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When your mouth dries up

What can you do if your mouth feels as though it is full of cotton wool?

Like so many things in this life, the answer is to take the necessary steps beforehand — but that advice is of little value when your mouth feels like a desert and your in the middle of your presentation.

So here are some ideas that you can use when it happens, before your speak, and well in advance.

When it happens to you

Any of these will help:

Press the tip of your tongue on the hard palette near the teeth ridge;

Bite the tip of your tongue;

Ask for a glass of tepid (not iced) water and take a few sips;

AND

Make eye contact with a few friendly faces in the audience.

When you speaking

Develop these habits:

Breathe through your nose, not your mouth;

Speak more slowly; - speaking fast is a sign of nervousness, and the problem is probably caused by nerves;

Take sips of tepid water at natural breaks in your presentation.

Avoid these:

Iced water, coffee, tea, cola or energy drinks or other sources of caffeine;

Cough lozenges or cold tablets which are designed to dry mucus;

Before you speak

Always:

Drink lots of tepid (not iced) water during the day before you speak;

Go the toilet about thirty minutes ahead of the starting time;

Say something to someone, just to make sure your voice is ready to go.

Arrive early enough to become comfortable with the room and to meet some friendly faces.

Make sure that there is a jug of tepid water available for you. Don’t use iced water

— it makes your vocal cords taut.

And try this

Find somewhere quiet to spend a few minutes breathing deeply through your nose;

Or at least Yawn just before you go on stage;

Smear your teeth with a fine film of Vaseline or glycerine. It also makes your teeth look whiter in photos!

To prevent it ever happening again

Build your water intake up to at least 2 litres a day, every day;

Preparation is the only way to prevent panic. But a sense of nervousness contributes to a successful presentation. Preparation means that you won’t be nervous about things that you can control.

Check with your doctor if medication is causing it — see if an alternative is available.

John Sleigh has been applying adult learning principles to training design and workplace communication projects since 1988.

These resources are provided for your personal use. For permission to include them in your published materials, contact John. Permission is usually given for fair use, but please ask first. I like to receive feedback on how you think the materials can be used to stimulate ideas for further development.