How do I overcome nerves while presenting?

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Shyness can be the root cause to that feeling of nervousness when you need to give a presentation to an audience.

You don’t necessarily need to overcome shyness. There are many shy or introverted individuals who are still able to present confidently, engage their audiences, and speak with great impact.

Your first step is to let go of the expectation that you need to always feel confident, that nerves are always negative, or that only extroverted people are good at presentations. Instead, try to shift your mindset away from feeling that shyness is holding you back. Start by asking yourself:

  • How do I want to educate, inspire and persuade my audience?
  • What does my audience need to hear about [my particular topic] to find it relevant and meaningful?
  • WHY is what I’m saying important and beneficial to them?

When you can shift your focus to those questions, and know that you’ll be presenting a message that your audience will find valuable, your shyness will take a backseat.

If you’ve prepared and practiced for your presentation, then hopefully you’ll have some measure of confidence when it’s time to deliver it. Understandably, on the day of your presentation, the nerves can creep back up. Here are six ways to physically prepare yourself to feel calmer (points 1-4 reprinted and slightly edited from Patricia Fripp’s blog post, How To Relax for Your Presentation):

  1. Warm up and relax your body and face – off stage and out of view of your audience. One way to do this is to warm up your face muscles by chewing in an exaggerated way.
  2. Stand on one leg and shake the other (if you’re wearing high heels, take them off before doing this — and  hold a chair for stability if you find yourself toppling over). When you put your foot back on the ground, it’s going to feel lighter than the other one. Now, switch legs and shake. You want your energy to go through the floor and out of your head. This is a real technique used by actors when they’re about to take the stage.
  3. Shake your hands…fast.Hold them above your head, bending at the wrist and elbow and then bring your hands back down. This will make your hand movements more natural.
  4. Do shoulder and neck rolls.
  5. Watch the experts. Watch the TED talk by Amy Cuddy on “Power Posing” for some great insights on how you can ‘fake’ confidence until you feel it for real
  6. Still feeling nervous? Get some support! Join my online mini-masterclass, How To Rock Every Speech You Make: Ditch the Nerves, Build Your Confidence and Speak Like a Superstar and get the support and guidance you need to be able to step up in front of your audiences with confidence, control and strength!

Now get out there and show them what you’ve got!

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