5-minute guided grounding practice for public speaking fear — in the queue

About this practice

For the times in the queue when public speaking fear takes up more room than you would like — 5 minutes, grounding. A guided session of about 5 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: public speaking fear

Speaking to a group triggers the same response as physical threat: shallow breathing, a dry mouth, and a voice that rises and speeds up.

It tends to show up as:

• Voice wobbling on the first sentence
• Speaking too fast to get it over with
• Shallow breathing high in the chest

Lengthening the exhale slows speech and steadies the voice. Physically, this is a breath practice before it is a confidence practice.

Doing this in a waiting room

• You can do this with your eyes open and your hands where they are
• Nothing here needs to look like a meditation
• Aim for steadiness rather than calm

Waiting feeds the dread it is meant to relieve. Having something specific to do with the time is the useful part.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're tired, you can let that be true. Tired is allowed here.
2. 0:13Name what you can see, hear and touch. Counting senses is not a distraction; it is the practice.
3. 0:29For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
4. 0:43Let the rhythm of your breathing set the pace, not the words.
5. 0:56Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
6. 1:09Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
7. 1:24Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
8. 1:36Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
9. 1:46Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
10. 1:58Let it be this simple.
11. 2:07If your mind has gone somewhere else, the floor under you has not moved. Start from there.
12. 2:22If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
13. 2:33Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
14. 2:50Let the urge to rush off the stage be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
15. 3:11Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
16. 3:25Imagine the wobble in your voice as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
17. 3:43If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
18. 3:57I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
19. 4:10Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
20. 4:24Take one last look at whatever your attention settled on.
21. 4:36Stay with it.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.