Happy New Year! Please join Think Fast Talk Smart listeners worldwide in our Confident Communicator Challenge.
This is a task that I have assigned to my Stanford Strategic Communication MBA students for over a decade. In this assignment, you will create an Anxiety Management Plan that you can use whenever you get anxious about your communication. Your plan will consist of a 3-5 letter memorable acronym where each letter represents a specific anxiety management technique that you believe will work for you.
For example, I rely on BRAVE:
- Be present oriented.
- Reframe communication as a conversation, not a performance.
- Approach your communication from your audience’s point of view.
- Visualize a successful presentation experience.
- Exhale longer than you inhale.
Jenny, our stellar Executive Producer, uses CALM:
- Converse with the audience.
- Affirm your knowledge and abilities that you bring.
- Look confident in your posture.
- Mindfully focus on your audience.
Once you create your Anxiety Management Plan (AMP), please send us an email or audio file in which you state your name and acronym and then tell us what each letter represents: stanfordbusiness@stanford.edu
We would like your plans by January 31, 2022 at noon Pacific please. The most creative and most applicable ones will receive a copy of my book Speaking Up without Freaking Out.
Resources:
Videos
Infographic
Podcast Episodes
Alia Crum:
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/mindset-matters-how-embrace-benefits-stress
Andrew Huberman:
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/hacking-your-speaking-anxiety-how-lessons-neuroscience-can-help-you-communicate
Matt Abrahams:
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/high-stakes-communication-how-manage-anxiety-speaking-front-others