On your mark, get set . . . now slow down. — Here's a reliable way to calm your nerves and reduce your speech anxiety. 

Admit it: wouldn't you like to be the subject in the above photo? For a little while, at least. That's a two-toed sloth, by the way (and thanks to Roxanne Minnish for this photo of the creature in "action").

These days, there's a lot to be said for unplugging ourselves from constant activation—and even more important, over-activation. That's particularly true when it comes to speech anxiety or stage fright. 

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You may have already had thoughts along that line. But it might be even more important than you think. Consider this: a chronically over-activated nervous system can affect some of the normal actions of your body and how it repairs itself.

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The Thief That's Hiding Inside You

Your nervous system has two general response states: activation and rest. We call them, respectively, the sympathetic response and the parasympathetic response. They are both essential for our survival.

But there's a problem if one takes precedence. That's often generally the case in our over-stimulated, too-busy modern lives. The state of affairs is even worse if we suffer from speech anxiety or glossophobia. We get a hint of why that's the case from the nickname for our sympathetic or "activating" response: we call it the fight-or-flight mode. It's what you feel, for instance, when you're considering how to introduce yourself in a professional situation.

Rocketing into action physically and mentally is essential if your life is truly in danger. At those times, you actually do need to either fight a threat, such as wild animals or enemies, or "fly" meaning flee, as in the case of, say, a volcanic eruption or tidal wave headed your way. 

These are meant to be rare occurrences. Your nervous system simply isn't set up to face an extreme life-or-death moment on a daily basis. But here's the rub: stage fright switches on the same fight-or-flight mechanism, spiking adrenaline and other hormones which, true to their name, "stress" your body greatly. If you're going through that every other day or so because you're giving important presentations that bring on stage fright, then your body is being ravaged just too frequently. That's the thief inside you, draining away your vitality.

It's Time to Rest, Digest . . . and Thrive

As you can guess, if you're constantly fighting for survival (as your brain and nervous system interpret it), you're going to pay a physical as well as an emotional price. You need a reset. Your nervous system needs to shift into the other mode: the parasympathetic response. The nickname for this response—the opposite of "fight-or-flight"—is "rest-and-digest."

It's ideal, for instance, if you're wondering how to calm your nerves before speaking.

Here are some concrete steps you can take to access this nervous system response:

• Slow your breathing. Practice the 4-4-6-2 method. Breathe in for a count of 4, pause for the same 4-count, exhale for a count of 6, and stop for a count of 2. Prolonging your exhalation switches on the parasympathetic response all by itself, via the action of the vagus nerve.
• Get outside. Human beings aren't meant to spend entire days indoors. Walk on, and look at, something green, while breathing outside air.
• Be still. Watch the clouds float by. 
• Once in a while, cultivate boredom. It often leads to noticing new paths and/or creativity.
• Eat slowly and in reasonable amounts. (Remember: it's "rest-and-digest!") Fatty foods slow your digestion down, and overeating does the same thing with your thinking.

These behaviors, and others you can surely think of, stop the fight-or-flight response in its tracks. Give your mind, your nervous system, and your physiological responses a break. The new habits you develop will, subtly but surely, impact your public speaking performances.

Welcome to calmer moments daily if you can manage it, you sloth, you. 

[Thanks to The Epoch Times for inspiration for this blog from Zena le Roux's article in the July 22-28, 2026 weekly edition, "The Ancient Techniques that Reset Your Nervous System."]

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Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking and overcoming speaking fear. His company, The Genard Method offers live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching and corporate group training worldwide. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Seller How to Give a Speech. His second book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as “One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time.” For nine consecutive years, he was ranked by Global Gurus as one of The World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals, and he has been named as one of America's Top 5 Speech Coaches. His handbook for presenting in videoconferences, Speaking Virtually offers techniques for developing virtual presence. He is also the author of Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. His latest book is The Confidence Book: 75 Ways to Reduce Your Anxiety, Let Go of Your Fears, Change Your Negative Thinking, and Perform At Your Professional Best. He is also the creator of The Dr. William Scarlet supernatural thrillers. Contact Gary here. 

Photo credit: Roxanne Minnish on pexels.com