Bad Advice from TVs Dad Brady
The first advice that I ever heard around how to be a better speaker was terrible.
The Brady Bunch was in heavy rotation when I was a kid. Dad Brady gave Jan some advice about how to deal with nerves.
"Picture your audience in your underwear."
This is such terrible advice, but it seems to be the first thing that comes to many people's minds.
Scott Burkun (Confessions of a Public Speaker) linked this guidance to Winston Churchill as he was known for drinking a bottle of champagne and a fifth of brandy or more a day. Burkun adds, "With that much alcohol, you might need to imagine people naked just to stay awake.”
To calm yourself, avoid the booze, visions of naked people and:
Practice out loud 5 times
Reframe the situation; get perspective. No one is going to die on the table here.
Avoid trying to be perfect.
Check out this 1 minute Brady scene (complete with Dad's 70's permed hair and Greg's 70's misogynous commentary) here