Why does public speaking cause so much anxiety?

My heart races.
My stomach sinks.
My breath hastens, and SNAP:

I suddenly become drenched, head to toe.

My genes are 99% Irish, too.

So a surge of adrenaline makes the the blood pump up into my face and turn me into the most conspicuously nervous-looking red tomato 🍅.

 {—I have literally been asked if I am “OK” by complete strangers at the gym, as my face gets so red.}

Anyway, and with tomato-face in tow, I gave an hour-long talk about legal writing at Matt’s law firm last week—Kleinbard in Philadelphia.

—> It went great! 🎉🎊

We discussed:

—highlights from judicial interviews
—pundit pet peeves
—techniques to bridge sentences
—my favorite editing tricks
—tech trends and AI

 👉 Afterwards, the head of the litigation department even came up to me and said, “You really should shop around this exact same talk to other firms.”

 {—Hmm. So maybe I will . . . (TBC)}

Major thank-you’s to Matthew Haverstick and Mark Seiberling
for inviting me in.

You have such an amazing group of legal writers there in the Kleinbard LLC litigation group, and it was an absolute privilege to have your time last week.

Check out the attached for ⤵️ for 5 useful takeaways from the talk.

💌 Amanda

P.S. Matt said his only constructive feedback public-speaking-wise was that in the first 10 minutes of it, I said “um” a lot. 😔

—{Note to self: Figure out how to stop saying “um”!!!
—Get tips from Kerry and Will.} Kerry Barrett Will Greenblatt

P.P.S. I’m hoping that the more I force myself to speak publicly, the less red I will get.

(I actually am quite good at it; not sure why I always get myself so worked up.)

📫 What have you done to get over your nerves and feel more relaxed going into speaking events?