Palms sweaty, heart racing, stomach in knots. You can't cry for help. Not only is your throat too tight to breathe, but it'd be so embarrassing. No, you aren't being stalked by a monster, you're speaking in public, a fate some deem worse than death.
As palmas suorentas, o corazón acelerado, nós no estómago. Non podes berrar por axuda. Non só tes a gorxa tan preta que non podes respirar, tamén sería tan vergoñoso. Non, non te está a perseguir un monstro. Estás a falar en público, un destino que algúns achan peor cá morte.
See, when you're dead, you feel nothing; at a podium, you feel stage fright. But at some point we've all had to communicate in front of people, so you have to try and overcome it.
Cando estás morto, non sentes nada; nun estrado, sentes medo escénico. Pero nalgún intre todos tivemos que falar diante doutra xente, logo tes que tentar superalo.
To start, understand what stage fright is. Humans, social animals that we are, are wired to worry about reputation. Public speaking can threaten it. Before a speech, you fret, "What if people think I'm awful and I'm an idiot?" That fear of being seen as an awful idiot is a threat reaction from a primitive part of your brain that's very hard to control. It's the fight or flight response, a self-protective process seen in a range of animals, most of which don't give speeches.
Para comezar, entende o que é o medo escénico. Os humanos, coma animais socias que somos, preocupámonos pola nosa reputación. Falar en público pode ameazala. Antes dun discurso, sentes desacougo: “E se a xente pensa que son terrible, que son un idiota?” Ese medo a ser visto coma terriblemente idiota é unha reacción ás ameazas dunha parte primitiva do cerebro que é moi difícil de controlar. É a resposta de loita ou fuxida, un proceso de autodefensa observado en diversos animais, os máis dos cales non dan conferencias.
But we have a wise partner in the study of freaking out. Charles Darwin tested fight or flight at the London Zoo snake exhibit. He wrote in his diary, "My will and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had never been experienced." He concluded that his response was an ancient reaction unaffected by the nuances of modern civilization. So, to your conscious modern mind, it's a speech. To the rest of your brain, built up to code with the law of the jungle, when you perceive the possible consequences of blowing a speech, it's time to run for your life or fight to the death.
Mais temos un sabio compañeiro no estudo dos medos. Charles Darwin comprobou a “loita ou fuxida” na mostra de serpes do zoo de Londres. Escribiu no seu diario: “A miña vontade e razón víronse impotentes ante a imaxinación dun perigo que nunca experimentaran”. Concluíu que a súa resposta era unha reacción antiga inalterada polos matices da civilización moderna. Para a túa consciencia moderna, é un discurso. Para o resto do teu cerebro, desenvolvido para afrontar a lei da selva, cando percibes as posibles consecuencias de estragar un discurso, é hora de correr para salvar a vida ou loitar ata a morte.
Your hypothalamus, common to all vertebrates, triggers your pituitary gland to secrete the hormone ACTH, making your adrenal gland shoot adrenaline into your blood. Your neck and back tense up, you slouch. Your legs and hand shake as your muscles prepare for attack. You sweat. Your blood pressure jumps. Your digestion shuts down to maximize the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to muscles and vital organs, so you get dry mouth, butterflies. Your pupils dilate, it's hard to read anything up close, like your notes, but long range is easy. That's how stage fright works.
O teu hipotálamo, común a tódolos vertebrados, fai que a túa glándula pituitaria segregue a hormona ACTH, o que fai que a glándula adrenal libere adrenalina no sangue. O teu pescozo e as túas costas tensan. Dóbraste. Trémenche as pernas e as mans e os músculos preparan o ataque. Súas. A túa tensión arterial dispárase. A túa dixestión detense para maximizar a achega de nutrientes e osíxeno aos músculos e órganos vitais, logo sentes a boca seca, bolboretas na barriga. As túas pupilas dilátanse. É difícil ler cousas de preto, como as túas notas, mais ver ao lonxe é doado. Así funciona o medo escénico.
How do we fight it? First, perspective. This isn't all in your head. It's a natural, hormonal, full body reaction by an autonomic nervous system on autopilot. And genetics play a huge role in social anxiety. John Lennon played live thousands of times. Each time he vomited beforehand. Some people are just wired to feel more scared performing in public.
Como o combatemos? O primeiro: perspectiva. Isto non está todo na túa mente. É a reacción natural, hormonal e de todo o corpo dun sistema nervioso autónomo en piloto automático. E a xenética xoga un papel moi importante na ansiedade social. John Lennon tocou en directo milleiros de veces. E cada vez, vomitaba antes do concerto. Algunhas persoas están programadas para sentir máis medo actuando en público.
Since stage fright is natural and inevitable, focus on what you can control. Practice a lot, starting long before in an environment similar to the real performance. Practicing any task increases your familiarity and reduces anxiety, so when it's time to speak in public, you're confident in yourself and the task at hand. Steve Jobs rehearsed his epic speeches for hundreds of hours, starting weeks in advance. If you know what you're saying, you'll feed off the crowd's energy instead of letting your hypothalamus convince your body it's about to be lunch for a pack of predators.
Dado que o medo escénico é natural e inevitable, concéntrate no que podes controlar. Ensaia, moito, comezando ben antes e nun ambiente semellante ao da actuación real. Practicar unha tarefa aumenta a túa familiaridade con ela e reduce a ansiedade, de xeito que á hora de falar en público, tes confianza en ti e no que vas facer. Steve Jobs ensaiaba os seus épicos discursos durante centos de horas dende semanas antes. Se sabes o que estás a dicir aproveitarás a enerxía do público en vez de deixar o teu hipotálamo convencer o corpo de que o vai devorar unha grea de predadores.
But hey, the vertebrate hypothalamus has had millions of years more practice than you. Just before you go on stage, it's time to fight dirty and trick your brain. Stretch your arms up and breath deeply. This makes your hypothalamus trigger a relaxation response. Stage fright usually hits hardest right before a presentation, so take that last minute to stretch and breathe.
Pero o hipotálamo dos vertebrados tivo millóns de anos máis ca ti para ensaiar. Xusto antes de saíres a escena é o intre de xogar sucio e enganar o teu cerebro. Estira os brazos cara arriba e respira fondo. Isto fai que o teu hipotálamo active unha resposta de relaxación. O medo escénico adoita acentuarse xusto antes da presentación, logo dedica ese último minuto a estirar e respirar.
You approach the Mic, voice clear, body relaxed. Your well-prepared speech convinces the wild crowd you're a charismatic genius. How? You didn't overcome stage fright, you adapted to it. And to the fact that no matter how civilized you may seem, in part of your brain, you're still a wild animal, a profound, well-spoken wild animal.
Achégaste ao micro. A voz clara. O corpo relaxado. O teu discurso ben ensaiado convence á multitude salvaxe de que es un xenio carismático. Como? Non superaches o medo escénico, adaptácheste a el. E ao feito de que por moi civilizado que parezas, nunha parte do teu cerebro, es aínda un animal salvaxe. Un animal salvaxe profundo e benfalado.