Breathe Deeply, Breathe Right

A Navy SEAL Approach To Back Stage Jitters

By Devin D. Marks | Published Feb 14, 2025

Navy SEALs love this **fast-focus** technique. My best TED speakers do too.

It is variously called Box Breathing, 4x4x4 Breathing, or Square Breathing because there are four parts of the practice.

Whatever the name, it is a go-to for many, in pre-combat situations.

Within seconds this simple breathing technique can infuse calm and concentration in super tense situations — think of the moments before dropping out of a chopper into a combat swirl.

The same approach — albeit sans life-threatening concerns — works back stage in public speaking engagements. (Yes, the spotlight kicks our fight-or-flight impulse into high-gear.) This discipline ensures a calm and confident step to center stage.

𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵: 𝘜𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘡𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘌𝘋𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘋𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘵.

In fact, let’s give it whirl, right now.

(Seriously. Let’s go... Right. Now.)

𝟏. 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐄 completely thru your mouth in 4 counts...

And hold 4 more seconds.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 — 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥... 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝟐. 𝐈𝐍𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐄 deeply thru your nose in 4 counts...

And hold 4 more seconds.

𝟑) 𝐄𝐗𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐄 thru your mouth in 4 counts...

And hold 4 more seconds.

𝟒) 𝐈𝐍𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐄 deeply thru your nose in 4 counts...

And hold 4 more seconds.

𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦. (𝘎𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 4 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 4 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭.) 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 — 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴. (𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥.)

That was one circuit.

Great right?

After all, it stands to reason: slow, stable breathing calms the heart, blood pressure, and helps you to think clearly. You're guaranteed to feel balanced and hyper-focused, whatever your high pressure moment.

In fact, I encourage speakers to incorporate Box Breathing into their months-long rehearsal regime, from the first weeks of preparing a TED Talk.

How? One daily practice session for 4 to 10 minutes. Then before full dress rehearsals, do a 1- or 2-minute “ready for action” drill.

Box Breathing will, as SEAL TEAMS know, make you very calm, alert, focused, and ready for action!

DEVIN D. MARKS is known as The TED Talk Whisperer. His firm, CONNECT to COMPEL, has served 100s of TED, TEDx, and short-talk speakers — including Harvard’s Dr. Robert Waldinger for his all-time Top 10 TEDx Talk. The result: 100s of millions of views for clients. He helps niche experts, authors, and leaders spread world-changing ideas. 

You can reach Devin at 617.804.6020, or DM him here. His newsletters are here.

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