You walk to the front of the room. All eyes are on you. Before you even open your mouth to begin your presentation, you feel your heart rate speed up. It’s suddenly hard to focus. Your brain feels fuzzy, and you are having trouble getting a full breath. That, my friend, is your fight or flight response trying to help prepare you to fight off danger. But you can control that. You can fight it. And all it takes is a simple breathing hack.
Your breath has been scientifically proven to control your body responses. And there are two specific breathing techniques you might want to use before a presentation. One calms you down, and the other pumps you up. It’s all about the ratio of inhalation to exhalation. Let’s learn how to use the power of breathing.
Breathing to Calm Yourself Down
Most of the time, we feel a bit jittery and nervous when we have to stand in front of an audience to present. But you can even get the same adrenaline rush if you are featured on a video conference call. In these cases, or any time you feel anxiety start to creep in, you need to slow down your sympathetic activity. This regulates your flight or flight response.
Let’s get scientific for a second, okay? Stick with me. This is cool stuff that comes from research conducted by Nobel Prize winner Otto Loewi. When you breathe in, the sympathetic nervous system briefly accelerates your heart rate. When you breathe out, the vagus nerve secretes a transmitter substance which activates your parasympathetic system—it slows things back down to a normal rate. If you lengthen your exhale, your vagus nerve is able to secrete just a little more of the tranquilizing substance that slows down your heart rate. So simply by making your exhales longer than your inhales, you can calm yourself down. As a bonus, studies have also shown that this type of breathing can also help you make better decisions.
Here’s how to do it: Breathe in for 4 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds.
Christopher Bergland is an author and a world-class endurance athlete who holds a Guinness World record in running. He uses the 4:8 ratio for breathing when he needs to calm down. This cycle includes breathing in for 4 seconds and then breathing out for 8 seconds. In 1 minute, you can complete 5 of these 4:8 breathing cycles. Bergland says that research shows that you only need 2 minutes of this type of breathing to “hack the vagus nerve and calm your nervous system.”
Breathing to Pump Yourself Up
While most of the time we’ll want to use breathing hacks to calm down, we can reverse the process if we need a boost of energy. Sarah Baldwin is a life coach trained in polyvagal theory (a scientific approach to understanding how the vagus nerve affects our human responses). She says if we feel sluggish we are probably experiencing a dorsal state. In this state, our breathing is “slower and more shallow.” This leads to “things like low energy, depression, hopelessness, apathy, dissociation, etc.” In this state, we begin to doubt our abilities and decrease our effort. But we can combat this by increasing our breathing.
Here’s how to do it: Take short, quick, even breaths in and out through your nose.
Dr. Andrew Weil encourages patients to use a stimulating breath exercise to pull out of an energy slump. This type of breathing is also known as the bellows breath and has been shown to “raise energy and alertness.” Start by taking a deep breath in through your nose followed by a deep breath out through your nose. Then, take quick and even breaths in and out through your nose. You might find that you sound like a dog panting. Finishing with another deep breath in and out through your nose. Dr. Weil says to aim for about 15 seconds your first time, working up to a minute if you feel comfortable.
Your excess of energy or lack of energy shouldn’t derail your presentation performance. You already have everything you need to control your body responses: your breath. Don’t be afraid to tap into the power of guided inhalation and exhalation before your next big presentation.
Want more scientific tips to become a better presenter? Check out our presentation resources at Ethos3.com or get in touch with one of our experts now.
