Category: Psychology
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Fear of Public Speaking: When Is It More Than Just Nerves?
The fear of public speaking is one of humanity’s most common anxieties. Whether addressing a small group of colleagues or standing before a large audience, the prospect of speaking in public can send shivers down our spine. Some research from the University of California, Los Angeles, reveals that this fear (often referred to as glossophobia)…
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Want to improve your public speaking? Improve your Emotional Intelligence
There was a time when scientists were way too focused on determining a numeric value to define our intelligence. With time, they realized that intelligence means a great number of different things, including our most emotional side. A high IQ doesn’t mean much if you can’t deal with your emotions. They are an essential point…
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Traumatic Memories: how do they impact your ability to shine?
When speaking in public, you feel incredibly vulnerable because you are too exposed. Many anthropologists have theories about that discomfort and its relationship with being apart from the group. In other words, far from the safety of the group. Yet, some of us seem to deal better with it, while others can reach the anxiety…
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The Power of Kindness: A Solution to Public Speaking Anxiety
We all, eventually, suffer from anxiety in at least one situation in our life. The answer? Be kind. Kindness has been shown to have an effect in decreasing your anxiety levels. Public speaking is the activity the majority of people fear the most, and it has high levels of stress and anxiety associated with it.…
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Why Negative Feelings Linger: The unwanted Power of Rumination
When you have an outstanding performance and everybody loves it, you feel delighted and can’t stop talking about it for weeks. On the other hand, when something goes terribly wrong, you’ll remember it for years. You’ll be in your old age and still remember that day you were terrible at doing something. Having acknowledged that…
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The Role of Mood in Public Speaking: 6 Strategies for Success
You can’t avoid being in a bad mood. It is an inevitability of life. It can ruin your day, end your productivity, and worse… it can happen on the day of your most important presentation. Do not panic yet! Let’s take a look on how to understand and control it. There are situations you can…
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“Tell me about yourself.”
Do you remember that first day of school, when the teacher would ask you to stand up and “Tell the class about yourself.”? You would probably close your eyes, take a deep breath, and wish very hard that some natural catastrophe would destroy the whole school at that very moment. Now that you’re an adult,…
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Fight your anxiety: allow yourself to be bad.
Self-deprecated humor is a shield most comedians use to fight their insecurities and anxieties. They learn how to laugh at themselves to raise their confidence. Like them, we all have insecurities that will harm our performance if we don’t find a way to deal with them. Why are we so scared when stepping up a…
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When Success Feels Stolen: The Battle Against Impostor Syndrome
“I’m not good enough for this.” “What am I doing here?” “I’ve got everything I have by luck.” “What if they find out I’m not that good?” “I’m a fraud. I don’t know how to do this.” Have any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind? How many times? Having second thoughts or developing a…
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Cracking the Code: Mastering Audience Profiling for Effective Communication
“Know your audience.” How many times have you heard this advice and wondered what it was supposed to mean? To know as much as we can about our audience helps us establish a strategy to reach them more easily. So, what exactly should you know to help you through the preparation process? Keep in mind…