Limit Your Caffeine Intake Before Public Speaking!
With all the material on the internet about public speaking, there is little information about what you should put on your body before you walk to the lectern. Should you eat, should you drink, should you eat before your speech or presentation? While this is highly individual, in general, it would be wise to limit your food and drink intake before the big event. However, the question here is whether coffee can be harmful.
When I started my business a few years ago, I was hired to speak at a convention in London, Ontario, before 400 real estate agents. He was nervous; I was excited; and I was excited to have this opportunity.
Not scheduled to speak until 2 PM, I was required to arrive at the convention center at noon to check my equipment. This left me with almost 2 hours to ‘kill’. During the wait, I went out with a friend and proceeded to drink copious amounts of coffee at a nearby Tim Horton’s.
When the time finally came to speak, I was absolutely connected. In a normal situation, he could talk for three days about voice training and presentation skills, and he could probably go on for a quarter! But after my opening with this crowd, I had no idea how to continue. That presentation was definitely the longest hour of my life.
This was the one time the caffeine got the best of me and I was in misery trying to focus on what I wanted to say. The only thing that could have been worse would have been the need to use the ladies room!
Fortunately, my audience was completely unaware of my stress and inability to focus. He had enough public speaking experience that he could improvise ‘well enough’. Admittedly, my breaks were sometimes quite ‘pregnant’, but I managed to get through those 60 minutes without making a major mistake and without embarrassment. However, as a professional speaker, I’m not satisfied with ‘well enough’. I was mad at myself.
What I learned from that presentation was that I never overdosed on coffee again. Too much of anything is a mistake; however, too much caffeine can cause jitters that will exacerbate your nervousness.
Nervousness is great because that adrenaline rush can work to your advantage, taking your presentation to a whole new level. But first you must learn to control your nervousness so that it works for you and not against you. In my situation, too much coffee meant I had a hard time concentrating, which only added to my nervousness.
I survived that endless hour but learned a very important lesson from that experience. A cup of coffee is fine, a cup of coffee is not!
The next time you’re scheduled to talk, watch your intake of coffee and all other caffeinated beverages. Avoid milk and do not drink alcohol. Stick to water and limit your intake. Remember too much of anything is never good for public speaking!
