Using SMART goals to help ease that public speaking anxiety

Me hosting The Symposium: Academic StandUp at Caveat NYC. The fear that audiences can read my mind is VERY REAL. Apart from practicing more often with different audiences and in different spaces, here’s a tool from the producer and project manager’s toolbox that helps me be more self-forgiving while reframing that worry of failure as a public speaker into seeing my efforts as a project in progress.

I get public speaking anxiety. It used to be so bad that my voice would start to waver, a Filipino accent would come out, my tongue would swell, and I’d start tearing up uncontrollably while presenting my finished research project to an entire department. Even after a lot of practice, I still get anxious when I’m heading to a new space or working with a new audience or doing a format of speaking I’ve never tried before. My anxiety gets so bad that sometimes I can’t stop the shakes. And sometimes it manifests itself in terrible procrastination. Here I share how I personalize SMART goals (a system I’ve used in writing and requesting grants and delivering events, or general project management). This tool is a way for us to create a roadmap to success and iterate on hiccups instead of seeing the experience as potential gut-wrenching “failures”.

Pair this with listing specific OUTCOMES you want from putting effort into achieving your SMART goals. This means assessing: what is your expected and unexpected endpoints to the goals and objectives you want to achieve? What specifically will success look like so you can recognize and celebrate it after all of that physically, emotionally, mentally taxing effort? Make a list so you can go back and focus your energy on tangible things. It helps me refocus my anxious energy. Maybe it’ll help you, too.

S.M.A.R.T. goals, what is it?

S.M.A.R.T. is a mnemonic for criteria of setting objectives tied to project/event management. It typically breaks down to meaning Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound goals/objectives.

Honestly, I never even heard of it while doing science in graduate school and it’s unfortunate. It’s a really handy tool for managing PhD/research/writing-related stress. I learned about it 7 years too late while completing my Masters in Science Communication and Public Engagement at the University of Edinburgh. Unlike in the US, it seemed to me that the SMART system was embedded into nearly every project and grant I’d come across while practicing sci-comm and event production in the UK. It’s a system that has really been helpful for me in easing anxiety about project and product delivery while staying on the same page when working with multiple groups.

SMART goals for easing your public speaking anxiety

It’s not new, but it might be for some folks. There is some variation on specific definitions, but since this blog post is primarily an aid to ease performance anxiety, this is the version that’ll be applicable to you.

S — specific. What do you want to do?
Specify EXACTLY what you want out of this endeavor and use as many action words as possible. What helps me is to remember:

Why the heck am I even spending my time/resource to do this? Why does my intended audience NEED to hear me talk? What do I want them to takeaway from this? Okay, so if they completely zone out OR I forget a whole section, what’s the ONE thing I want them to remember from me talking?

M — measurable. How will you know when you’ve reached your goal?
What does the success of “S” look like? To make it more manageable, really specify how you will personally know you’ve reached your [1] short-term success and [2] long-term success. For public speaking anxiety, you’ve got to be able to focus your energy more on little celebrations instead of the nagging self-doubt. Little measurable moments of success from one person nodding, to making eye contact, to finishing 4 minutes of speaking will help. Add that to your overall, bigger goals of educating others or landing a deal or making people laugh and it’ll help alleviate the worry of losing control in a public speaking situation.

A — attainable. Is it in your power to accomplish your goal within the given time/resource?
Time, effort, costs, energy, existing talent, writing, other work, etc. — these are all things that can affect just how confident versus anxious you might feel about a public speaking opportunity. This is a chance for you to reflect on your goal within the wider context of your life or other factors of a project. It’s so rare for folks like us who suffer from performance anxiety to really dig into other “WHYs” that cause the anxiety. List all the contexts that could affect how you feel on that stage. Then ask yourself:

Is your goal attainable within the timeframe? What are all the steps to my success and can I fulfill each step realistically within this period? Is this actually a goal that is acceptable to me? Etc.

R — relevant. Does your goal have IMPACT? Is this the right time for it? Does this seem worth your while? If not, when?
Do you notice how much gets asked of you? Or how much you ask of yourself? Now is a moment to prioritize realistically. Public speaking is often a massive career opportunity. Why else would we put ourselves through it? Sometimes, it’s a case of “why not”, but other times can be a case of “I really don’t think this is the time…but I can’t say no.” Actually, you can. But if this particular goal is part of a bigger goal for you, don’t let yourself get away with never putting a hard date to achieving it.

If it helps, maybe look into the Eisenhower Matrix to help you prioritize and decide. But remember, sometimes this goal is just a matter of joy and fulfillment (for personal goals, career goals, etc).

If the impact of the goal is great enough for you (not others/your audience), you’ll find making time for it worthwhile and it’ll help transfer the worry-mentality into a positive-action mentality.

T — time-bound. Set goals/objectives within a very specific timeframe.

Put realistic hard and soft deadlines to all the steps you need to take to achieve your big goal. It helps break down the giant looming worry of taking the stage. For me, it’s maybe 5 minutes a day of practice, or hitting that open mic just to practice on a stage, or finishing my draft outline this week and fine-tuning the final draft next week. The more little milestones you set for yourself (bearing in mind the barriers to success you outlined in A-attainable), the less power you give to your stage-induced anxiety.

From a comedic storytelling workshop I gave to NYU’s Postdoc Society. Some of these folks have gone on to try standup at my show. While I hope the others have found a process that works for them and their career public-speaking goals.

I hope you give it a try. And if you do, let me know how this works for you. And if you need someone to walk you through how to apply this process, send me an e-mail at academicstandup@gmail.com. I host in-person and online meetups to provide the skills and the process to folks who struggle with stage fright and public speaking like us.