Daisy Schofield, a 32-year-old documentary producer and journalist, had her first panic attack at university during a presentation, she tells Woman’s Hour.
She managed to avoid public speaking until she got her first job and had to present company statistics on Teams every Monday.
To build her confidence, Schofield practises by using an app on her phone to create a fake audience in a virtual reality headset she bought online for £10.
“It makes practising feel much more engaging and like the real thing, compared to practising at home on your own, which feels a bit awkward and boring.”
Prof Nazanin Derakhshan, a neuroscientist at Birkbeck, University of London, suggests focusing on six breaths per minute before presenting. You can do this by breathing in for five seconds and out for five seconds.
“It can improve the brain-heart communication and the more in harmony they are, the better we feel about ourselves.”
