Permission is given to reprint the following articles, provided that the following contact information is provided in its entirety. 

© by Bonnie Budzowski, President of InCredible Messages, LP. 
Visit  www.IncredibleMessages.com or contact Bonnie at info@IncredibleMessages.com. 

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Facing an Audience? Be Grateful for Your Jitters

By Bonnie Budzowski
President, InCredible Messages, LP

Perhaps more than anything else, novice speakers worry about nervous jitters.  Many experienced speakers share their fear.  Will the audience see my knees shake?  Will my voice crack?  Will I look like an absolute fool?

Oddly, the most consummate speakers worry if they don’t have at least a small case of the jitters before a big presentation.  These presenters realize that butterflies in the stomach come from adrenaline—nature’s power source to get the body through stressful situations.  Consummate speakers embrace rather than fear nature’s gift.

When you fear your adrenaline, you lose control.  When this happens, it can seem dangerous to look at your audience, as if the people who invited you to speak want to hurt you.  As you learn to channel the adrenaline, you develop the ability to command attention with engaging eye contact and even humor.

Adrenaline is energy. It has to move.  It has to do something, go somewhere.  One of the biggest mistakes a speaker can make is to try to hold the energy back, to confine it.  For example, if you try to hold the energy back, you might stammer or sway or pace in an unfocused and distracting way.  The adrenaline is going to move, whether you like it or not.

It takes practice, but you can learn to channel the energy, to use it as a gift.  Focused adrenaline is a power supply—to help you fill the room with your voice, to pause for impact, to make your words flow like poetry.  It supplies the energy to move around a platform with power and purpose.  It provides the mental clarity to turn a challenging question or situation to your advantage.

Facing an audience?  Welcome your jitters.  Work with them, not against them.  The jitters are your friends.

Permission is granted to reprint this article when the following contact information is included: © 2008 by Bonnie Budzowski, President of InCredible Messages, LP. For more free articles, go to www.IncredibleMessages.com or contact Bonnie at info@IncredibleMessages.com.

Imagine yourself in a situation in which one professional shows you how to incorporate the insights of three perspectives into your business communication:  marketing, persuasion, and visual design. 

Imagine an interactive session with an entertaining and inspiring speaker.  Do you like what you see?  You’ve just envisioned working with Bonnie Budzowski, President of inCredible Messages, LP.

Contact Bonnie to learn more about how she can guide you and your team to create compelling business messages or call 412-828-1629 . 

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