Public speaking nerves don't have to hold you back — and Lauren Fonvielle has a technique that proves it. As an integrative energy practitioner specializing in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Lauren helps entrepreneurs and speakers break through the fears, limiting beliefs, and anxiety that keep them from showing up confidently at the front of the room. In this episode, she explains how tapping on specific acupressure points while acknowledging your emotions can reduce cortisol, calm your nervous system, and shift the thoughts that are getting in your way.
Lauren and Peter cover what EFT actually is (and why skeptics tend to become believers), how a typical session unfolds, why tapping works better than positive affirmations for overcoming fear, and how speakers can use discreet finger-tapping techniques right before they walk to the podium. Whether you're dealing with imposter syndrome, a fear of judgment, or deeply rooted anxiety about public speaking, this episode gives you a practical, science-backed tool to help you feel calmer, think more clearly, and speak with confidence.
Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. Do you want to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then stay tuned as we discuss public speaking tips, techniques, and tactics that help you increase your impact, influence, and income.
Lauren Fonvielle is an integrative energy practitioner specializing in EFT tapping to help entrepreneurs reduce stress and increase profits. She guides clients on a journey of self-healing to break through physical, mental, and emotional obstacles that keep them stuck in life and in business. Here's my conversation with Lauren Fonvielle.
What Is Emotional Freedom Technique?
Peter: There are many aspiring speakers and even veteran speakers who continue to deal with fears and limiting beliefs. To help them, we're going to discuss how EFT tapping can make them calmer. So to start, what is emotional freedom technique?
Lauren: Emotional freedom technique is a process that consists of gently tapping on certain points of the body while simultaneously acknowledging the emotions that you're feeling. I often compare it to acupuncture. With tapping, we're applying light acupressure to some of those same points — the endpoints of the meridians, which is how energy moves through the body. Tapping has shown to reduce the amount of cortisol pumping through the body. Cortisol is the stress hormone. So by tapping on these points, it helps you feel calmer, and you can think more clearly.
How Lauren Found EFT
Lauren: I got into this because of my own journey with anxiety and stress and looking for a holistic way of approaching it. I started having panic attacks after finding out my husband was going to be deploying again. I went through yoga teacher training, was introduced to Reiki, sound healing, and EFT. I was very skeptical at first. But after trying it for the first time, I was hooked. I kept doing it and went on to get certified so I could share it with other people.
Why It Works — The Science Behind Tapping
Lauren: It's this somatic practice of actually tapping on the body combined with really acknowledging how you're feeling. As humans, we don't do that enough. When we feel uncomfortable feelings — fear, anger, frustration, overwhelm — we shove them down and distract ourselves. That can work short-term, but all that stuff you're ignoring continues to build until it comes out emotionally or physically. Tapping teaches you to hold space for your emotions and allow yourself to feel them.
We need to feel it to heal it.
Lauren: When you feel stressed, you feel that in your body. By taking the time to tap on these points and talk about what you're feeling, it creates distance from the feeling. When you see things differently, you feel differently. When you feel differently, you take different action. And when you take different action, you get a different result.
What Else Can Tapping Help With?
Lauren: It can help with a wide variety of conditions — limiting beliefs, weight loss, cravings, insomnia, and PTSD. It's been approved by the VA for veterans. One study showed that in a group tapping session, 90% of veterans had a reduction in their PTSD symptoms after tapping once a week for six weeks. That cortisol reduction study showed a reduction of up to 43%.
What a Tapping Session Looks Like
Lauren: The session starts by talking about the issue. If you have a fear of public speaking, we talk about how it makes you feel in your body when you think about getting up in front of people. Maybe you get that nervous feeling in your belly or start to sweat. The practitioner will say a sentence and the person repeats it — kind of like Simon Says. I tap on a spot, you tap that same spot on yourself, and repeat the sentence after me. As we move through, memories from the past begin to arise. There are often experiences we had that we didn't process — sometimes because we were children and didn't have the tools. By addressing those, we begin to feel differently in the present.
Using Tapping Before You Speak
Peter: Is this something a speaker could use backstage, or even sitting in a chair waiting to get up in front of a room?
Lauren: Absolutely. Some of my favorite points are the ones you don't really notice. The tips of the fingers at the base of the nail bed — if you tap or squeeze on both sides of any finger, it looks like you're fidgeting. What it's actually doing is sending a message to the amygdala in the brain, the part that controls fight or flight, telling it: you don't need to be in fight or flight. It slowly reduces cortisol, and you can start to feel that calming sensation within minutes.
Tapping vs. Positive Affirmations
Lauren: With tapping, we acknowledge the intensity of what you're dealing with. It's different from saying a positive affirmation like "I'm an amazing speaker." If those words don't feel true to you, there's a real disconnect. With tapping, we acknowledge the fear — I'm really scared, people might laugh at me — and hold space for it. Then we organically and slowly move to a better thought. Eventually you can get to the point of genuinely believing: I'm awesome, I'm going to share something amazing. Tapping helps you get there in a way that feels true.
How Many Sessions Does It Take?
Lauren: I've designed my program to be eight weeks long because that's really been a sweet spot. But it depends on the issue. If it's a longstanding issue that goes back a long way, it may take a little longer. And there's never any shortage of things to tap on.
Peter: Lauren, where can listeners connect with you?
Lauren: Visit MindShiftWithLauren.com. I have a free masterclass on my website where I walk you through the science and give you the experience of tapping yourself. You can access it at MindShiftWithLauren.com/masterclass. You can also find me on Instagram at MindShiftWithLauren.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let's make it happen. I'll see you next time.
Follow the podcast wherever you listen.
Ranked in the Top 3% of podcasts worldwide. New episodes every week.
The Captivating Public Speaker
The principles in this episode are explored in depth in Peter's award-winning book — winner of six international honors including the 2023 International Business Book of the Year Runner-Up.
Read the Book →Take your speaking from good to genuinely unforgettable.
The podcast gives you the ideas. Coaching gives you the transformation.
Schedule a Consultation →