How To Stay Calm When Giving A Presentation

Giving a presentation at work can be the most daunting exercise. You feel sick, you know you'll go red and your hands will probably shake along with your voice. The days leading up to a presentation can be the worst with sleepless nights and utter fear. But it's a good skill to develop for your career and an important challenge to be able to face. Here are 7 tricks and relaxation tips that will make it so much easier for you and you never know, you may find yourself enjoying them.

1. Practice, practice, practice - do it in front of a mirror, in the bathroom or as you walk around the park. Do it 3/4 times but don't overdo it because then your talk will feel flat and robotic. Just get your self to the stage where you're familiar with how it will go from beginning, middle to the end. then, the likelihood of it going badly is massively reduced. Every great public speaker believes in this rule.

2. Be Positive - be aware of how you sound and try to add some levity and interest to the tone of your voice. Don't just drone because your audience will zone out. Try focusing on the positive energy that you want to project, it will take your mind off your nerves.

3. Stand still and don't over gesticulate. It's distracting for people trying to listen to you and you want their concentration to be on what you're saying not your nervous tics. Practicing in front of the mirror should help you spot you habits when you get nervous and once you are aware of them, you can stop yourself. If you feel nervous, no one will ever be able to tell.

4. Be inclusive - you want people to really get something out of the talk you are giving so remember to try and engage them with anecdotes that bring your subject to life or by speaking in a way that addresses what they will be thinking.

5. Breathe. In and out slowly. This will not only calm you before you start to speak but you should remember to breath deeply throughout. Know about the 3 P's? Pitch, Pause and Pace. This is your Pause.

6. If you have a tendency to go red when public speaking, the breathing will help but I also once heard of a great tip which is useful if you are giving a powerpoint presentation. Make sure your screen writing is in green and that works wonder with the red hue of your face and to the audience, there is no visible blush! Oh an wear a green top too or tie. All helps.

7. Last but not least, the most common advice given to combat public speaking nerves - focus on one person in the audience to the left and one to the right and when you speak, speak just to them so you have two positions and it looks like you are addressing the whole room and you can blank out the other 100 people.

P.S. - Giving presentations truly does get easier the more you do so see everyone you give as a step closer to being the type of person who says "oh, I enjoy public speaking' and mean it.



Photograph by hfb (Flickr)