is different and in no way should it be a robotic recital.

Also, it's not always possible to know the subject very well. Clearly in school, when you're asked to present a topic you're not very familiar with. Also at the job, I regularly have to give 1-hour presentations for an audience of 300 people, on a subject and one of the criteria is that it shouldn't be directly related to my own work. I usually finish the presentation 30 min before stage-time, after that it's bluffing time. It's not pleasant giving a presentation and not knowing what the next slide is going to be.

Adrenaline_

Thank you very much, Most of the replies make me feel confident, you know "i can do it" kind of feeling.
So, according to most of the people here i must not rely on drugs. Alright, i'm sure people here know better.
Its not that i've never given speech, i did it many times, infact some times i was fluent during speech's, but the thought of giving a speech with more than 5000 people around gives me goosebumps thats what i am talking about.
This is why i bought drugs into the discussion, as this probably would be my first time infront of a huge crowd, before i've given speech's only before 100-200, max 500 people.

Evo

Yikes! Not directly related to your work! At least I knew what I was going to talk about, even if there were "differences", I knew enough about how things worked in general to give a short report. I do see the benefit of rehearsing a speech in some situations, school & politics. But if you rehearse, you still need to have a good grip of what the subject is or when you get lost, you will be in a pickle, I have suffered from "brain freeze" before. I always hated public speaking.