2 Questions to Ask Yourself That Stop Nervousness: During a Media Interview or Closing Clients

By Susan Harrow

One of the most common questions I get from clients and workshop participants is: “I always get shaky and nervous before any kind of business conversation — whether I’m trying to get a client to hire me, in a job interview, or trying to talk about my work in the media … pretty much anywhere! Any tips on how to calm down + appear more confident?”

Excellent question.

When we humans feel ‘shaky’ and ‘nervous,’ our instinct is to over-prepare.

We think we need to do more research, memorize more notes and pack more information into our spiel.

But that’s actually very stressful — and rarely helpful.

The BEST thing to do when you’re feeling nervous is exactly the opposite — simplify, simplify, simplify.

Do + say less.

Rather than cramming like you’re getting ready for a high school calculus test, you want to re-discover the essence of what this conversation is about, in the first place.

You might begin by asking yourself two simple questions:

What does my audience / client / customer need most, right now?

And:

How can I help?

To give you a few examples …

What does my audience / client / customer / interviewer need most, right now?

• Tips on how to lose weight, by the start of summer.
• Meditation techniques to calm her nerves, on her wedding day.
• A delicious new recipe for dinner, tonight.
• A major shake-up in the way they think about parenting.
• A personal or professional story that shows I have the skills they are seeking.

And:

How can I help?

• By delivering those tips.
• By doing a guided meditation, on the spot.
• By demonstrating the recipe + offering a few surprising twists.
• By telling a true story + challenging parents to do something differently.
• By giving an example of how I would succeed in their workplace environment or culture.

If you can answer those two questions for yourself, there’s really nothing more you need to do — other than follow-up with an offer to keep connecting with you!

And when you can focus on those two questions, you’ll feel a LOT less nervous, because you’ll know — if nothing else! — that you’re ready to be of service.

Of course, the BEST way to prevent shaky-voiced nervousness is to simplify your message + prepare your sound bites before you actually need them.

The more comfortable you get with your sound bites, the less you’ll sweat in the spotlight — and the more you will shine!

Ready to hone your sound bite skills and prepare ones that will yield results? This post will show you how.

Check out our PR and Media Training Workshop to Jumpstart your Publicity