That feeling leading up to a presentation can be daunting, anxiety-ridden, and straight-up overwhelming. We can feel uptight, anxious – and completely uncentered. Thankfully, there are a variety of ways to help calm and ease these feelings of fear. I’ve listed some tips below.
1. Deep Breaths. This is a pretty standard one, but big, deep breaths definitely help. Calm your mind by focusing on your breath. When you exhale, imagine that you’re releasing that pit in your chest or stomach. You want to be loose, not uptight – and this technique helps with just that!
2. Get Physical. Push-ups, a quick, brisk walk around the room/venue, or a few jumping jacks can all help. Getting physical forces you to think about the physical activity at hand, gets you out of your own head, and most importantly, releases endorphins which trigger positive feelings in your body.
3. Practice. Unfortunately, this isn’t something you can do immediately before a presentation, so make sure you know your stuff before the day of your speaking engagement. The more we know something, the less fearful we are of the outcome because we know what to expect.
4. Positive Visualization. “Stop thinking about what could go wrong and get excited about what could go right” – Tony Robbins. If you start thinking about best case scenario’s (as opposed to worst-case), you’ll start generating excitement. Remember, you probably have something really good to say, so think of some best-case scenario’s for how you’ll be received during and after your presentation, (like 3 or 4 people telling you how awesome your presentation was).
5. Re-Frame. I believe that when we get nervous before a presentation, it’s just our mind’s way of trying to protect us from potential criticism or judgement. We get into a sort of survival mode - which is why we feel scared. So just tell yourself that - that your brain is just trying to protect you from potential “danger”. Simply understanding this and putting a name to the fear makes the nerves way more manageable.
6. Think About Your Topic. Focus your attention on why you like the subject you’re about to speak on. Think about 1 or 2 things that you really like about your topic. This should help bring you calm and clarity, because it focuses your attention on the fact that you’ll be speaking about something that you a) know about, and b) enjoy.
Practice using any or all of these tips. Use the one’s that resonate with you and scrap the ones that don’t. I hope this helps, and good luck presenting!
I also cover and practice some of these tips in greater detail in my presentation skills workshops.
