Overcoming Nerves When Giving a Presentation

my name is Deborah Grayson regal and I have been a professional speaker and a speaking instructor for over 20 years from my earliest beginnings as a high school national champion in public speaking and speech writing to my role today as an international corporate trainer and a visiting professor of executive communications at Peking University China I have been collecting and using the best tips tools and techniques to help people present with more polish power and professionalism the skills that I'll be sharing with you are based on my own experience in instructing hundreds of thousands of speakers around the world I hope that you will find them as helpful as they have and I thank you for the opportunity to work with you well it might sound silly when you think about how many of us get nervous giving a presentation but when it's you that has to get up and give a speech it probably doesn't seem silly at all in fact public speaking is serious business it's how we make an impression and convey information and even though making a high-quality high-impact presentation can make us positively memorable in the eyes of our colleagues public speaking doesn't have to feel as overwhelming nerve-wracking or daunting as many of us make it out to be most people agree that everyone gets nervous at one time or another even the most experienced speakers whether it's presenting a new topic presenting to a new audience or presenting to an audience who knows you well and who will see you again tomorrow like it or not we all have scenarios that make us feel more or less comfortable and confident so let's begin at the beginning why do we get nervous there are a number of reasons why even thinking about public speaking could lead to anxiety first of all we often fear the unknown whether the unknown is a first day at a new job trying a new exercise or yes speaking to a new audience about a new topic this is an adaptive response our brains are smart enough to protect us from entering into possible enemy territory without thinking through the consequences but often our brain takes this response too far and starts creating consequences that are bigger and far worse than anything that could possibly or reasonably happen second in addition to our fear of the unknown there is our anxiety about the known for example you may have given a recent presentation that didn't turn out as successfully as you would have hoped so this time when you're getting ready to make a presentation your mind remind you of what didn't work last time and replays the audio in the video over and over and over again of your less than stellar presentation when we start to believe that our past experience predicts the next one we feel doomed before we've even begun however when we choose to be proactive rather than reactive by analyzing what went wrong and what went well even if all that went well was you not bursting into tears until you were safely in the elevator we have the tools we need to make a thoughtful gameplan for the next time and yes there will be a next time here are some other common fears that people have which ones do you experience I fear that I haven't practiced enough and I will sound like I don't know my stuff I fear that I have practiced too much and I will sound stiff and stilted I fear that I don't know who this group is and what they're expecting from me I fear that I do know who this group is and I cannot deliver on what they're expecting from me I fear they won't like me I fear my mind will go blank I fear that I will do something embarrassing I fear that I will fumble over my words I fear I won't make sense I fear that someone will ask a question that I can't answer and the worst most overwhelming and self-defeating fear that many of us have I fear that I'll look like I'm in fear so let's go to fear what it feels like looks like and what to do about it what does presentation anxiety look like and feel like some public displays of fear include a pounding heart shaking hands and legs sweaty palms and foreheads facial tics and twitches a quivering voice a flushed or pale face some more private displays of fear include nausea dry mouth racing thoughts no wonder we fear the fear itself that's a pretty package of symptoms huh now I want to ask you to close your eyes for a moment go ahead I'll still be here when you open them okay now that your eyes are closed I want you to imagine that you have just won the lottery not a little lottery like just a million bucks or two but the Mega Million lottery and even if you can't possibly imagine that happening I want you to imagine exactly how you would feel the very moment you realize that your numbers were a match how would your body react chances are your heart would be pounding so hard you'd think you could see it through your shirt you'd start to sweat your knees would grow weak and you'd worry you might collapse maybe your digestive system would start to rebel you'd fear you're going to faint all as a result of the happiest most exciting day of your entire life hmm doesn't all that sound an awful lot like presentation anxiety exactly right our bodies have similar physiological responses to excitement and fear what sets them apart is what we choose to name them the heart pounding dry mouth weaken the knees feeling we associate with winning the lottery or getting married or riding a roller coaster we label as excitement the very same heart pounding dry mouth weak in the knees feeling we associate with getting up in front of an audience we label fear dread or doom so one technique to practice that can help you overcome the fear of public speaking is to take the label maker we all have in our heads and put a new label excited over the old label scared keep telling your off that you are enthusiastic excited even thrilled to be speaking to this group of people the goal isn't to hide your symptoms it's to make that adrenaline rush work in your favor before during and after your presentation here are some other tips and techniques that can help stop thinking of your audience as your judges and start thinking of them as your colleagues you are the holder of valuable information that your audience wants and needs and that they are enthusiastic excited and thrilled to have the chance to get it all from you when you focus less on what this audience can do to you which is probably nothing at all and focus more on what you can do for them you are much more likely to adopt a posture tone and attitude that will help you relax and connect prepare prepare prepare but don't over prepare prepare yourself enough that you will feel you know your content well know what your audience will want to hear most and speak with some degree of interest and passion don't think that you need to be able to answer every single question that could come up you don't don't think that you should memorize your presentation word-for-word you shouldn't get moving if you have nervous energy do some kind of large muscle physical activity to harness that energy walk briskly around the building find a corner and do some squats give some enthusiastic handshakes with some big smiles and don't forget to breathe slowly and consistently adequate oxygen and your system signals to your body that everything is ok play up your weaknesses in private practice and overemphasize any physical reactions you tend to have when you're nervous for example if you tend to blink a lot when you experience anxiety practice your speech in front of a mirror blinking as much as possible once you have heightened your nervous reaction you are better able to control and eliminate it finally make yourself laugh whether you meant to or not laughing dueces stress and when you are relaxed and happy you are more likely to think clearly and connect better to any audience

Channel: Talk Support

Views: 444,233

Rating: 4.886117 out of 5

Keywords: public speaking, presentations, nervousness, Deborah Grayson Riegel, Talk Support, Leadership Coaching, Management Coaching, Presentation Skills Coaching, Communication Skills Coaching, Professional Certified Coach, Communication Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Executive Speaker, Executive Author, Communication Coach, Communications Expert, Presentation Expert, Behavior Expert

Id: mbDipVRt5aE

Length: 9min 3sec (543 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 23 2011