What the New York Knicks Can Teach You About Public Speaking Preparation

3 Mental Strategies to Stay Focused Under Pressure

Photo by Darshan Patel on Unsplash

No matter if you rooted for the New York Knicks or the San Antonio Spurs, this year’s NBA Finals has been one of the most exciting in recent years. A big contributor to the frenzy is the fact that the last time the Knicks won a championship was in 1973. I don’t have a favorite NBA team, but the palpable euphoria of the Knicks’ fans is definitely understandable!

This led me to wonder about how these players prepare themselves. I’m not talking about what we already know about elite athletes: physically demanding workouts, intense levels of practice, discipline, a teamwork mentality etc. I wanted to know about those tactics or habits that put them in a good headspace to dominate on the court. Are there any that can be applied to public speaking preparation? ABSOLUTELY!

Let’s look at three of these prep practices that speakers can also use:

1. In May, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson made the headlines when he announced he was deleting his social media apps from his phone. He went on to explain that his mental health was not in the best place, and that he wanted to focus on winning the NBA Playoffs. He said his “focus [has] to go to another level.” I completely agree with him! I have not told clients to delete their social media apps, but I have advised against checking these apps, text messages, emails, and taking phone calls right before a speaking engagement. You just don’t know what’s going to be on the other side. A news headline on Facebook that hits close to home? Your friend texting you a message that disturbs you? Your mom calling you about a car accident a relative just got into? Your state of mind can easily be thrown off by digital distractions. Ask me how I know! Unless it’s from the event organizer, let the messages, emails, and phone calls wait until you’re done so you can focus on the present moment.
2. Isaiah Hartenstein, a former Knicks player now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, credits breathwork with helping him be more present during games. While he sits on the bench before games, he’ll shut his eyes and focus on his breathing. If he needs to calm his mind during a game, he says “I’ll do one long breath in, and then at the very end you do another breath, and then you let it out. I’ll do that one to three times. That helps me re-center.” (Washington Post) When we get nervous with public speaking, the first thing that usually gets impacted is our breathing. We start to breathe more shallowly, which in turn makes us more nervous. It’s a vicious cycle! So it is important to be mindful of our breathing. One exercise I often recommend to my clients is diaphragmatic breathing, also called belly breathing. It’s the breath that tells our nervous system to relax. This video by Nemours Children’s Health System perfectly covers diaphragmatic breathing from three different positions.
3. Jalen Brunson, Knicks guard and the 2026 NBA Finals MVP, has talked about having a “next play” mentality. This mindset is about not dwelling on what just occurred and instead focusing on the next task at hand. I love Brunson’s quotes in an interview: “Control the things we can control”… “Things are going to happen; it’s about how we bounce back”… “One play is not going to bring us all the way back.” He’s right! There are so many people dreading speaking to an audience (of any size) because they didn’t do well with public speaking last week…last year…five years ago. You get the point. You can’t change what happened in the past, but you do have the power to decide how you respond now. Putting in the reps (aka practice) will increase your chances of success when it’s time to speak. If you’re asked a question you’re not sure how to answer, how do you plan to handle it? If you forget your next line, do you have a contingency plan in place so you recover smoothly? Your current public speaking opportunity is not your former experiences.

There is a lot we can learn from these players when it comes to getting our mind right when it’s time to speak. They know that being a top athlete is not just about physical preparation, but also how they equip themselves mentally. The beautiful part is that there’s no one right way to get our mind in peak performance shape; find what works for you and stick to it. What do you do to mentally prepare yourself to speak?