A Fit of the Giggles

At the weekend I ran one of my courses on Developing Powerful Presentations. They were a great group and we had a lot of fun. By the end of the day they had become comfortable enough to be challenged to talk for one minute on any topic I gave them. None of them knew what their topic would be so it certainly set their hearts pounding.

One of the speakers stood up and launched into a speech that used some of the material from an earlier presentation. His sense of fun was very infectious and it made one of the people in the front row smile. Well that just set him off with such a fit of the giggles that he couldn't speak.


Every time he thought he had it under control he would take a deep breath to speak, catch the eye of the same person in the front row and it would set him off again. I think it's called 'corpsing' by actors. The rest of the group were quite amused by it all and it raised the question of how to cope with this situation if it happens to you.

The first thing to remember is that it is a physical reaction and it can sometimes happen as a result of nerves. The first thing is to do something to interrupt this physical reaction. This could be something as simple as taking a deep breath or moving yourself into a different position.

Once you've managed to stop the giggling you then need to prevent it coming back. Here are a few tips to help you do this:

• Avoid repeating whatever started you giggling in the beginning. If it is a particular person in the audience then don't look at them! If it is a particular word or phrase then say it in a different way!
• As soon as you feel the start of the giggles notice where it starts and where it goes as it moves through your body. You can prevent the giggles happening by reversing the movement!
• Think about something serious that is guaranteed to bring you back down to earth.

Just remember - laughter is great medicine so use it effectively in your speeches to leave your audience feeling uplifted.

Taking the fear out of networking

Along with speaking in public, the greatest fear for many people is entering a room full of strangers. The odd thing is that someone with this fear thinks they are the only one who feels that way. It comes as quite a revelation to them when they realise that all those other, seemingly confident, people are also nervous.


It doesn't seem to matter how often someone does networking this fear can hit in the strangest circumstances. A friend was telling me recently about a group of senior managers who attend a regular forum with him. One of the managers regularly networks within his region and is quite comfortable with it. However, he attended an event in London and admitted to my friend that he had spent the whole time sitting in a corner sending texts.

What a waste!

If only he had realised that there were probably several other people in the room feeling the same way, he could have had a much more productive evening.

I remember going to my first breakfast meeting with the Institute of Directors. I stood at the signing in desk feeling very insecure because I felt that these people were 'real' directors of large companies and that I was a fraud. Then a lady spoke to me nervously saying she was new and would I show her the ropes. It was at that point that a lightbulb went on for me! I wasn't alone!

Funnily enough, as soon as I started thinking about helping other people my nerves disappeared. I now make it a policy to look for someone standing nervously in a corner and I go up and introduce myself. This has developed my network to a huge extent as well as my standing with my colleagues.
With this in mind - go out and have fun networking!

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