Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Reader question: what can I do to calm my nerves before a presentation?

Before any presentation, worse case scenarios flood your imagination what if I forget or if I stumble over my words? Don’t think you need to be perfect in fact a recent study showed that that when speakers were asked to make mistakes during their presentation they were 30% less nervous than when they tried to perform flawlessly.
Just don’t tell the audience that you are nervous, they are rooting for you to do well – nobody likes the cringe factor seeing someone fall flat on their faces but even if you make an embarrassing mistake the majority of the audience do not care or even notice and trust me you will NOT die of stage fright. Think positive thoughts by visualising success and concentrate on the message not the crowd. Stretch before coming on stage and breathe deeply to make those butterflies fly in formation. Don’t look to eliminate them completely as you need a certain amount of adrenalin coursing through your veins to give you positive energy. If you practice beforehand you should reduce any feelings of nervousness. And don’t just wait to practice in formal settings but in informal settings like at office meetings or in front of your boss, colleagues etc. Adequate preparation is also the key to success and success is the key to confidence.