Nerves can be troublesome!
They can get in the way of you delivering a great pitch, performing well in an interview, negotiating a pay raise or even speaking at your best friend’s wedding!
I have a simple yet very effective trick you can use to help calm yourself down before delivering your pitch.. or on any occasion when you need to reign in your nerves. Best of all, no one will know you are doing it!
It’s called the SO-HUM technique and it’s derived from two Sanskrit words. Literally translated, it means “I am at peace with the universe”. But don’t worry, you don’t need to be into meditation for this to work!
To calm yourself, breathe in slowly through the nose as you say the word “SO” in your head. Then breathe out through your mouth gently, saying the word “HUMmmmmmmmm“ prolonging the “m” sound until you have no breath left.
Normally when a person is nervous, they do what I call “chihuahua” breathing – a quick, sort of panting sound. This just exacerbates the nerves.
Your “HUMmmmmmm” should be 2 to 3 times longer than the “SO”, and it helps exhale all of the carbon dioxide from your body.
Practice this regularly and it will become second nature when you are in stressful situations and need to ground and center yourself quickly.
“I nailed it! I won it! I outperformed the closest competitor by 30 votes. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your training. I thought about the audience, body language and voice. I practiced and sohummed. It is not that our product is better. I was just better prepared!” – Natalia Tomiyama, Co Founder at NÜWIEL
What other techniques do you use for calming your nerves?
