On Monday evening I had my first in-person presentation since March.  It’s been a long time, and I had some butterflies in my stomach, even if I felt I had over-prepared for it.  It was a challenge for me, for sure! What should you do when you are a little worried, anxious?  Well, that was part of the content of my talk on resilience, soft skills and emotional intelligence.

But what about my talk?  How did I deal with the butterflies?

First, I was prepared (over-prepared)

Second, I gave myself time to get there and had a snack on the way so my blood pressure was normal and so was my blood sugar level.  I took care of my body.

Third, I had given myself enough time beforehand to consider the talk and let it “live” in me.  Thus, I felt like I could even do it without the ppt (luckily that did not have to be).  This helped my confidence.

And before I met up with the woman in charge, I smiled and did some breathing.  I did what Amy Cuddy suggests in her book, “Presence”.

I was ready for the challenge, which reminds me of part of my talk.  This part was mostly based on Kelly McGonigal’s research on stress:

First, stress prepares you for the task (reframe your thinking about stress to the positive about stress).  Stress is “made” to help your body rise to the upcoming challenge.

Second, when you stress about your stress it becomes a vicious circle and then the negative thinking itself becomes unhealthy and very destructive.  It’s not the stress that kills you, but the obsessing about it.  So, use some mental training tools to stop over-thinking.

Third, instead of obsessing, talk about it with someone who has a clear perspective.

Finally, (and this was a very key point for the whole talk), a few good relationships will help you to deal with stress and keep you more resilient and healthier.

Now it’s time for the next challenges (positive stress): new clients, new semester of teaching… 

What about you, what are your challenges and who do you rely on to discuss them?

Have a great rest of your week!

Patricia Jehle                                       patricia@jehle-coaching.com