The human brain is a wonderful mirror to other humans. We have mirror neurons in our heads that help us share emotions with others, sending back their fear or anger or joy or love.

That’s a very good thing, because it means empathy is real, sharing is profound, and we are not alone.

In particular, recent research has picked up five emotions and activities that are highly contagious among humans everywhere. The list is worth examining for its implications for public speaking.

Anxiety. I’ll start with a less-than-salubrious emotion to share. When a speaker get ready to speak, he or she – with rare exceptions – is going to experience some anxiety. Call it what you like – stage fright, speech phobia, fight-or-flight syndrome – it doesn’t feel good and it goes with the territory.

Experience speakers learn to either live with it or control it or channel it, telling themselves that the alertness it brings is a good thing.

But you don’t really want to hand it on to your audience, because we don’t listen as well when we’re anxious. Your fear will drag the average acuity of the audience response down.

So however you come to terms with it, find a way to have some fun and get over your anxiety.

Friends don’t make friends anxious.

Happiness. OK, now for the good news. If you can work yourself up into a nice state of happiness, you’ll share that easily, bring your audience up, and increase their retention of your message. We take things in better when we’re relaxed and happy.

Don’t worry, be happy.

Laughter. While we’re on the subject, laughter is contagious. In fact, the larger the group, the more likely they are to want to laugh, and to laugh more at the jokes expressed at the time.

Perhaps you might listen to a recording of a baby giggling before you go onstage, and bring that sense of fun with you.

But don’t start with a joke – when you’re trying to squelch that stage fright, you’re likely to blow the punch line and start a doom loop of despair and consternation that will hurt your chances of getting out alive.

Yawning. Everyone has noted the contagious quality of yawning. In fact, the research shows, not surprisingly, the more empathetic you are the more likely you are to yawn when someone else does.

This is a slippery slope for a speaker. You probably won’t be yawning yourself, unless you stayed up all night the night before worrying about your presentation. But if you see an audience member yawning – nip it in the bud. Get the whole audience up and moving a little to change the vibe, wake up the sleepy, and bring more attention back to the moment.

Smiling. The more you smile the more intelligent (and better looking) the audience will rate you. Do I need to say any more?

OK, not only that, but the world smiles back when you smile at them, — at least 50% anyway, the research shows – cheering everyone up.

Interestingly, if you frown at passers-by, they tend not to frown back. Perhaps grumpiness is not contagious? Wouldn’t that be a good thing?