Your stomach is queasy, your palms are sweaty, and your mind has gone blank about your opening lines. What will you be like when you've been introduced and the room goes quiet?
Are you doomed to presentation panic or paralysis, or can you overcome that debilitating nervousness and deliver a speech that wows the audience? (Or at least leaves them feeling satisfied?)
If you're like most people, then public speaking or presenting is one of your major fears (it's known as "glossophobia"). Yet these skills are often called upon. It might not be to an audience of hundreds, but giving presentations to staff or even team members is a common enough occurrence. You owe it to yourself to develop some strategies and techniques to manage your nerves so that you can concentrate on delivering an effective and engaging presentation.
A positive mindset is vital to delivering a good presentation.
How Nervous Do You Feel Before a Speech?
Notice that we didn't say to get rid of your nervousness. This is because presenting is not a natural activity, and even the most practiced presenters get a bit nervous. The point is this: your nervous energy can be used to your advantage.
When you're in a heightened state from the adrenaline that's being pumped into your body, you can use that energy to communicate enthusiastically, convincingly and passionately. The key is to decrease your level of nervousness so that you can use your energy on these positive activities, not on trying to control your nerves.
So, to harness your nervousness and bring it under control, there are six key tips to remember. These tips are all designed to help you focus on your audience and their needs rather than on yourself and how you are feeling. They all stem from one truism:
The more uncertain you are, the more nervous you will be.
The more you can control the uncertainty, the less nervousness you'll experience, and the more residual energy you'll have to devote to the presentation itself.
Six Steps to Conquering Your Presentation Nerves
1. Know Your Audience
Consult your audience before your presentation. The more confident you are that you're presenting them with useful and interesting material, the less nervous you'll be overall. You really don't want your presentation to be a surprise. If it is, you lose complete control over the audience's reaction, and that's a large factor in nervousness. So:
- Define your target audience.
- Ask people who are representative of the audience what they expect from the presentation.
- Run your agenda by a few people to see if they think something is missing or is overkill.
- Consider contacting participants by email beforehand and asking them a few questions about what they expect.
- Greet audience members at the door and do a quick survey of why they're there and what they expect.
2. Know Your Material
Nothing is worse for nerves than trying to give a presentation on a topic that you're not well prepared for. This doesn't mean you have to be an expert beforehand, but you'd better know it backward on presentation day. And making sure that you've understood your audience and their needs properly will help you to ensure that your material is on target to meet their needs.
Another important point to remember is that you can't possibly cover everything you know in your presentation. That would likely be long and boring. So select the most pertinent points, and supplement them with other material if time allows.
To make your material interesting and memorable, include occasional questions to encourage audience participation. This enhances the learning experience and gives you a break from presenting. It also allows you to deliver your information in a more conversational manner which is often more believable.
3. Structure Your Presentation
A common technique for trying to calm nervousness is memorizing what you intend to say. But all this does is make your delivery sound like it's coming from a robot. If you miss a word or draw a blank, your whole presentation is thrown off, and then your nervousness compounds itself with every remaining second. It's far better to structure your presentation so that you give yourself clues to what's coming next.
Here are some tips for doing that:
- Have a set of key phrases listed on a cue card.
- Refer to these phrases to trigger your mind as to what's coming up next.
- If you're using slides, use these key phrases in your transitions.
This approach helps you to control your own uncertainty about whether you'll remember your presentation – both what you want to say and the order in which you want to say it.
A simple, widely used and highly effective structure is to tell the audience what you're going to say, then say it, and then recap what you've said. Our article on How to Structure a Presentation covers this in detail.
4. Practice, Practice, Practice
Although you should avoid memorizing your presentation, you do want to be very comfortable with your delivery. Familiarity brings confidence, and practice helps you to deliver the words naturally. This means that they will be coming more from your heart and mind, rather than from a piece of paper.
Here's what to do when you're rehearsing:
- Learn the organization and order of your presentation.
- If you do feel the need to memorize, limit it to your opening. This will help you get off to a smooth start.
- Try filming yourself. You'll discover what you look and sound like to others, and then you can make a plan to change the things that need changing.
- Prepare for large speaking events by practicing with a smaller audience first; for example, by inviting colleagues to listen to a "dry run" during their lunch hour.
5. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
Once you know what you're going to say, you need to prepare yourself for the actual delivery.
- Decide what you're going to wear – make it comfortable and appropriate.
- Arrive early and get your equipment set up.
- Anticipate problems and have backups and contingencies in place in case something doesn't work, you forget something, etc.
- If possible, give everything one last run-through in the real environment.
- Prepare responses to anticipated questions. Try to think like that one person in the front row who always tries to trip the presenter up.
6. Calm Yourself From the Inside
Nervousness causes physiological reactions which are mostly attributed to the increase in adrenaline in your system. You can counteract these effects with a few simple techniques:
- Practice deep breathing. Adrenaline causes you to breathe shallowly. By breathing deeply your brain will get the oxygen it needs, and the slower pace will trick your body into believing that you're calmer. It also helps with voice quivers, which can occur when your breathing is irregular.
- Drink water. Adrenaline can cause a dry mouth, which in turn leads to getting tongue-tied. Have a glass of water handy. Take sips occasionally, especially when you want to emphasize a point.
- Smile. This is a natural relaxant that sends positive chemicals through your body.
- Use visualization techniques. Imagine that you're delivering your presentation to an audience that's interested, enthused, smiling, and reacting positively. Cement this positive image in your mind, and recall it right before you're ready to go on.
- Press and massage your forehead to energize the front of the brain and speech center.
- Just before you start talking, pause, make eye contact, and smile. This last moment of peace is very relaxing and gives you time to adjust to being the center of attention.
- Speak more slowly than you would in a conversation, and leave longer pauses between sentences. This slower pace will calm you down, and it will also make you easier to hear, especially at the back of a large room.
- Move around during your presentation. This will expend some of your nervous energy.
- Stop thinking about yourself. Remember that the audience is there to get some information – and it's your job to put it across to them.
To take this to the next level, listen to our "Performing Under Pressure" Expert Interview with Dr Don Greene. This gives you many more tips and techniques for managing performance stress.
When it comes to presenting, nerves are inevitable. Letting them get the better of you is not. You need to develop a strategy for taking the focus off your nervousness and putting that energy to positive use.
By controlling as much of the uncertainty as you can, you'll increase your confidence in your ability to deliver an excellent presentation. This confidence then counteracts your nerves, and you create a positive cycle for yourself.
For your next presentation, be knowledgeable, be well-practiced and prepared, and try out some physical relaxation techniques. Amaze yourself and impress your audience with your calm and cool delivery of a great presentation.
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It’s not easy getting ready for a big presentation. The stakes can feel high, and in our desire for things to go well, the anticipation builds. Fear, anxiety, or even paralysis can kick in. What can you do to calm your nerves when this happens?
Observe, Accept, and Reframe
First, recognize that feeling anxious or being nervous before a big presentation is normal. The human fight-or-flight response kicks in, attempting to ward off the threat. But instead of running or fighting, which just creates more resistance and angst, simply observe those instincts and get comfortable with the idea that discomfort is part of the game.
Consider Bill Russell, a five-time winner of the NBA’s most valuable player award and a 12-time all-star who is often credited for leading the Celtics to 11 NBA championships. Before games, Russell was often so nervous that he threw up. But he didn’t let his nerves get in the way of his performance on the court. Like Russell, we can recognize that nerves are part of our process, and rather than beat ourselves up about it, we can go out and perform at a championship level.
Beth Levine, author of a book on leadership lessons from the sports world and founder of SmartMouth Communications, has worked with professional athletes as well as leaders in organizations on presentations and media training. Over the course of a 30-year career in PR, corporate communications, and coaching, Levine says, “almost everyone I’ve worked with has some version of feeling nervous before big presentations. It’s the rare person who doesn’t get nervous. Therefore, it’s best to embrace nervousness rather than resist it or push it away.”
Once we notice what’s happening, without judgment, we can calmly reframe the situation to take the edge off our dread. Levine advises, “Think of a quarterback playing in his first Super Bowl game. Yes, he may be nervous, but he’s not dreading it or seeing it as an obligation. He’s seeing it as a great opportunity that he’s ready to sink his teeth into. The nerves are a signal that this is something that matters to him.”
Get Present by Returning to Your Body
When we let our nerves get the best of us, we lose our presence in the moment and get hooked into an incessant stream of critical or worrisome thoughts in our minds: What if I fail? What if this doesn’t go well? What will they think of me?
Bringing awareness to our physical bodies can help. Notice the physical sensations happening: a racing heart, shallow breathing, tightening of the chest, sweat, a cracking voice. Be aware of your body’s cues and take a deep breath to regain some sense of the present. Notice your surroundings. Anchor or touch something physical, such as a table or the slide advancer, or push your weight into your toes and feet. Here are a few other ways you can help calm your nerves by tuning into your body:
- Don’t take the basics for granted. Get a good night’s sleep, hydrate, and watch your caffeine intake before a big presentation so that your heart rate isn’t already elevated. Also, make sure that you’ve eaten a good meal and that you aren’t going in hungry.
- Strike a power pose. Some research has shown that holding strong physical poses (e.g., hands on hips, feet apart, like Wonder Woman) can make you feel more confident. One paper found it even led to hormonal changes, though that finding has since been disputed. But even if power poses are just a placebo effect, plenty of people say this technique helps them feel grounded before a big talk.
- Shift your center of gravity. Stand up and take a deep breath. Imagine a heavy lead ball in your stomach. Feel the weight of it. Feel the solidity of it. Bring your focus here instead of to your head or chest.
- Own the space. If you can, get to the room early and really imagine owning it. Walk the perimeter, check out the configuration, and notice the size of the room. Like a radio dial, think about how much you can authentically dial up your volume, expression, or gestures to match the size of room.
Prepare a Great Opening and Warm Up
Good preparation can help ease the nerves. Try to allot time for organizing your thoughts, determining the best flow, and drafting your talking points. Be mindful of the ratio of time spent preparing slides and preparing what you are going to say; most of us spend way too much time on slides. Practicing flow and transitions can also be helpful (but be careful of becoming overly scripted). The most important thing you can do is prepare and practice the opening of your presentation, which will set the stage for everything that follows. As Levine says, “The adrenaline rush of nerves usually dissipates in about two minutes. Start by saying something positive or unexpected to set the tone.”
Levine describes an executive she coached who was nervous about preparing for a series of intranet videos for employees. She had him set the tone for the audience and himself by smiling and saying something positive and authentic, such as, “I love being here and what we get to do each day.” This helped him relax and ease into the rest of the video.
When you’re able to engage the audience directly, solicit their views to buy time and get more grounded at the start of a presentation. For example:
- In a speaking situation, poll the audience. You could ask, by show of hands, how many people have been at the organization for over 10 years. Or start by asking a few members of the audience why they are here for the topic.
- In a formal business presentation, frame the agenda and check in with the group about it. You might say something like, “For our time together today, we will be covering x, y, and z — do these sound like the right topics to focus on, or is something missing?”
- Warm up your vocal chords before the presentation begins, especially if you are introverted by nature. Chat up the barista at the coffee shop or ask a colleague how her day is going.
Manage Your Nerves Along the Way
Accepting and calming your nerves before a presentation is part of sound preparation, but what can you do during the presentation itself if you still feel discomfort, doubt, or unease?
Levine says, “If you have a misstep, keep going. The audience expects you to be good and to succeed. You were chosen to present. Even if you’re shaking on the inside, the audience doesn’t know that.” And that advice works in reverse as well. For instance, in the case of nonreactive audience members, Levine says, “Remember, one man’s scowl is another man’s look of concentration. You really just don’t know what the audience is thinking.”
If you worry about being asked a question that you can’t answer, prepare a list of potential questions in advance. And if you’re asked something you’re not sure about, have a few different responses in your back pocket, such as:
- “That’s a good question. I don’t have the answer right now, but I’ll get back to you on that.”
- “My initial view and instinct on that is x. It’s a good question. Let me have the team dig into that this week and I’ll send out a fuller response.”
- Shift the question to someone else in the room or back at the audience directly: “Let me turn this back to the group — does anyone have thoughts or a view on that right now?”
Ultimately, we can never know how a big presentation is really going to go. We can calm our nerves by observing, accepting, and reframing it as part of a natural process. Additionally, we can leverage our physical bodies to be more present and use good preparation techniques to land the opening and engage the audience along the way.
Equally important, however, is taking time after the presentation itself to reflect on how things went. Ask yourself or others how it really went. What went well and what could have been more effective? Think about who you can ask for honest feedback and suggestions. Ask yourself what mindset, preparation, or techniques seemed to help calm your nerves. How does this event inform which routines you’ll use next time? By consciously reflecting, we update our own best practices as well as the view we hold of ourselves as effective presenters and communicators over the long run.