Candidates Night Fright
September 16, 2010
Q. I’ve agreed to moderate a local Candidates Night where the candidates will make opening and closing statements and take questions in between. I am not an experienced public speaker and get very nervous in front of people. I guess they asked me because I’m active in the community, but not aligned with either party. What is your advice about stage fright and how to handle an event like this, especially if people get angry?
A. Don’t be embarrassed about being nervous. Public speaking is the #1 fear among the general public, ahead of flying and death. The late Edwin Newman, an experienced TV broadcast journalist, commented that everybody is nervous to some degree and said, “The only difference between the pros and the novices is that the pros have trained their butterflies to fly in formation.”
Solid preparation in advance will calm your nerves and get those butterflies under control.
- Ask the candidates and a few people who will attend to tell you what they expect the hot buttons to be so you won’t be caught off guard when those issues heat up. Do this ahead of time.
- Plant some questions in advance. Ask a few friends and colleagues who plan to be there to be ready to ask a constructive question to get things off to a good start. You can call on them.
- Have some neutralizing language ready. If things get hostile or too heated, say something like: “We’ve discussed this issue for some time and it is time to move along. We will conclude this topic by agreeing to disagree.” Or: “There are many sides to this complex issue and time does not allow for more discussion. I’ll take another question.”
- Announce the ground rules at the outset in order to establish your command of the event. For instance, “Each candidate will make a three-minute opening statement and a two-minute closing statement. They will take questions after all of them have made their opening remarks and their answers will be limited to three minutes. Audience members should ask short, direct questions and not make speeches.”
- If you are introducing each candidate with a short bio, rehearse this out loud at least twice in front of a mirror in the privacy of your bathroom. You will hear how your voice sounds and see how you look to others. Practice smiling appropriately and standing tall with your shoulders back and your head up. This makes you look confident and in control. Rehearse your neutralizing statements, too, so they sound strong when the time comes. Keep the introductions short because people will become restless if that portion takes too long.
- Keep track of the time and when a candidate has exhausted his or her time, interrupt with the statement, “Your time is up. We’ll move to Ms. ____ for her answer.”
Remember, this event is not about you. It is about the issues, so relax and enjoy your role in helping voters in your community make more informed choices.
Paula Blanchard Stone and Patty McCarthy are partners in McCarthyBlanchard, an executive training firm specializing in key message development, presentation skills training, media interview training and executive presence. Copyright © 2008 McCarthy Blanchard. | Website
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