What do you need to do?

Stand, move, and sign in a calm, dignified manner that gives evidence of composure.

Why is it important?

If you are poised, your audience will be more likely to concentrate on what you are saying rather than on you.

1 IT IS not unusual for a speaker to feel nervous when he gets up to speak, especially if he does not give talks frequently. A publisher may feel somewhat nervous when he makes the first few calls of the day in the field ministry. When commissioned to be a prophet, Jeremiah responded: “Here I actually do not know how to speak, for I am but a boy.” (Jer. 1:5, 6) Jehovah helped Jeremiah, and he will help you too. In time, you can develop poise.

2 A poised speaker is one who is composed. This composure is evident in his physical bearing. His posture is natural and appropriate to the occasion. His signing is expressive and controlled.

3 Even though you may feel that this description of a poised person does not fit you, you can improve. How? Let us consider why a speaker feels nervous and lacks poise. The cause may be physical.

4 When you are faced with a challenge and want to do well but are not sure that you will, you feel anxiety. As a result, the brain signals the body to produce more adrenaline. The resulting surge may cause a more rapid heartbeat, a change in breathing rate, increased perspiration, or even shakiness in the hands and knees. Your body is endeavoring to help you deal with your situation by increasing your energy level. The challenge is to channel the surge of energy into constructive thinking and enthusiastic delivery.

5 How to Reduce Anxiety. Remember that it is normal to feel some anxiety. To maintain poise, however, you need to be able to reduce the level of anxiety and deal with your situation in a calm and dignified manner. How can you accomplish this?

6 Prepare thoroughly. Invest time in the preparation of your talk. Make sure that you clearly understand your subject. If your talk is one in which you select the points to cover, take into account what your audience already knows about the subject and what you hope to accomplish. This will help you to select material that is most worthwhile. If at first you find that difficult, discuss the problem with an experienced speaker. He can help you make a constructive analysis of your material and of the audience. When you are sure that you have material that will benefit your audience and you have it clearly in mind, your desire to share it will begin to overshadow the anxiety that you may feel about the delivery.

7 Give special attention to your introduction. Know how you are going to start. Once your talk is under way, your nervousness will likely subside.

8 The same basic steps apply to preparing for the field ministry. Consider not only the subject that you plan to discuss but also the type of people to whom you will be witnessing. Plan your introduction carefully. Benefit from the experience of mature publishers.

9 You may feel that you will be more poised if you use a manuscript when giving a talk before a group. Actually, this may result in increased anxiety every time you give a talk. It is true that some speakers use extensive notes, while others use few. But what will change the focus of your thinking and reduce the level of your anxiety is, not the words on the paper, but the conviction in your heart that what you have prepared for your audience is truly worthwhile.

10 Practice your delivery in sign language. Such practice will give you confidence that you can put your thoughts into words. As you practice, you build up memory patterns that can readily be activated when you give your talk. Make your practice session realistic. Visualize your audience. Sit at a table or stand, just as you will when giving the talk.

11 Pray to Jehovah for help. Will he answer such a prayer? “This is the confidence that we have toward him, that, no matter what it is that we ask according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14) If you desire to honor God and to help people benefit from his Word, he will surely answer your prayer. That assurance can do much to strengthen you to fulfill your assignment. Furthermore, as you cultivate the fruitage of the spirit​—love, joy, peace, mildness, and self-control—​you will develop the mental attitude needed to handle situations with poise.​—Gal. 5:22, 23.

12 Acquire experience. The more you share in the field service, the less nervous you will be. The more you comment at congregation meetings, the easier it will be to speak before others. As the number of talks that you give in the congregation increases, the degree of anxiety that you feel before each talk will probably decrease. Would you like to have more opportunities to speak? Then volunteer to substitute in the school when others are not able to fulfill their assignments.

13 After you have taken the steps outlined above, you will find it beneficial to examine the symptoms that point unmistakably to lack of composure. Identifying the symptoms and learning how to cope with these will help you speak with poise. The symptoms may be physical or vocal.

14 Physical Symptoms. Your poise, or lack of it, can be seen by your physical bearing. Some indications of a lack of poise may include trembling hands or facial twitches, repeating the same signs, signing in a hurried manner, constantly shuffling the feet, swaying the body from side to side, standing with posture that is overly rigid, slouching, frequently moistening the lips, repeatedly swallowing, and breathing in a rapid and shallow manner. With conscious effort these manifestations of nervousness can be controlled. Work on just one at a time. Identify the problem, and consider in advance what you need to do to prevent it. If you make that effort, you will give evidence of poise in your physical bearing.

15 If you feel nervous, pause to take a few deep breaths before you go to the platform. Endeavor to relax your entire body. Instead of thinking about your nervousness, concentrate on why you want to share with your audience the things you have prepared. Before beginning to speak, take a moment to look at your audience, pick out a friendly face, and smile. Sign slower in the introduction, and then get immersed in your talk. If you find yourself becoming tense, take a moment to breathe and regain composure, perhaps while a scripture is being displayed.

16 What to Expect. Do not expect all feelings of nervousness to disappear. Many speakers with years of experience on the platform feel nervous before they get up in front of an audience. However, they have learned to control their nervousness. One such speaker said: “I still have butterflies in my stomach, but now they fly in formation.”

17 If you make a sincere effort to eliminate the outward manifestations of nervousness, your audience will view you as a poised speaker. You may still feel nervous, but they may not be aware of that at all.

18 Remember, the surge of adrenaline that causes symptoms of nervousness also brings increased energy. Use it to speak with feeling.

19 There is no need to wait until you get on the platform to practice all these things. Learn to be poised and controlled and to speak with appropriate feeling in your daily life. Your doing so will go a long way toward giving you confidence on the platform and in the field ministry, where it is most important.

HOW TO ACQUIRE POISE

Prepare well.

Practice your delivery in sign language.

“Throw your burden upon Jehovah” in prayer.​—Ps. 55:22.

Share regularly in field service, comment frequently at meetings, and volunteer for extra assignments in the school.

Identify symptoms of lack of composure, and learn how to prevent or control these.

EXERCISE: Every week for a month, endeavor to comment more than once at the Watchtower Study and at the Congregation Bible Study. Notice that nervousness begins to subside when you give your second or third comment at the same meeting.