How breath can TRANSFORM your public speaking....

Often when we're speaking in public, it's in high pressure situations, and more often than not high pressure = stress = tension.

So there we are, in our high-pressure, big, important moment - and all our breathing muscles (abdominals, intercostals, back, chest, shoulders) are tense and not helping us at all. This means our breath gets very high, shallow and tight....

Try it now - tense your stomach and back, tense your shoulders and bring them up, tense your chest, tense your arms and your hands - now take a few breaths. They will probably feel uneasy, bit panicky and tight. Not nice right?

So breathing like this not only makes it difficult to speak properly, but also makes us more stressed (which makes us more tense, which makes us more stressed etc)....it's a vicious circle 😵

So knowing that that is how our body will naturally react - we need to learn to breathe intentionally and with good technique. This will transform the way we speak and communicate.

When we chat to people who are tense and uncomfortable, it's rare that we feel it was an easy, warm interaction. SO, by breathing in a way that relaxes us, grounds us and fills us with confidence, we're improving all the interactions we're about to have.

Not just that, but deep, diaphragmatic breathing allows us to use our voice in a projected, intentional manner that we are totally in control of (we'll chat more about this in the next blog post or we'll be here forever!)

Try this type of breathing - relax your abs and let your belly hang out. Bring your shoulders up to your ears and then drop them down heavily. Take a lovely deep breath aiming right down to your navel. Feel your torso expand and then slowly release the air.

Enjoy the feeling as you exhale - releax and let it all out. Repeat this a few times and you should feel calmer and more peaceful.

BONUS TIP - for extra relaxation -

As you inhale, visualise yourself breathing in warm, bright, joyful sunlight

As you exhale, visualise all your worries & stresses leaving your body with the air

Hope that helps, let me know how you get on 😊

If you're keen to learn more, why not follow me on instagram @stepupvocalcoaching for more free tips & tricks. Or if you're ready to transform your breath & public speaking skills, drop me an email at info@stepupvocalcoaching.co.uk . I offer a free no-pressure discovery call to get to know each other and find out how I can help.

Lydia is the Founder & Lead Coach at Step Up Vocal Coaching. She is passionate about helping people speak with confidence, personality and impact.