How To Not Be Nervous For A Presentation
Before the presentation:
1. Know your topic
The better you understand your subject matter, the more confident you’ll feel. You can answer questions right away and won’t have to rely on your notes.
2. Be organized
Take time to thoroughly plan each aspect of your presentation. Often, that means designing PowerPoint slides, or other visual aids like videos. Clarify with the organizer what format and technology you will be using. If it will be virtual, get your background and room organized, too. This ensures that the presentation will go smoothly and reduce your stress.
3. Practice, practice, practice
Whether you’re rehearsing in front of a mirror, a family member, or a pet, you can never practice enough. Ask for feedback about your body language, eye contact, and how loudly you project your voice. If you will be giving the presentation on a video conference, record it on the video conference platform so that you can see how you look and sound.
4. Visualize your success
The more often you fill your mind with positive thoughts, the more automatic they will be. Positive self talk can make a big difference to your confidence. You can run through the presentation successfully cause everything already in your head.
During the presentation:
5. Focus on your material, not the audience
Your audience is there for your presentation — not to assess you. They’ll be looking at your colorful slides and listening to what you’re saying. You need to stop thinking about if they’re enjoying the presentation and deliver it how you practiced.
6. Don’t fear silence
If your mind suddenly goes blank, that’s okay. It may seem like an eternity to you as you try to figure out what to say next, but it’s only a few seconds at most.
7. Speak slowly
Slow down. Presentation anxiety makes it likely you’ll speak faster than you planned. Audience members will be thankful since they can understand you and drawing out your speech will give you time to calm down.
8. Take deep breaths and drink water
You can try breathing cause it will delivers oxygen to your brain, allowing you to think more clearly. Drinking water ups your energy, and also gives you a moment to pause.
9. Smile
Smiling is a simple yet effective way to soothe your nerves. Doing so releases endorphins, helping you physically feel more confident. And a friendly face will make the audience more open to what you’re saying.
10. Remember the three “audience truths”
These include: 1) for the duration of the presentation, the audience believes you’re the expert,
2) they’re on your side, and 3) they don’t know when you make a mistake.
After the presentation:
11. Recognize your success
Giving a presentation is something worth being proud of so you need to celebrate it! In addition to family, friends, and coworkers, you deserve a high five from yourself, too.
12. Collect feedback
Feedback is a wonderful gift, if you use it as a tool to help you do even better next time. Ask some of your audience members what they liked and what they didn’t. Remember, you can learn a lot from your mistakes.
