Breathing to manage public speaking fear really works. However, it only works if you practice it regularly and integrate conscious deep breathing into daily activities. It is often called mindful breathing. Every article you read on managing fear and anxiety for public speaking will suggest learning to breathe deeply and diaphragmatically. I concur that breathing is helpful, but…
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I made a decision this morning to listen only to people who speak with gravitas. The last couple days I have been watching the news on CBS This Morning. Yesterday Samantha Powers sat with the CBS This Morning hosts, Charlie Rose, Nora O’Donnell and Gayle King. Ms. Powers is the outgoing US Ambassador to…
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Recently, I wrote my most revealing article about the Sandra Zimmer Method to overcome public speaking fear and stage fright. A Presentation Guru Requests an Article The Commissioning Editor of Presentation-Guru.com, Jared Senseman, emailed to ask if I would write an article about my approach. Jared said Presentation-Guru was looking for unique approaches that help people speak and present more effectively.…
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About Gravitas Gravitas is about using your personal power in service to others and giving up the pleasure of asserting your power with a sharp voice tone. J.S. contacted me and shared that he is strong technically, reports to the highest leaders in his company and gets great feedback that his expertise is valuable. He has…
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(Graphic by Vector Graphics) Public speaking and presentation clients sometimes ask me how to handle hostile audiences. Frankly, I think people project more negativity onto audiences than is really there. Never the less, it is important to learn to stand openly before a group that includes people who may be judging, disagreeing or criticizing. I have…
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Learn how to get into a higher state by expanding your inner awareness so you can be your best self for public speaking and presentations. Expanding your inner state frees you to be deeply relaxed, feel self-accepting and inclusive of others and to radiate a strong presence. Experienced performers learn to enter a performance state.…
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The great presentation guru Garr Reynolds wrote a blog post in which he shows a video of Frank Sinatra singing “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Garr quotes Sinatra saying, “When I sing, I believe. I’m honest. If you want to get an audience with you, there’s only one way. You have to reach out…
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By Sandra Zimmer How would you respond if you were accused of incompetence in a media interview? Could you stay calm and open? Could you handle it with grace and dignity? Currently, there is a big media bruhaha around General Eric Shinseki, the Secretary of Veteran Affairs. He has been accused of allowing veteran’s hospitals…
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Today, Sunday, March 23, 2014, The Houston Chronicle Jobs Section is printing an article entitled “Public Speaking an Important Career Tool.” This article written by Emilia Benton, a copy editor from the Special Publications of Houston Chronicle Media Group, features some of my ideas about the value of public speaking skills for career development. Ms. Benton…
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We can alchemically transform performance anxiety into presence in our physical body. Alchemy is a term for turning a less valuable substance into a more valuable one. The human body is a laboratory for transformation of consciousness. Performance anxiety is a distressful reaction to energy trying to flow through the body when we become the…
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