The participants in the Fearless Presentations Workshop in Washington DC learned that impromptu speaking, or thinking on your feet, isn’t as intimidating or scary as we make it out to be. What most people don’t realize is that we are constantly creating and delivering impromptu speeches every day of our lives. If we understand that every time we pick up a phone, talk to a coworker in the hallways, go to lunch with a friend, or attend a meeting, you don’t have any time to prepare a response or presentation. But, we usually do just fine coming up with an intelligent response. But, for some reason, when we are put on the spot in front of others, our anxiety jumps up very quickly.

The key is to think of a story or example from your past that reminds you of the subject that you are being asked to speak on and relate the story back to your audience and then the lesson that you learned from that experience. But, how do we think of a story or example? There is a simple phrase that we say to ourselves that will act as a super search engine for our brain that helps us come up with a story. It’s the phrase, “That reminds me of the time”. Saying this phrase to ourselves will help us come up with a closely related example that taught us a lesson that may be a possible solution to the challenge that is presented.

So the next time that you are put on the spot, just use the simple phrase, “that reminds me of the time”, to help you confidently have something intelligent to offer as a solution to any challenge presented. For more help with overcoming the fear of speaking in public with very short notice go to the Fearless Presentations® or sign up for a class in a city close to you.

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