上个月，美国副总检察长唐纳德•维里利偏偏在重要的一天露了怯。他在美国最高法院（the U.S. Supreme Court）面前争取维持原有《可支付医疗法案》（The Affordable Health Care Act）不变时，讲话犹疑不决，结结巴巴，不时发出清喉咙的声音，大口喝冰水，总之当天的表现不怎么好。《纽约客》杂志（New Yorker）法律作家杰弗瑞•涂宾在接受美国政治媒体《政治活动家》（Politico）采访时的话总结了众多观察家的反应，他说：“我惊呆了。”

    维里利讲话时的结结巴巴是否会对总统的医疗方案带来负面影响呢？也许不会，但至少是没帮上什么忙。

    正如缅因州的一句俗语所言，从古至今皆是如此。我们所有人，即使是位高权重的公众人物，也会在公开演讲的巨大压力面前感到紧张。本文将为你提供一些避免出现窘况的方法。

    我曾经有一位客户，她是一位在K街工作的女强人，然而每次遇到站在公众面前演讲的机会，她都会颤抖得像一片风中的树叶。要知道，她是一位很出色的高管，掌管着一家规模很大的行业协会，年收入高达七位数。她经常奔走于美国国会、欧洲、亚洲等地，代表其会员公司四处游说。

    我们的第一次合作是协助她为某大型会议的重要主旨发言做准备。我们按照标准流程，准备她发言的内容，包括集思广益寻找原始素材并加以提炼，设计视频效果以便吸引听众注意力，并努力让听众记住她的意图。

    整个过程进行得很顺利。接下来就该到我们的工作室进行上镜练习了。

    她说：“我必须告诉你，每次我不得不在公众面前演讲时，我都紧张得要命。”

    我告诉她这很正常。紧张说明你是一个活生生的人。任何人都会遇到这种问题。

    她说：“不是这么回事，我觉得我的问题要严重得多。”

    我告诉她，她在各方面都表现得非常出色。我还问她为何遇到公开演讲会这么紧张。

    她说：“很简单。一切都是因为五年级的那场钢琴演奏会。”

    她在10岁时就要自己上台演奏钢琴，她看见母亲一脸紧张地坐在台下第一排。当她抬起手准备开始演奏时，听到妈妈轻轻地倒吸了一口气。直到今天，她也不明白母亲为什么会有那种反应，可能她妈妈认为女儿会演奏错误的篇章，或者可能是担心自己出门忘记关炉子。但无论是什么原因，这已经给她造成了心理阴影。

    因此，在主旨演讲的日子临近时，我跟她一起乘飞机出行，一路抵达新奥尔良会展中心（the New Orleans Convention Center）。我在她上台之前握着她的手，直到她登上演讲台。此后，我们还一起完成了很多次演讲，每一次我都是这么做的。每次演讲前她都紧张万分，但在演讲开始两分钟后她就能冷静下来，而且表现自如。

    Solicitor General Donald Verrilli picked the wrong day to get the jitters last month. Fighting to keep The Affordable Health Care Act intact in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, he hesitated, he stuttered, he coughed, he gulped ice water – he didn't make a strong impression. The New Yorker's legal writer Jeffrey Toobin summed up the reactions of many observers when he told Politico: "I was just shocked."

    Will Verrilli's stumble mean curtains for the President's health care plan? Perhaps not, but it didn't help.

    It's a story that's older than dirt, as they say up inMaine. Just about all of us -- even high-powered public figures -- get nervous in high-pressure public speaking situations.

    I once had a client -- a bona fide K Street superwoman -- who routinely turned into a quivering tower of Jell-Oevery time she had to stand and speak in front of an audience. We're talking about a brilliant executive who ran a large industry association, made a seven-figure income, and traveled from Capitol Hill to Europe and Asia and back to advocate on behalf of her member companies.

    The first time we worked together to get her ready for a major keynote speech, we went through our typical process of creating the content for her presentation: brainstorming the raw material, distilling it into a narrative, and designing visuals that would seize her audience's attention and help them remember what she wanted from them.

    The process went well. And then it came time for on-camera practice in our studio.

    "I have to tell you something," she said. "I get extremely nervous when I have to speak in public."

    I told her that was normal -- it just means you're a human being with a pulse. It happens to everyone.

    She said "No, I mean it's a lot worse than that."

    I told her how impressive she was in every respect, and asked her how she thought she got this way.

    "That's easy," she said. "Fifth grade. Piano recital."

    When she was 10 years old, she was about to sit her pinafore-clad self down at the keyboard when she saw her mother looking very tense in the first row. And then, as she lifted her hands to begin playing, she heard her mother let out a small gasp. To this day, she's not sure why that happened -- maybe Mom thought her daughter was about to play the wrong piece or maybe she thought she had left the oven on back at the house -- but whatever the reason, it traumatized my client.

    And so when it came time for her to give the keynote we had worked on, I flew with her all the way down to the New Orleans Convention Center -- and quite literally held her hand in the wings until it was time for her to take the stage. I did the same thing for every one of her presentations we worked on together after that. On every occasion, she was petrified beforehand, but calmed down and performed well after about the first two minutes.