How do you feel moments before you have to be on the stage or podium for your presentation? Do you experience emotional and physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, sweaty hands, or panic right before jumping on the stage? Does the thought of you walking on the stage make your knees weak? There are chances that it may not be that extreme, but it happens to many people. Many great people and seasoned professionals feel anxious before giving presentations. The same goes for actors, public figures, politicians, and preachers. You must realize and stop looking at it as a sign of weakness. It is all about channelizing your energy right.
Fortunately enough, there are some scientifically proven ways and strategies to manage your nerves. These techniques can help you concentrate better on the performance in delivering presentations and, at the same time, alleviate the pressure. The techniques that we will focus on won’t just help you get rid of the nervousness but also transform that energy into something positive. When you are on the stage, your body’s adrenaline level is high. You can use that energy to communicate passionately and be enthusiastic.
Ways you can win over your presentation anxiety
The following are some tips you should remember that can help you get rid of your presentation nerves. Most tips focus on the audience and their specific needs instead of focusing on how you feel.
1. Know your audience
Note the statement, the more uncertainties you leave, the more nervous you will be. There are certain things you can figure out well before your presentation that can help you eliminate uncertainties. For starters, know who your audience is. Consult them if possible before you start preparing for D-day. If you know what they already know and what is it that they are expecting. By doing just this, you save yourself and, more importantly, a great deal of trouble. If you know what you are presenting to your audience is useful, you automatically get confidence. Save yourself from the reaction of your audience by simply confronting them beforehand. The reaction of the audience can be a huge factor in making or breaking your presentation. Consulting your audience will help you know the audience better and give a certain level of control over their reactions.
You can do the following things:
- Define your target audience for yourself
- Explicitly ask your audience what they expect from you. If you do not want to do it on stage, you can pick a few members of your audience and ask them about it.
- Run your topic by at least a couple of people to know if you are covering all the areas or if you’re overkilling it
- Or if the interaction with your audience is not possible in the physical world. Make sure you contact them via email.
- Try and greet your audience right at the door
2. Know what you are talking about
One thing that can potentially throw you off a presentation is something that you wouldn’t expect. It is not the number of audiences who are there to hear you or the slides or the equipment. It is NOT having an in-depth understanding of the subject that you are presenting. Imagine a situation where you are asked to deliver a presentation, and you have no option but to make it work. You go through the basics around the topic that you need to present and come up with a deck of slides. How do you think your presentation would go?
Trust me, and you will need a miracle to save yourself from being on the stage. This is an important fact, and the sooner you realize it, the better it is for you. If you do not have an in-depth knowledge of what you are presenting, your audience will most certainly know.
Suppose you can do just one thing before you have to deliver a presentation. Without a doubt, it should be getting deep knowledge of the topic that you need to present if you have that you do not need any script or cue cards. You will have a different level of confidence while you sail through your presentation.
3. Go with the structure
Having a structure while you present is very important. Not just for you but also for your audience. In the absence of a proper structure, you will struggle to deliver. And your audience will have a hard time collecting insights or information from your presentation.
With that being said after you are done gaining an in-depth understanding of the topic. There are chances that you are still muddled up with your thoughts. It would be best if you give your understanding of the right skeleton. It is suggested not to add a structure where you jot everything down like a script or memorize it. Try and remember the important keywords. Before you do so, you should sit down with a pen-paper and write the outcome you want to achieve. Once you are aware of what you want to achieve, the rest is just a cakewalk.
Now all you need to do is find out 3 points that will take your audience to the outcome. Memorize just those 3 points that, too, in the form of a keyword. Once you do that, all you have to do is talk about those 3 points keeping the outcome in mind.
4. Practice as much as you can
Over planning is the worst that you can do for your presentation delivery. When you plan more than required, it will make you look unnatural and take away your agility.
It would be best if you practiced more than you plan. Just create a basic structure or outline of the presentation. The more you practice, the closer you will reach the topic, and the delivery will be natural. Also, if you practice enough, you will look more credible on the stage. To make the presentation look even better, record it in advance so that you can review it. Pin the problems you find in the delivery of the presentation and then focus on the points.
5. Prepare for the real time environment
Once you are done acquainting yourself to the audience, learning well about the subject, preparing a structure, and practicing, it is time you prepare for the actual delivery. You must wind up with the aforementioned tasks well before time. Many presenters do not pay much heed to their attire and do not realize how important it is. You should know what you are going to wear- make sure it is comfortable and appropriate as per the presentation’s subject. Secondly, arrive early to the venue to check the environment and preparations first hand. See if all the equipment is there and working. If possible, try and so your last practice or trial run in the set environment. Lastly, ANTICIPATE all the contingencies that can exist and prepare the required back up. Also, anticipate some obvious questions that can be asked during or after the presentation and be prepared.
6. Stay calm
It is imperative to stay calm during your presentation and not let the nerves take over control. When you get nervous, your body starts to transition into a fight and flight response. Most of your reactions are psychologically attributed to the increase of a hormone in our body called Adrenaline. It is the primary hormone responsible for the fight and flight response in animals. You can act against these if you follow some simple strategies and exercises to stay relaxed and calm.
Breath Deeply
When you are nervous, your body does not send enough amount of oxygen to your brain. Most of the oxygen is transported to other organs via blood, and you tend to breathe shallowly. By taking a deep breath, you trick your brain that you are calm so that it can function normally. It will help you get your confidence back.
Drink plenty of water
Our mouth gets all dried up in no time when there is an adrenaline rush. Dry mouth gets our tongue all ties up. It is always suggested to keep a glass of water or a bottle handy. Take sips before you start your presentation and even when during the presentation. You can drink when you think you need a little break or when your audience is applauding. Remember not to gulp water in one go. Take small sips.
Smile more
Trust me or not, there are hundreds of research papers out there that confirm that smile is a therapy. It induces our mind to secrete relaxants/ positive chemicals.
Speak slowly than you usually would
There are things you need to be conscious about like especially the pace at which you speak. We do not realize it, but we speak faster than we think when we are nervous. Try and give a longer pause between two consecutive sentences. Speaking slowly will give enough space and time to think and stay calm. Not just that, it will make you easy to hear when addressing a large audience.
Know your role
Your role as a presenter is to fulfill the expectation of your audience. All you need to do is to impart knowledge and get it across to your audience. You can use certain visualization techniques, like imagine a room full of an enthusiastic audience to hear you speak. Cement this picture in your mind right before you step on the stage or the podium.
7. Get proper feedback
Suppose the presentation you are preparing for is a crucial one or is monumental in your career. It is expected of you to do a trial run before someone you think can give you good constructive feedback. Ensure the person you choose is brutally honest and has enough time for you to help you find flaws in your presentation.
Even after you are done with your presentation, it is a great idea to ask for feedback from your audience. Listen carefully to what they have to say and note how you can improve further. You can either pick up a few random members of the audience after the presentation and ask them about it. Or you can have a small sheet/form circulated in the audience for them to record their feedback. Take the feedback as an opportunity for you to improve instead of looking at it as a list of failures.
8. Reflect on what you do
Reflecting is nothing but thinking about what you do and learning from past experiences. You can use this technique to analyze your experience. This technique can be of use to lower down your nervousness for future presentations. If you reflect properly, you would know where you went smoothly and where you need to work better.
9. Don’t be harsh on yourself
Like every other thing in the world, presentations are also never perfect. There will always be some scope for you to improve. Once you get your feedback and reflected on the presentation, you must take it as a step closer to becoming better. Take the much-needed break. Make sure you remember all the positives in your presentation and the things that went well. Learn from things that you think could have been better.
10. Do not forget to treat yourself
You have worked hard for the presentation, and now it is behind you. You should not forget that you need to give yourself some kind of positive reinforcement. It could be a glass of wine, soak in the bath, or a cheat meal. The idea is to make you feel special about yourself and incentivize you to do better in future presentations.
Final Thought
Getting nervous before a presentation is absolutely fine but letting it get the better part of you is not. Know that nerves are not really the nemesis of your presentation. Just be knowledgeable, well prepared, practiced, and try some relaxation techniques before setting foot on the stage. You will be able to blow your audience’s mind with your cool delivery of an amazing presentation.
