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告別上台恐慌的憂鬱

譯者：盧麗嫻 Lisa, Ta Ren

Three steps to calm your fears.
三個平息恐懼的步驟

Sound familiar to any of you? It certainly is familiar to me, because some years ago that was me. But I have good news: My study of this phenomenon over the past decade has taught me that stage fright really is curable. I have helped many people leave these problems behind them, and I’m going to share with you the three main things you need to know to say goodbye to the Stage Fright Blues forever.
是否覺得很熟悉呢？對我而言，它再熟悉不過了，因為幾年前我就是這樣。然而，我有個好消息，我在過去超過十年，對這種現象的研究，告訴我上台恐慌是可以治療的。我已經幫助過許多人克服這個問題，而我要和你分享三件，你可以永遠告別上台恐慌憂鬱所需要知道的事。 

First, let’s take a fast ride back through time. To handle Stage Fright symptoms successfully, we have to understand where and how they originated and what their purpose is.
首先，讓我們快速時光倒轉。要成功處理上台恐慌症狀，我們必須了解他們從哪裡來和如何引起的，還有他們的目的。

Welcome to the Stone Age! Back then, cavemen faced constant physical danger from other cavemen who wanted to steal their cave or food – or from wild animals who wanted to devour them. As part of a brilliant survival kit, these early people were equipped with a built-in defense mechanism. When the caveman was threatened by physical danger, his fear triggered an alarm that prompted an intense physical change; he was prepared to either run away or stand and fight. When peril was closer at hand, more physical changes spurred additional strength. 
歡迎來到石器時代！在當時，山頂洞人經常面對，來自其他想竊佔他們洞穴，或食物的山頂洞人，或想吞噬他們的野生動物。這些早期人類，進化了一種內建的求生機制。每當山頂洞人身體上遇到威脅，恐懼就引發警報，而導致強烈的生理變化。準備逃跑或是站好並回擊。當危險越接近，越多生理變化，也促進更強的反應。

Speeches Can Trigger Survival Instincts
演講會觸發生存本能
This fight-or-flight mechanism is still part of our survival kit today. It’s there to protect us from threatening situations. This is great for facing saber-toothed tigers but not so great for giving a speech or confronting a hostile group in a business meeting. If making a speech makes you even slightly fearful, the symptoms of stage fright will kick in.
這套回擊或逃跑的機制，今天還存在我們的求生基因裡，保護我們面對具威脅性的情境。當面對劍齒虎時或許很受用，但對於演講，或在商務會議時，面對一群不友善的人士時，就另當別論。如果演說讓你有些害怕，上台恐懼症狀就會發生。

So what should we do? Should we run away from activities that scare us? Well, we could, but think of all the fun and growth we would miss. Instead, try using the following three strategies:
那我們應該怎麼辦？我們應該逃離那些讓我們害怕的事件嗎？也許，我們可以如此，但是想想看，我們也因此喪失了其中的樂趣與成長，不如嘗試運用下面三個策略：

1. Accept that stage fright symptoms are part of a normal response.
    接受上台恐慌症狀為正常反應的一部分。
If you focus on the task at hand rather than on the unusual state of your body, the symptoms will diminish. Instead of deciding there is something “wrong” with you, move forward despite these reactions.
如果你專注於手上的工作，而不是你身體上不尋常的狀態，這些症狀將會減低。相較於去感覺你有些不對勁，不如不要去理會這些反應，而繼續往前。

2. Save your creativity for writing your speeches rather than figuring out clever ways to “fight” your
    stage fright.
     將創意用在撰寫演講稿，而不是去找取巧的方法，來對抗上台恐慌。
In my work with singers, speakers, teachers and salespeople, I have seen some ingenious but destructive strategies at work. And my own earlier strategies were some of the most creative! Not content with wearing long skirts to hide my shaking legs, I tried to hold them rigidly still throughout my speeches. I used so much force that I could barely walk off the stage at the end; my leg muscles hurt more back then than they did 20 years later after they carried me to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Tensing your body to stave off nervous reactions is not a good idea, even if it tricks you into feeling stronger.
在我與歌手、演說家、老師和銷售員交談中，我看過一些新穎，但具破壞力的策略運用，而我自己早期的策略，也是最有創意的之一。我曾不願穿長裙，來遮掩發抖的雙腳，而在整個演講中，將雙腳僵直硬撐。我用力之大，當結束時，我幾乎不能走下台，我雙腿的肌肉，比二十年後，攀登非洲吉力馬札羅火山山頂還痛。緊繃身體以擊退緊張的反應，不是個好主意，盡管他讓你以為較強壯。

Often speakers try to combat their physical struggles by tightening up their chests. This usually includes tensing muscles that assist with our breathing – so the result is even more difficulty in breathing. I have seen strategies like these used hundreds of times, and they are often the main reason a speaker (or singer) is still struggling with stage fright after years of trying to overcome it. The answer is to not physically fight the symptoms at all.
演講者經常試著，對抗他們生理上的不適，而緊繃胸口，包括讓協助我們呼吸的肌肉緊張，而造成呼吸更為困難。我見過上百次這樣的策略，常常是演講者，或歌手在多年嘗試克服上台恐慌後，仍未見效的主要原因。解決辦法是完全不要在生理上對抗這些症狀。

3. Pay attention to what you are doing differently with your body to remedy your nervous reactions.
    專注於你正在做的事，而非你的身體，以消除緊張的反應。
Ironically, putting yourself on your “best behavior” could stop you from being the great speaker, sales rep, singer or teacher you want to be.
處於最好的偽裝時，很諷刺的，你將無法成為你心目中優秀的演講者、銷售員、歌手或老師。

When I train business people, I see the same thing happen time and time again, and I see it with Toastmasters as well: Someone stands up to make a presentation and before she starts to speak, she tenses or stretches her body in an effort to look more confident, bigger or stronger. Thousands of us erroneously believe that the best way to make a good first impression is through additional physical effort. We try to “stand tall” or “stride and glide” or “anchor” ourselves by adopting some artificial physical attitude or posture. Unfortunately, what we do to achieve those postures can interfere with our effectiveness.
當我訓練商務人士時，我看到同樣的事情一再發生，在國際演講會會員身上也是。有人起身演講，而在她開口前，她緊繃或伸直身體，努力讓她看起來更有信心、更大、更強壯。許多人錯誤認為，製造第一印象最好的方式，是透過增加身體力量。在我們嘗試採取一些矯揉造作的動作，或姿勢如挺直、跨步和滑行或定錨時，不幸的，將會干擾我們的效果。

Put It to a Test
試試看
Try it right now. Put down your magazine (if you’re on a bus, this might have to wait until you get home) and stand up. Imagine, really imagine, that you’re walking into that important interview, or that you’re about to begin your club or area contest speech, and just check what happens to your body. My experience as a trainer is that seven out of 10 people (or more) will start to stretch themselves upward, or tighten their upper bodies to “get ready.” But by stretching up or tightening your rib cage, you will interfere with your breathing, and your sense of discomfort and tension will actually increase.
現在試試看。放下你的雜誌(如果你在巴士上，可能要等到你回家再做)站起來。想像，很認真的想像，你正走向一個重要的面談，或是你即將上台，開始分會或分區演講比賽，正在檢查你的身體發生什麼事。我當講師的經驗告訴我，十個人裡有七個，或更多人，會開始伸展，或緊繃著上身作準備。然而伸直，或緊繃你的胸腔，會干擾呼吸和不適感，壓力真的會增加。

To resonate with your audience, you just need to be you. You don’t need extra height and you don’t need to puff yourself up. Additional muscular effort will only detract from your performance, not improve it. Try reading about the Alexander Technique, a method of preparing for the stage that teaches us that we often perform better by removing unnecessary physical effort, not adding more.
要引起你和聽眾的共鳴，你只需要當你自己。你不需要變得更高，也不需要膨脹自己。增加肌肉力量，對你的表現，只會減分而不會加分。試著閱讀亞力山大技巧，一種上台準備方法，它教導我們去除身體不需要的力氣，而不是增加，往往這樣我們才會有更好的表現。

Finally, if you are one of the people who experience really strong stage fright, even in the face of smaller situations such as making a point in a meeting, you may need to get more physical exercise (if possible, exercising shortly before your presentation). This reduces the level of chemicals released into the body by the “fight-or-flight” reflex, and helps you to settle down. When I was an opera singer in an earlier life, it was not uncommon to see me dancing backstage shortly before I performed. I didn’t know why this helped me then, but I know why now, and it works.
最後，如果你是一位嚴重上台恐慌的人，甚至在較小的場面，像是在會議中提意見都會緊張的話，你可能需要做些運動(如果可能的話，在快要演講前，先做些運動)。這樣可以降低因回擊或逃跑的反應，而產生的化學物質進入身體，並幫你平靜下來。早先當我還是個歌劇演員時，在快要演出前，常常可以看到我在後台跳舞。當時我並不知道為何這樣對我有幫助，但現在我知道為什麼，而且它真的有效。

I was once a very nervous performer. Today I work as a professional speaker and trainer, and stage fright is a thing of the past. If you incorporate these strategies into your own performance preparation, your experiences will likely be similar to mine, and you can then say goodbye to the Stage Fright Blues!
我曾經是一位非常緊張的表演者。今天我成為一位專業演講者和講師，而上台恐慌已成為過去。如果你將這些策略納入你自己演出的準備中，你的經驗將和我的類似，而你將可以告別上台恐慌憂鬱！

Lesley Stephenson, ACG, CL, is a professional speaker, writer, presentation trainer and certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. She is a member of the Zuriberg Toastmasters in Zurich, Switzerland, and the Gourmet Toastmasters in Sydney, Australia. Visit Lesley at www.speakingsolutions.ch. 作者：萊斯利•史蒂芬森，金牌高級演講員、中級領導員，是位專業演說家、作家、演講教練和亞力山大技巧合格教師。她是瑞士蘇黎世蘇黎堡國際演講會分會和澳大利亞美食家國際演講會分會會員。她的電子郵件信箱：www.speakingsolutions.ch