Your brain is wired for survival. It’s programmed to over-emphasize negative events because they are threats. Thousands of years ago, these tendencies kept us alive. But now, these feelings prevent us from achieving our full potential.
Standing in front of your class isn’t a life-threatening situation, but what your brain sees is a huge crowd of potential enemies all looking at you. If a deer saw 20 wolves staring at it, the deer would be terrified. Your brain wants to be freaked out when you’re public speaking for this same reason.
The solution to this problem is presence. If you can slow down enough to truly be with each of the audience members, your stress will start to fade. Don’t just look them in the eye, pay attention to their facial cues. Be with them enough to start feeling like you are not alone on a stage. You’re connected with other human beings.
Do this as you move from person to person, slowly connecting to new souls. Presence is what overcomes the perceived hostility problem. The crowd isn’t actually a threat to your survival. Slow down enough to convince your brain that you’re speaking with tribe members.
Take a deep breath and go for it.