Ta m i n g
Yo u r
A myg d a l a
27
I asked her to make a strong effort to practice with her family
and her friends at least fi ve times before she returned for another
appointment. When she returned, she told me that each practice
presentation had been more useful.
I reminded Jane that those people weren ’ t
computer engineers
like her upcoming audience. She apparently managed to generate
interest in people who might not be interested in the subject matter
at all. She also became more at ease with the experience of talking
about the subject each time she spoke to a new person or a small
group of people.
On the day before her presentation,
Jane experienced a surge of
anticipatory anxiety as she imagined herself in front of all those
strangers. She shifted her focus back to the subject matter of her talk
and managed to kindle neuronal networks that represented excite-
ment in telling others about it. By combining her positive feelings
about the project with the practice of presenting the information to
friends
and family, she linked up the neurons that were associated
with talking about the project.
Jane managed to get through the fi rst part of her talk by again
making a concerted effort to stay focused on her enthusiasm for the
project; she also confronted her anxiety instead of running from it.
I had taught her that this effort was critical because exposure to the
anxiety - provoking experience while staying focused on the subject
matter allowed her to break through a barrier. She,
like many people,
had simply avoided public speaking. Consequently, the barrier had
become bigger for her. Now she was able to get through the barrier.
During the last part of her presentation, she was on a roll. It wasn ’ t
that speaking in front of large groups was becoming effortless — that
came later. However, she had a taste of how much easier public
speaking was than she had thought it would be. Her left frontal lobe
was taming her amygdala.
After
the presentation, Jane congratulated herself for having chal-
lenged her old fears. She was amazed that she had gotten through
the experience with a boost in confi dence instead of what she
feared: humiliation. She even had the further reward of receiving
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28 Rew i r e
Yo u r
B r a i n
compliments from some of the audience
about her command of the
subject matter.
When we discussed her success, I suggested to her that she con-
tinue to practice speaking. Her initial response was that she had
“ gotten through it, so why would I want to risk all that I gained by
putting myself out there again? ” I told her
that in order to rewire her
brain so that public speaking would no longer incite fear and would
remain
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