You sabi the material. You don run am more times than anybody for that room go ever know, and the work wey dey your back na real work. Now you dey stand for corridor, for side of stage, for staircase or inside parked motor, and the door dey like ninety seconds away. Na this be the strangest window for the whole event. Everything wey you fit do to ready don already do, but time still dey the clock wey you must fill.
Plenty people dey fill am anyhow. Dem go dey read notes wey no go enter again. Dem go run the middle section wey no be the problem from start. Dem go carry phone read something wey no concern the next ten minutes. None of that na fault for your side. Na ninety seconds wey nobody assign, and time wey nobody assign, whatever dey loud pass for your head go take am.
So assign am. Three moves, in order, then you waka enter.
Wetin I suppose do for the ninety seconds before I go on?
Do three things, for this order: breathe out longer than you breathe in, two times; run your opening line for your mind, once; then find three real faces and look dem. That sequence fit inside ninety seconds and e dey remove the three things wey most likely go spoil your first minute, wey be heart wey dey run ahead of your voice, blank start, and room wey feel like wall instead of human beings.
The order matter pass as e look. Body dey go first, because you no fit talk system down while e still dey accelerate. Opening line na second, because the start na the one part of any performance where small stumble dey multiply. The faces na last, because na dem be the first thing wey you go need once you start, and to choose dem before time mean say you no go dey hunt for where to put eye while you dey talk your first sentence.
Notice wetin no dey the list. No instruction to relax, no attempt to feel different from wetin you dey feel, and no last review of content. You no dey try arrive calm for the sense of flat. You dey try arrive with your heart under your own control, your first ten words don already decide, and specific place to put your eye.
Why long breathe-out dey steady you faster than deep breath?
Because the settling dey happen for the way out, no be for the way in. To breathe in dey push heart rate up small and to breathe out dey bring am down, so breath wey the exit long pass the entrance dey tilt the balance toward settling inside few cycles, whether you believe am or not.
The version wey worth learning na like fifteen seconds. Breathe in through nose, add small extra sip of air on top the first one, then release long slow breath through mouth till you empty. Do am two times. Researchers for Stanford run randomized trial wey compare three five-minute breathing practice against mindfulness meditation over one month, and the one wey focus on breathe-out, wey dem call cyclic sighing, produce the biggest improvement for mood and the biggest drop for breathing rate. One systematic review of slow breathing techniques across fifteen studies find the same family of effect: better heart rate variability, shift toward the calming branch of the nervous system, and report of alertness and control instead of sleep.
Na that last part make this move belong for corridor instead of for bedroom. Slow breathing wey you do like this no dey make you soft or sleepy. E dey take the top comot from the surge and leave the energy for ground, wey na exactly the trade you want ninety seconds before one whole room turn to look you.
I suppose run the whole thing one more time?
No. Run only your opening line, for your mind, once. Full run for the last two minutes dey spend the working memory wey you dey about to need, and e dey give you fresh doubt for the one moment wey you no fit do anything about am.
Measurable difference dey for how skilled and less skilled performers dey use their thinking, and no be difference for courage. For one study of golfers wey dem ask make dem talk their thoughts out loud while dem dey play, the higher skilled players plan the shot wey dem dey about to play for 82 percent of their shots, against 52 percent for the lower skilled players. Planning na to decide one thing then do am, wey be work wey don finish. To dey reread na work wey never finish, and e go gladly fill any silence wey you give am.
You fit copy the result without copying the twenty years. Decide your first sentence before time, word for word, and rehearse only that one. Locked opening dey do two useful things at once. E dey get you moving before your judgment fully wake, and once you don dey move, the rest of the material easier to reach, because you dey run track wey you don pass before instead of starting from blank page in front of audience.
Where I suppose look for the first ten seconds?
For three real faces, wey you choose before you start. Take one for left, one for middle and one for right, and give each one of dem full sentence of eye contact instead of to just sweep the whole room.
Room wey you never look na abstraction, and abstraction dey fear person for way wey individual human being no dey. The moment wey you dey talk to somebody specific wey dey look you back, the size of the room stop to be the point. Three na the correct number because e dey cover the width of most spaces, e small enough make you remember am while your pulse dey high, and e dey stop you from locking on the one person wey happen to dey frown for im laptop for reason wey no concern you at all.
Pick dem for the first two seconds after you arrive, and avoid the person wey you most want to impress. Choose faces wey just dey open, because na their steadiness you dey borrow for your opening, you no dey audition for their approval. For video call, the same move dey work with camera and two thumbnails: the lens for your first sentence, then two people wey clearly dey present, then back to the lens.
Wetin if my hand dey shake and my mouth dry?
The two na the surge dey do im work, and the two get physical answer. Shake your hand and leg well well for five seconds where nobody dey see you, then drink small water and swallow am slowly.
The shaking na energy wey never spend. If you hold body still and try suppress am, e go remain for your hand, where e go show for the first paper wey you hold. Let am finish for place wey e no go cost you anything. Then roll your shoulder back and down, because the same surge dey pull dem toward your ear, and raised chest dey make voice thin pass as e suppose be.
Dry mouth na the same system dey move resources around. Water dey fix am, and the deliberate swallow na quiet signal to your own body say nothing dey chase you. Do am before you go on, no be while you dey talk, and take am easy with caffeine for the hour before, because e dey add to heart rate wey already dey do plenty.
Then talk the true sentence, no be the false one. "I don ready" na truth, e no dey argue with wetin you dey feel, and e dey point the energy toward the work. "I dey fine" na claim wey your body fit see through one time.
Ninety seconds na routine, no be rescue
The reason to get something wey you dey run for this window no be say you weak. Na say you plan to keep doing this thing, for bigger rooms, for years, and the people wey dey last na dem wey make the last two minutes boring on purpose.
Routine dey repeatable for way wey good mood no dey. Anybody fit shine for the day wey the room warm and dem sleep well. Wetin dey carry career na to get something wey you go run when the room cold, the flight late and the person wey talk before you sabi well well. Two breaths, one line, three faces. E dey work for corridor, for car park or for corner of stage, and e be the same on the day wey you feel unstoppable as on the day wey you no feel am.
Those three moves fit for one small card too, and card for your pocket beat plan for your head when the clock don reach ninety seconds. Write your own once then stop to dey rewrite am. The whole point of routine na say the future you no go need to think.
Then go and want am. Nothing here dey talk say you should want am less.
Sources
- National Library of Medicine, Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal
- National Library of Medicine, How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing
- National Library of Medicine, Evidence for Skill Level Differences in the Thought Processes of Golfers During High and Low Pressure Situations