2 REASONS WHY YOU FEEL NERVOUS IN FRONT OF A CROWD
1. There are too many of them!
The fear is real. You stand in front of an audience and they are all staring at you, all at once. You think that perhaps they are judging you and you feel like you are being punished for something you did.
It's not a good feeling.
But, if you can pause and ponder on it, you will realize that you are actually making up most of the things you fear in your head.
In reality, you have no idea what they are thinking and they have no idea what you are thinking. Both parties are guessing what the other is thinking, and most of those guesses are negative.
Right?
2. There are important people among them!
This is a bit tricky. You can feel this fear even if the number of people in front of you are only a handful (e.g. in a panel interview or during a viva presentation).
The number of people is not the issue, the issue is who is among them. You know that they are important people who are of a higher status.
Quite possibly, they even have the power to make important decisions that could affect your life in some way. You are afraid that they will make a decision that will prevent you from reaching your goals.
So even before you open your mouth, you already imagine that they will make that dreaded decision. But hold on, how do you know what they will do?
Again, you are making a guess about yourself that is sabotaging your own performance. You are making stuff up.
Plus, even though the people in front of are important people...they are still people. They are just like you; they too feel fear and insecurities.
As people, they are not above you and you are not below them. As people, we are all equal and the best among us is the one with the highest taqwa. The good news is, we have NO IDEA who has the highest taqwa.
Phew! That's a relief right?
1. There are too many of them!
The fear is real. You stand in front of an audience and they are all staring at you, all at once. You think that perhaps they are judging you and you feel like you are being punished for something you did.
It's not a good feeling.
But, if you can pause and ponder on it, you will realize that you are actually making up most of the things you fear in your head.
In reality, you have no idea what they are thinking and they have no idea what you are thinking. Both parties are guessing what the other is thinking, and most of those guesses are negative.
Right?
2. There are important people among them!
This is a bit tricky. You can feel this fear even if the number of people in front of you are only a handful (e.g. in a panel interview or during a viva presentation).
The number of people is not the issue, the issue is who is among them. You know that they are important people who are of a higher status.
Quite possibly, they even have the power to make important decisions that could affect your life in some way. You are afraid that they will make a decision that will prevent you from reaching your goals.
So even before you open your mouth, you already imagine that they will make that dreaded decision. But hold on, how do you know what they will do?
Again, you are making a guess about yourself that is sabotaging your own performance. You are making stuff up.
Plus, even though the people in front of are important people...they are still people. They are just like you; they too feel fear and insecurities.
As people, they are not above you and you are not below them. As people, we are all equal and the best among us is the one with the highest taqwa. The good news is, we have NO IDEA who has the highest taqwa.
Phew! That's a relief right?