"From the tongue to stress" - she wrote in Globes magazine
11/16/2011 - Shira Barak's article in Lady magazine Globes
If you really avoid performing in front of an audience, because you feel frozen on stage, speak too fast, or even blackout - Guy Yariv has some advice for you. He, who managed to become the champion of rhetoric in Israel while still a student, teaches how to speak in front of an audience. "I see company managers who run their business in meetings of two or three people. They have a lot to say, but they are not able to gather all the employees in the dining room and wish them a happy new year"
Yariv, 37, was born in Kibbutz Dafna in the north. Today he lives in Tel Aviv, single. He arrived at his current field of activity precisely from a place of difficulty. "At the age of 15, when I attended high school in Worcester, New York State, there was a staged trial class. It was very difficult for me, I was not one of the best. I had to compete in English, but I learned a lot from it. Because I couldn't compete with the flow of the style, I had to develop technique and strategy and deal with repeated failures." - What's left of it? "The lack of fear to fail, and a deep reluctance to judge. You say to yourself: 'I messed up, it was terrible', but in reality the only one that bothers him so much is you. Everyone in the audience had already forgotten. It's still alive in your head, so you have to stop looking at what happened and think about the next time." |
"In 2002, a talented and special team was created, and we hosted the European Championship. In the competition between the universities we took first place in the rhetoric competition. Anat Shapira, my debate partner, today teaches debate at Ben Gurion University. Today, all universities have a debate club." Following the success, Yariv received an offer to teach at a management college, even before he finished his bachelor's degree. He began lecturing, and later led private courses, which developed into a public speaking school. - What did you discover? "The first thing is that I have the ability to help people overcome fear of crowds. Anat, my debate partner, had an extreme fear of audiences when we met as students. She suffered a lot when she had to speak, and chose the scariest profession for her. She decided to face him head on, and overcame her fear. The fear gradually passed." |
What is the price of avoiding public appearances?
"Sometimes the prices are heavy. The director of the community center told me: 'I do so many projects, and then when they do the distribution of the person of the year in the city and I have to stand up and receive the certificate - I am unable, and give up. I excuse it and tell people I'm modest. How modest?! I just can't!". Why do people shy away from being identified with a fear of crowds? "Because other people hide it. The essence is the fear of doing nonsense, of failing. As soon as you admit - it creates the failure itself. We are what we say." Fashion designer Keren Zarka, owner of the ANNA K fashion store chain / age: 37 before the course: "I have suffered from fear of crowds for as long as I can remember, since school age, through university and all the way to working in front of my staff. At the university it was especially difficult, when I had to deliver frontal lectures in front of the class. I couldn't do it. " after the course: "It was like market therapy. After a few lessons I was suddenly able to speak and give a speech in class. As the lessons went on, I found that it was easier and easier for me to talk in front of people. The fear subsided." "Guy Yariv does not give up on you, he insists with everyone. In any anxiety treatment you have to confront the enemy within you, this fear. Guy gives a lot of techniques for this - so even if you are afraid, you have a way out of it. In the course, I saw many confident people who are afraid to speak in front of an audience." |
Psychologist Dr. Yael Schlesinger:
Before the course: "For years I suffered from fear of crowds. During the doctorate, and in all kinds of situations where I had to speak, I was attacked by feelings that did not connect to any other part of my personality. The day I had to speak I was excited, and I suffered from headaches. After the course: The insecurity returned at certain moments, but I gradually felt progress. I had to break the avoidance I had before. From then on I constantly practiced the tools I learned from Guy. Two or three weeks after I started, I really enjoyed lecturing. Since then I have already spoken in front of an audience of 250-300 people without fear, and have been interviewed on television and radio. Today I enjoy and take advantage of every opportunity I have to perform in front of an audience." – What characterizes people who suffer from a fear of crowds |