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Anxiety and Eagerness: Extemporaneous Speaking Strategy

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In our previous article we provided a strategy to deal with emotions that come up when you’re called upon to speak in front of a group unexpectedly. We discussed the role that mindset plays going into an unexpected presentation, how it can help to focus on the needs of the audience rather than focusing on your own needs. But let’s say you’ve successfully shifted your mindset, you’re eager to address the question that you’ve been surprised with – then what?

Anxiety’s most important component is fear of the unknown. To leave anxiety behind, it’s important to have a plan before you even begin speaking. You’ll find great value in adopting a format that you can have at the ready, in any situation.

We have a simple formula that you can apply to your next extemporaneous presentation: start with an attention grabber, expand on the question using three main ideas, and summarize your message.  

Part of what we experience as anxiety has to do with simply getting started. Once you’ve begun, what happens then? This conundrum translates to a feeling of being out of control. The sense of lacking control pushes us toward anxiety and away from a sense of eagerness.

A “grabber” can be defined as a device that introduces the problem interestingly, and it gets said first. It can be a question, a challenge, a factoid or a metaphor. Example: you’re asked in a meeting to comment on a difficult problem in IT security. If you work in this field, you’ll easily come up with some things to say in answer to this question. Maybe the grabber starts you off this way: “Cybersecurity isn’t really about technology — it’s about people. Hackers don’t break in anymore. They log in, using stolen credentials from social engineering.”

Next, expand on three main ideas. Having the pieces in mind helps to put your thoughts into a clear set of ideas. Come up with three topics to develop, for example the problem’s history, the solutions that have already been attempted, and a new solution you’re confident in. Each of these sub-topics is probably relatively obvious for you to expand on as the IT professional, but now you’ve given yourself a well-organized, step by step list to talk through. You’ve kept it within a reasonable time allotment because you’ve made the choice to give yourself a doable goal (three things) for the time you’ve been asked to fill.

Conclude your brief talk with a short summary. This is the easiest element of the formula; it’s just a restatement of what you’ve already said.  It can just be a sentence or two summarizing what you’ve offered to this point. Take the opportunity in your conclusion to reinforce any main ideas or points of persuasion.

This approach also lends itself well to practice. Just for fun (maybe not as much fun as a trip to the beach, but enjoyable nonetheless) give yourself a topic to develop this way, and video-record yourself. Craft a message on the fly and present it as though to an audience. Practicing in this way removes even more of the “unknown” which will help with nervousness – you’ll know exactly how you sound and look.

Using an interesting grabber and using the “rule of threes” to assemble a message on the fly is one way to tip the scales towards eagerness rather than anxiety. This formula works even better in conjunction with the mental technique from our previous article. To come across confidently, expect the best possible outcome and don’t fall into the trap of expecting the worst possible outcome.

Nicholas Dalley ICI 2025, All Rights Reserved.

How is Eagerness related to Anxiety?

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How is Eagerness related to Anxiety?

In a conversation with a client this week I had a moment of clarity. It was one of those moments that I look forward to in a coaching relationship. Usually, moments such as this one take a difficult concept and boil it down to something simple yet actionable.

Even though I have worked for the better part of a year with this client, and have seen strong improvement, he had a very basic, you might say incisive and thoroughly honest question for me. “But how do I drop anxiety when I’m in a group and I’m called on unexpectedly to speak to a topic? You know, when I have to be the expert, but I’m not prepared to speak?”

This question is precisely on point for so many presenters, especially when it comes to the word “anxiety.” “Anxiety” is comparable to “dread”; to feel either of these emotions is a pretty awful experience. “Excitement” and “eagerness” on the other hand, are positive emotions that excellent presenters all seem to have in common. Eagerness seems to refer to excitement in the anticipation of something pleasurable. So in this discussion, let’s make our focus “anxiety” and “eagerness.”

In conversation we tend to use the words “anxious” and “eager” interchangeably: “I’m anxious to talk with you next week,” and “I’m eager to talk with you next week.” These two sentences seem to say approximately the same thing. But focusing on the differences, there really is an important distinction.  Think of it as two sides of the same coin. The two sentences both suggest expectation and anticipation. They share many of the same physiological responses too: sweaty palms, dilated pupils, increased production of adrenaline, and an urge to speak more quickly. Both anxiety and eagerness seem to alter one’s perception of the passage of time. Time seems to slow down. A child might say, “I didn’t think Christmas would ever come.” Someone else might say, “The two weeks until my court appearance really seemed to drag.” Anxiety and eagerness, two sides of the same coin.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could turn all the anxiety associated with making a speech (or being called on in a group unexpectedly) into eagerness: eagerness to make your contribution to the group’s success… eagerness to build your brand as the thought leader?

We propose two solutions – one is a shift in mindset, and another is a practical strategy on how to quickly structure an impromptu speech or answer to the question.

Shifting your mindset in this way can be compared to looking at a blue-green color. You can convince yourself that the color is blue, or you can convince yourself that the color is green. When you start to feel the surge of emotion that comes with unexpected speaking (or any public speaking), lean into eagerness.

Both eagerness and anxiety carry a lot of energy. Anxiety tends to come from a negative expectation, focusing on the consequences of a poor performance: “What if I sound stupid?” or “Everyone will find out that I don’t know what I’m talking about”. Experience your increased energy as excitement, rather than treating it like anxiety.

Instead of thinking about how you might look, sound, or feel based on the results of your speech, think about how the group will benefit from what you have to say.