What can a Penalty Shootout teach you about managing your Pitching Nerves?

I'm English. And on six occasions, England's football team have lost at major tournaments in penalty shootouts since 1990. Last Tuesday night that all changed.

And it was changed by the man who missed the most important penalty in England's football history: Gareth Southgate.

England played at Euro '96, with the tournament held in England. We got to the semi-finals, and it went to penalties. Gareth - who had only once ever taken a penalty before, and missed! - bravely put himself forward, because there was no plan for who would take them, or how. And he missed it.

22 years of jokes and jibes have followed. He has now re-written his personal history.

So what's this got to do with the most common problem of pitching and presentation - fear of public speaking?

Well, there are massive parallels.

I have heard so many times: 'You can't practice penalties.' 'You can't re-create the pressure of having to do it on the day.' 'It's a lottery.'

And as a pitch coach, I hear people say, 'I always get nervous.' 'I'm just terrified.' 'I look calm, but I just can't do it.'

Gareth Southgate took over as England manager and understood that one of the gateways to success is the ability to win penalty shootouts. When I work with clients preparing to pitch, I recognise that one of the gateways to success is managing your nerves.

And Gareth put it so well. You don't leave something so critical it to chance. Instead, He said;

You don't have to be bowed by the pressure of the past. You can write your own story.

You can take control of the process.

And you can do the same when it comes to pitching. Let's see how Gareth worked with his team to take control of that overwhelming process which has prevented England succeeding so many times - and how you can take the same approach to increase your chances of a successful, winning pitch.

1. Replicate the situation.

He had his players practice scoring from the penalty spot at the end of hard training sessions, when all they want to do is finish. That's because when you are in a penalty shootout you have played 120 minutes. You're exhausted. Gareth wanted the players to build up a success story when tired, so it would feel natural when they took the shot. And they did it again and again, just like it would happen in real life.

Your version of this for a pitch? Say everything out loud.

You cannot think yourself into a great pitch. You can only talk yourself into a great pitch.

When it comes to the moment of truth, you'll speak - not think. It's about action, not thinking. Don't practice quietly, in your head - practice the whole thing out loud, again and again, so you hear yourself telling the story. Keep refining what you say, based on what feels good and your real way of speaking. The more you speak out loud, the more natural it will feel when you start the real pitch.

2. Create a pattern that you can follow, without thinking, when under pressure.

Gareth drilled the England players to find a spot in the goal that they could hit regularly with success. Top right? Bottom left? Then practice that, again and again, so that when you are under pressure, you increase the chances that you can repeat success. You need four steps before hitting the ball? Then make sure you take four steps in the actual shootout. Don't expect to be able to think and calculate under pressure - just execute what you have done many times before.

In a pitch, the key moments are the first 60 seconds. I recommend everyone to memorise the first 8-9 sentences, regardless of whether you're delivering a 3 minute pitch or a 30 minute presentation. When you stand up in front of the audience, you're rational brain is partly disconnected. We're not able to think, so don't expect yourself to do so. Practice the opening 60 seconds, out loud, again and again and again.

If you get the first 60 seconds right, you massively increase your chances of making a great pitch.

Just execute what you've done many times before.

3. Walk the walk

Gareth had the players practice walking down the field from the centre circle before taking the practice kick. That's because they do that in the real shootout - all players wait in the centre circle, and those who have experienced it describe that walk as the worst moment of the whole thing. All kinds of things go through your head if you don't make conscious decisions on what to think about.

When you're preparing to pitch in front of an audience, practice by finding a space where you can walk from the side of a room to a spot where you will pitch. Imagine a few seconds of applause while you walk and don't speak while on the move. When you reach that spot, stop. Take half a second to give the imaginary audience a smile and show you are happy to be here. Then start your pitch.

By doing this repeatedly in practice, you'll be able to do the same in a real pitch. This gives a signal to the audience that you are in control. It even gives your self-conscious a signal that you have decided to be in control.

You take control of the process.

Oh... One More Thing

You'll notice Harry Kane breathing in a careful and controlled way before taking a penalty. Ronaldo does the same before every free kick.

Breathing reduces your cortisol, which is the stress drug that flows around your body when under pressure. Just get some air in your lungs - breathe in deeply , breathe out long. It helps you focus and become present for the task you've come to do. And that task is to make a certain and persuasive pitch.

Had problems with nerves in a presentation in the past? Write your own new story and take control of the process.

David Beckett is a Pitch coach and TEDx speech coach. You can find more tools to manage your nerves in the new book, Pitch To Win.