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Marija Mikalauskiene helps people share ideas more effectively and turn their fears into strengths. During the last 7 years she has trained countless business leaders, politicians and conference speakers to find their authentic, unique, powerful speaking style and to unleash their oratory potential on stage. The biggest obstacle in unleashing our full potential is fear. Therefore, Marija focuses on helping people understand their fears and unleash the energy behind it. She is also a coach at one of the world’s leading public speaking organizations “Own the Room”, which enjoys the privilege of working with such leaders as Sheryl Sandberg; Jimmy Wales; Reid Hoffman and many more. This summer Marija walked 850 km on foot, alone, in silence, which gave her inner peace, confidence and a few stories to share.
What fear is
When Marija was at school, she loved reciting poems and participating in rhetoric contests. Once, just two minutes before going to the stage, her teacher told Marija all the things that were wrong with her. That caused a fearful experience that made her to develop fear of speaking, which lasted for many years. But Marija came back years later to overcome it and make a career in public speaking. To Marija, fear is nature’s energy to make us powerful.
Fear can make you stronger
Marija is convinced that fear can make you stronger, and that fear doesn’t mean you’re a coward. Her approach to unleash this power has three elements: physiology, psychology and focus.
1. Physiology
- Shake your body. Just before going to the stage, shake your body. Try this Qi Gong exercise.
- Breathe deeply. We tend to contract our upper body and that causes the breath to become shallow.
- Power pose. Adopt a body posture that will make you feel powerful. Pretend to be courageous until you become one.
2. Psychology
- Redefine what you associate with fear. If you associate fear with your mistakes and failures, you turn all that power against you. Accept fear and redirect this energy.
- Forgive your mistakes. Redefine a mistake into a lesson.
3. Focus
- Mission. Today most of people can’t focus in anything–including your speech–unless the mission is huge and very important for them. People with a strong belief in their mission are less prone to lose focus when speaking.
- Expand your ability to focus via meditation.
Related: Anxiety of Speaking Is Not a Synonym For Failure
Favorite quotation
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the conscious decision that something else is more important than fear.” — James Neil Hollingworth
Recommended book
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Routine to Shine
Do this a few days before an important speech. Stand, shake your knees, shoulders, arms, hands. Imagine there is a black ash is coming out of your body and going to the ground. Afterwards, imagine a white energy flowing from the ground to every part of your body. Then reflect: this is what fear is, pure energy that life gave you to fulfill your mission. Finally, open your eyes, and quickly do ten deep breaths.
Links
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[…] Related: Fear Can Make You Stronger […]