Whenever that word is being pronounced in my class, a part of the students suddenly feel like their hearts are pounding up their throats. Hands tremble and shake, their voices quiver, and their minds seem to freeze; all of that at once. This fear almost always boils down to two things, and two which that audience is most likely looking straight in their faces: ‘the others may comment on this experience-sweaty palms, heart palpitations, speech-block, or just frantically wishing that the ground would swallow them up.’
If you feel somewhat like this right now, then breathe; you’re not alone, and it’s funny: it is easy to cure. This article will teach you step by step to transform your presentation and public speaking skills into a domain that oozes confidence.
So, Why Is This Happening?
Well, the public. Just a minute: we feel afraid before our audience to make fools of ourselves. The faith-within us are many voices: What if I screw up; What if they laugh at me? The input gives anticipation fear back onto the body, wherein blood rushes quickly into it: Heart races with fear; Handy-trembling; Mind-blank.
After the initial public address, she had quite a head-popping euphoria by actually having gone through all the preparations to the presentation, which again gave an amazing relief-that is, as her fear dial started tuning down.
Gradual Desensitization
In the earliest days of desensitization, a slow introduction of the fear context into a controlled environment is done in digestible amounts.
- Go ahead and try talking out loud to yourself first in a room with closed doors.
- Then practice in front of any inanimate object-whether it’s a doll, a teddy bear, a stuffed animal, or even a wall.
- Then let it all out to family or close friends-those people who will keep their judgments to themselves.
- Continue on to a small group in attendance (3-4 people) and much larger ones.
- The best is to treat oneself a little after each presentation-small gifts like a favorite dessert or listening to a favorite song-then the brain can start to link the experience of enjoyment with presenting well.
Practice-But the Right Way
“Practice makes perfect” does apply here. However, practicing means not just running through the words in your mind one or two times or shuffling around some slides.
- Write the presentation out like a story you can almost relate to in this moment.
- Then practice in front of a mirror. This will allow you to see your gestures, smile, and body position while giving the talk.
- You can prove you were right with an audio/video recording of your practice.
Each time will be more encouraging than the last.
No Need to Feel Embarrassed: Everybody Gets Nervous
By now, it may shock you to learn that public speaking, in fact, is the most flamboyant source of fear, not only in ordinary folks but also among leaders and actors prior to getting on stage. The difference between them and you is that they have learnt coping mechanisms for this fear.
You might go ahead and admit it: Some will Ooh and Aah: “I’m a little nervous, but I’ve prepared well.” Sometimes, sharing with the audience your slight feelings of nerves and smiling creates a friendly atmosphere and earns respect for the audience’s honesty.
How to Control Your Heart Rate?
The one under pressure gets jittery. The sympathetic and parasympathetic also stimulate the heart to increase its pace. This is where the solution lies-initiation of the parasympathetic.
The applications for such techniques are really simple:
- Carry with you a bottle of water; Whenever you’re roused from your reverie or feel your heart race, simply take a sip.
- Breathe in slowly through the nose for a few seconds, maintaining the pause, and then breathe out through the mouth slowly.
- Sit like that for 2 minutes with your eyes closed, just before the presentation.
Such little things can help a lot in settling such high tension.
Your Audience is Your Friend, Not Your Judges
This rarely happens, yet almost 90% of these people want you to do well since they know that depending on the context speaking is, well, not so easy: They want to hear your findings; they want to know your say.
But what if you had slipped? Nobody is going to think, “You’ve failed.” Your life won’t be turned upside down. Tomorrow, most will not care. So, don’t do this to yourself.
Storyteller: Treat It Like a Story
Loosen your presentation up a little with some fun. Rather than rigidly outlining points, fill them in story form:
- Beginning: Initiation of the subject: Why is it necessary to take on the subject?
- The middle: Set the problem/data/examples.
- Ending: Conclusion/ lesson.
Your words have some feelings, some examples, and some stories; your audience’s ears will be wide awake to you even if your voice shakes!
Value Yourself-not in Looks; in Knowledge.
The definitions of confidence held by most people are somehow jaded by relating how beauty, attire or anything else perspectives someone may hold against him/her. But that is not at all the essence of self-esteem.
- Dressing smartly will boost your morale with yourself.
- But you should justify your being through preparation and thought.
When you believe in yourself, then the entire world believes in you.
Conclusion
Fear of presenting is, truly, nothing less than a vice; it just emphasises how really one wants to do it well but fears failure. Let it be fear; just do not let it be one that would drag you off your dreamed life. Rehearse until it appears impossible to fail. Stumble and fall six times, but never fall short of trying. Then, eventually, each presentation embeds this monster of fear deep into the ground. Then you will enter the arena someday, super-duper easy going, and proclaim, “I did it!”