Noting for public speaking fear: 20 minutes, in the hour before an interview

About this practice

20 minutes to meet public speaking fear with less of a fight. A noting practice, in the hour before an interview. A guided session of about 20 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 before an interview

• Do it where you will not be interrupted, even if that is a stairwell
• Have the first sentence of your answer ready afterwards
• Keep it short — there is no time for a long session

Nerves before an interview are normal and not something to eliminate. You need access to what you know, nothing more.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Notice the heaviest part of your body right now. Let it be heavy.
2. 0:13Let this be easy, if easy is available.
3. 0:24Let the breath get a little quieter, as if you were trying not to wake someone sleeping nearby.
4. 0:40We'll be quiet for a bit longer than usual. Stay with whatever shows up.
5. 0:54Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
6. 1:05Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
7. 1:18Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
8. 1:28Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
9. 1:41Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
10. 1:53Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
11. 2:07Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
12. 2:21Notice the space around the wobble in your voice. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
13. 2:39If the room full of faces starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
14. 2:56Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
15. 3:10Feel the weight of the urge to rush off the stage somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
16. 3:28If the wobble in your voice has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
17. 3:46Let the breath be shallow if shallow is what your body wants.
18. 3:59If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
19. 4:14There's no need to try harder than this.
20. 4:25Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
21. 4:37If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
22. 4:51You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
23. 5:04A short silence. Let it be empty.
24. 5:14If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
25. 5:29We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
26. 5:39I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
27. 5:51If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
28. 6:04If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
29. 6:17I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
30. 6:30If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
31. 6:43We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
32. 6:57Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
33. 7:08Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
34. 7:21Nothing here needs to be efficient.
35. 7:31Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
36. 7:43Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
37. 7:54Just the breath, still.
38. 8:03Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
39. 8:19Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
40. 8:31A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
41. 8:42If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
42. 8:54Let the pause stretch out.
43. 9:03Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
44. 9:14Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
45. 9:25No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
46. 9:36Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
47. 9:49Let the quiet do its work.
48. 9:59Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
49. 10:11Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
50. 10:22Feel the front of your chest. Notice it rise and fall once.
51. 10:35Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
52. 10:48Nothing changes for a moment.
53. 10:57If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
54. 11:10Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
55. 11:21Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
56. 11:33Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
57. 11:47Stay with it.
58. 11:55Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
59. 12:07Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
60. 12:18No rush to move on.
61. 12:27Feel your calves, front and back.
62. 12:37Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
63. 12:48Let it be this simple.
64. 12:57Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
65. 13:08Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
66. 13:21Take the next breath slowly.
67. 13:30Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
68. 13:41Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
69. 13:54Stay here a little longer.
70. 14:03Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
71. 14:15Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
72. 14:26Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
73. 14:36Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
74. 14:46Let the exhale carry a little of the room full of faces with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
75. 15:05Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
76. 15:16There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
77. 15:34Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
78. 15:47If the wobble in your voice shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
79. 16:07Let the room full of faces be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
80. 16:27Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
81. 16:40Notice how the urge to rush off the stage changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
82. 16:58When the wobble in your voice arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
83. 17:17Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
84. 17:29If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
85. 17:43You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
86. 17:55Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
87. 18:07A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
88. 18:18Small efforts are the whole method.
89. 18:28No need to open your eyes yet.
90. 18:38Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
91. 18:53Notice whether you feel any different. If not, that's also normal.
92. 19:05Let your body keep settling.

Questions people ask

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