I get good news and I've got bad news.
The good news is it's actually pretty easy to speak in front of large crowds A thousand five thousand
one hundred that's all you have to do is the same thing you do when you're talking to one friend or
colleague and you're relaxed and animated interesting and being conversational and telling stories and
examples.
That's the good news.
The bad news is me simply telling you that doesn't make it any easier because we as human beings are
hardwired to be nervous about speaking in front of large crowds.
What happens is we tense up our heart starts racing.
We get scared our brain stops working our memory stops working in our bodies telling us run our hands
get sweaty.
Well why is that.
It is important.
Before we really go deep into this and get great at it.
To understand a little bit of the background.
Evolutionary biologists believe we as human beings are hardwired to fear public speaking because public
speaking is essentially being separated from the crowd separated from the herd and prehistoric times
if we are in the jungle and we're a part of the herd there safety in numbers if there's 2000 other water
buffalo with us or any sort of animal and a lion or a tiger or a bear counts our odds are pretty good
one will get out of the herd.
But the other and it will be safe.
So there's safety in numbers.
The old cliche is true if we're completely separated from the herd or if we're just all alone in the
open field and animals and other other predators of ours can see us from every direction we're vulnerable
we could be eaten attacked.
That's not good.
So that's why many scientists believe that we as human beings are so nervous about speaking especially
in front of large crowds.
That's why our bodies react differently.
That's why our hands get Wecht's moistures coming out wishers coming out of our feet too because our
body is telling us don't think right now you may have noticed if you ever tried to turn the page of
a book if you go like that there's more friction it's easier to turn that page the same way if you all
of a sudden have to run through a jungle of your life having moisture coming out of your hands in the
palm of your feet gives you more traction you can grab Vine's swing away and it's better for protection
your body is telling you run you've got that adrenaline rush more energy.
But that's also when your body isn't working well from the neck up.
You don't have the ability to think clearly necessarily or to recall information because your body is
telling you spent all of your energy running.
And it makes perfect sense if you're in the jungle about to be attacked.
Unfortunately if you're about to give a speech event of a major trade show conference of 2000 people
that particular response is it very helpful.
All it does is get in your way.