Hypnotherapy and Public Speaking
Many people report that public speaking, whether it’s a work meeting or a speech at a wedding, is one of the most nerve-wracking things they can imagine. The mere thought of being in front of a crowd with all eyes on you can cause all sorts of symptoms, ranging from sweaty palms to a racing heartbeat. Actually standing up to make the speech is even worse for many people.
There may be a number of times in your life where you are asked to speak to a group of people, so it makes sense to take steps to conquer your fear of public speaking. There are a number of options available to help you become an effective public speaker. Have you ever considered consulting a hypnotherapist for help?
Using Hypnotherapy to become an Effective Public Speaker
A good approach for resolving public speaking fears is the use of visualization techniques. In fact, most kinds of issues involving taking a specific action, such as talking in front of an audience, respond well to visualization. Even if you’ve had negative experiences with public speaking in the past, a hypnotherapist can help.
Have you ever heard a professional athlete or a successful business owner talk about using visualization techniques as part of their blueprint for success? This process involves the person focusing in great detail on the result they want to achieve. They think about each step involved in reaching their goal and picture themselves completing each task successfully. When the time comes to win the big race or negotiate an important contract, the person performs well because they have already performed these tasks many times, in their mind.
Your subconscious mind is a very powerful thing. Messages or suggestions heard by your subconscious are not filtered through your logical brain. What we see in our mind's eye is very real. What we picture in our mind before we perform an action has a very real outcome on the results we get.
Certain hypnotherapists who are trained to conduct sessions by telephone can really make a difference, as a person can participate in a hypnotherapy session from the convenience of their own home or office.
How a Hypnotherapist Can Help
A hypnotherapist will use visualization techniques to help you work through the specific event (the speech, talk, presentation, or whatever) in your mind, and will teach you to overcome the negative responses and reactions that you would otherwise experience in the moment. During one or more sessions, you will be helped to achieve a state of hypnosis, or deep relaxation. In this relaxed state that your hypnotherapist will give you the suggestions and ideas you need to change the negative thoughts you have surrounding the event to positive ones.
Hypnosis, or “trance”, is a state of deep relaxation in which you become very open to suggestions made to you. Without realizing it, we all lapse into a type of trance at times. If you’ve ever become completely absorbed in a book you were reading or lost track of time on a long car trip, these are forms of self-hypnosis. A hypnotherapist uses special techniques to place you in a hypnotic state, at which time beneficial suggestions that you have previously discussed can be implanted, during visualization exercises.
How effective is visualization in hypnosis?
Everyone knows that practice is important for success. Everyone needs to practice, from professional athletes, to children learning piano, to people giving speeches. Practice leads to both physical and metal preparedness and builds confidence.
This story will illustrate the use and effectiveness of visualization. A study was done where a who had never played basketball were taken onto a basketball court where they shot hoops, trying to get the ball into the hoop. Needless to say, the success rate was not great. The people were then divided into three groups, and for the next month the following happened. The first group practiced shooting hoops on the court several times a week. The second group did no practice at all and nothing was done with them. The third group was given visualization exercises several times a week, where they imagined standing on the court and throwing the ball.
At the end of the month, the groups were all brought back to the basketball court. The first group, having practiced frequently, had much improves. The second group, with no intervening activity, was as bad as the previous month. However, the third group, who had not touched the ball since the first session but had undergone the visualization techniques, had improved almost to the level of the first group who had actually practiced!
This is an extreme case, but it serves to illustrate the fact that mental conditioning plays a significant role in preparing for a specific event. Whether it’s sports, musical or theater performance, or visiting the dentist, good mental preparation can play a large part in the success of an activity.
Anyone can do visualization techniques on their own and probably to good effect. Hypnotherapy can be regarded as a kind of “power-session” for visualization. A good hypnotherapist will not only discuss the right visualizations to help you resolve your issues, but will teach you how to do these visualizations at home during self-hypnosis sessions.
Summary: using Hypnotherapy for Public Speaking Issues
If you have a fear of public speaking, you should really seek out a good hypnotherapist who can help you either in person or by telephone to overcome the challenges of speaking in public and help you move on.
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