Presentation Skills - 7 Tips for Handling Anxiety

For many people in business making a presentation of speaking in front of a group is one of the biggest fears that they face. Here are 7 tips which you may find useful.

1. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that anxiety about public speaking is a perfectly natural reaction. Your body is simply preparing itself to handle a new or dangerous situation. Recognise that this is normal and take a couple of deep breaths. Take a drink of water and concentrate on your breathing.

2. Know your enemy. Very often the fear of the unknown is worse than facing a crisis. Take some time to profile your audience. Learn from it.

3. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. So what is the worst that could really happen? Think about all the people you have heard speak in public. How did they handle problems? Did you think less of the speaker or were you impressed with their reaction? Also, rehearse how you will handle a question you can't answer: "Well, that's an interesting point, I'm not sure I can give you a ready answer but I'd be happy to check it out and come back to you...".

4. Minimise the unknown. Try to find out as much as you can about what will happen on the day. Who will be present? What will they expect from you? Who else is speaking and about what? How big is the room? How will people be seated? What equipment will you have to use - data projector, microphones an OHP? If possible, visit the venue ahead of time and walk around the area you will be speaking from. Whatever you can do to reduce the element of surprise on the day will be reflected in your stress levels.

5. Do your homework. There is no shortcut for good planning, and you should spend as much time as possible preparing your session and ensuring you are as familiar as you can be with background knowledge to prepare yourself for any questions you might be asked.

6. Start as you mean to go on. Rehearse your entire presentation until you are comfortable with it, then go back and practice the first ten minutes until you can do it in your sleep. Now practice some more until you sound completely spontaneous. On the day you should be able to start out on automatic pilot.

7. Finally, just take a deep breath and go for it. Use the adrenaline rush to give your presentation vigour and vitality. People will overlook lots of minor faux-pas for someone who is passionate about their subject.

Do you have any comments that you would like to make about these tips? Please send them to resource @ mentoric.com.

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