5 things not to eat before your speech or presentation

• Posted on December 13, 2013December 13, 2013
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

“You are what you eat.”
How does this ancient wisdom relate to public speakers?
Most importantly: you are effected by what you have recently eaten.

Like there are special diets for top athletes, there are also eating rules for top speakers and performers. You will usually be fine if you avoid the following substances.

1. Alcohol
Some people drink to get more confident. Don’t be that speaker, it can be a downward spiral. You may think your speech is brilliant, the audience doesn’t.
It won’t hurt to have a drink before a table topic or on social occasions, but if you have an important speech coming up, or if you speak professionally, alcohol is a big no.

2. Coffee
This will depend on the amount of coffee you drink regularly. My advise is to drink slightly less coffee in the hours leading up to your speech and no coffee at all just before your speech. Coffee peps you up which you usually don’t need during a speech. If you tend to be somewhat nervous, like most speakers, you don’t need to add caffeine to the mix.  Besides, coffee (and alcohol) are diuretic, which may mean you’ll have to speak with a full bladder.

3. Sugar
That candy bar? Better keep it until after the speech. Sugar gives you a rush, but it’s a short-lived rush. To compensate for the excess sugar in your blood your body starts producing extra insulin. This will take the sugar out of your blood stream. But when your sugar level is back to normal the insulin is still there. You may have noticed that after the sugar rush comes a sugar crush. Unfortunately the crush tends to last longer than the rush.
Avoid sodas, they are packed with sugar. I would even avoid the 0 calories sodas, as research seems to suggest that sweeteners can also trigger the insulin production.

4. Heavy meals
Eat light before a speech. Your head and body need lots of energy, you don’t want all that blood to go to your heavy stomach. Eating too much will make you feel dreary and unfocused.

5. Hot spices or beans
This really depends  on your tolerance, but just before your speech is not the best moment to start experimenting with the Mexican cuisine, if you’re not used to it. Anything that your body can act averse upon is to be avoided. Stick to what you know and tolerate before your speech and surprise your taste buds afterward.

What can you eat and drink before and during a speech of presentation?
The list is short and simple:

Drink: water.
Eat: light.

-utrechttoastmasters