College presentation

Semele

I have to give a presentation in college in a few days and am totally dreading it!

On a rational level I can tell myself that its ok- that there won't be many people there, that most of them are my friends, that other people who have already done theirs have been visibly nervous but still managed to do really well so its not like everyone's going to be pitying me...etc.

But still I'm terrified of getting up there, feeling the panic rising and not being able to mentally talk myself out of it like I can now. And then having to struggle through the next 20 minutes with my mind blank and barely able to get a word out.

I used to be really good at public speaking and still am when its sprung upon me and I have no time to get nervous but a few years ago a panic attack coincided with me doing a reading at an event and the experience was so utterly horrendous and embarassing (as I had to keep going, standing on stage in front of everyone, but was hyperventilating so much I could hardly talk, was visibly shaking and nearly passed out from lack of oxygen!) that the fear of it happening again is enough to bring it on.

While I quite enjoy talking once I get going I've had so much time to think about this presentation that its become this cloud hanging over me and the knowledge that I can't get out of doing it is making me feel really trapped and nervous. I'm working on it now but just feel ill...

Any words of wisdom? How can I calm myself down?

Thanks in advance

arse..biscuits

You need to learn off what you are talking about so that you dont have to read it as your giving the presentation.

Never turn your back to your audience.

If you dont like making eye contact, just look at an empty seat, everyone will think you are making eye contact with someone else.

LuckyLloyd

Prepare yourself inside out and try to really familiarise yourself with your material. Knowledge and detailed preparation breeds confidence.

What is your course by the way? Is it a probabillity that future job and career paths would demand an abillity to deliver competent presentations?

Jigsaw

Maybe a wee sip of whisky before you start.

Obviously only a small amount - not enough that would effect your performance.

AlmightyCushion

One thing you should do it get those little cards and have little notes and important bits of information written on them. This way if you lose your place, instead of panicing which will just make things worse, you can refer to these notes and pick up where you left off or move on to another point.

Try to speak slowly. If you speak quickly you'll be more likely to jumble words up or mess something up which coud cause you to panic or dent your confidence.

Try not to focus on the one bad experience you had with public speaking (the one where you nearly passed out), try and focus on all the positive ones.

Don't forget to rehearsh that speech and try and get in a few trial runs.

biko

It's ok to pause for a while if you need to. Have some papers and a bottle of water so you can look through them or take a sip to collect yourself if you need to.
Don't have anything in your hands - people tend to click pens or fiddle with things in their hands which can be annoying.

LegacyUser

How many people in front of you speaking would start to get you edgy? maybe get some of the class mates you're closer with to get together before the "official" presentation and go through it. That should settle you for the real deal.

On the nerves you're feeling now, well that's your mind telling you to prepare, I often get nervous much like yourself, and the long run up probably makes it worse. If you can say to yourself it's just a natural stimulus to get you to get your finger out it may help put it in perspective.

you know yourself, the second you're finished you'll look back and say "that wasn't so bad". Maybe borrow some of that relief early to help.

Just remember, you know something and all you're doing is passing on the information, If you know the info everything else should be fine.

stay positive, Mojo shall return.

Dizzyblonde

Get yourself a bottle of Bach's Rescue Remedy from the chemist - the spray is easier to use than the drops. If you feel very anxious just beforehand, spray it on your tongue and it will help.
Good luck.

LegacyUser

A few words of advice...just before you get up to talk you will feel the anxiety building up inside you, try taking hold of the underside of the seat you are in and sqeeze it as hard as you can, failing that try holding something (e.g.: book) and sqeeze. This will help relieve the anxiety because the effort of sqeezing will help burn up some of the excess adrenaline that has built up.

Other things to do: breathe, take your time and take a good deep breath in between sentences. If you stary rushing your presentation you'll run out of breath and start to get hoarse, far better to take your time and deliver the presentation a slowinsh pace. As you said, once you get going you will be fine so for the first minute or two make sure you concentrate on breathing.

Final point: relax, you know you'll be fine once you get started

brian_ire

speaking from experience having done many of these presentations, this is the best advice i can give you. Oh and in saying these i was very very nervous doing presentations when i started, but it's like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

1. Smile! It makes such a difference, no matter how nervous you may be, if you smile it has two effects. Firstly it allows the audience to warm to you and distracts from any apparent nervousness and secondly, it's be proven and i can again speak from experience, that smiling has a calming effect. So just remind yourself to smile.

2. It's your stage. You're up there for a reason, no matter what happens everybody has to listen to you. So feel free to pause whenever you like, stop, go have a sip of water if you feel you are panicking, nobody is going to ask you to hurry up etc so just enjoy it.

3. Everybody loves you. I know this one is kind of silly but it always works for me, just imagine that everybody in the audience loves you... say it a few times to yourself before you go on, and anyway like you said they are mostly your friends so they probably all love you anyway!

4. If you go blank move on! If you're mid-sentence and you go completely blank where you don't have a clue of the last five words to come out of your mouth (as it has to me many times) just take a moment, look up at the next point on your slide and move on. Nobody knows your preplanned speech, so even though you may feel that you have missed out on something, your audience doesn't know this. Plus later on, if it comes back to you, feel free to throw it in!

5. Don't read out your speech. For several reasons there is nothing worse than somebody, head down, reading word for word what they have written. As said previously, the most important thing is that you are comfortable with the material you are presenting. I assume you are using powerpoint, and if so the notes on the slide should be enough to get you talking on a certain topic. If you feel you need extra, write down a few keywords or even some pictures on cue words that will jog your memory.

6. The first 20 seconds will always be the worse. When you start, be aware of the speed of your speech, deliberately slow it down if you need to and take pauses when appropriate. You may feel anxious and want to jump into it at hundred miles an hour. Like you said once you get going you feel grand, so after those 20 seconds are over, i'm positive you will be in the flow of it and all those nervous will be settled.

So there you go! I hope that doesn't say too preachy but it has worked for me to this date. Remember everybody gets nervous, it's a good thing! It allows your brain to be more alert so feed on it, don't be afraid of it. If in the hours leading up to your presentation you are NOT nervous, then thats something more to be worried about.

Hope it all goes well,

Brian

oh and just to add DO NOT drink any whiskey, alcohol, not even a sip, before your presentation... ever!

Semele

Thanks to everyone whos replied so far. I've managed to organise my slides better in the last few hours so I'm actually quite pleased with the content of the presentation- which makes me feel more hopeful about the delivery!

My career is going to involve a lot more of this kind of thing, which is why I really want to get over this stupid fear as I know it holds me back. This is going to be the first major, formal presentation I've ever had to do (chaired by experts in the field, oral examination afterwards, all dressed up!) and it carries a lot of marks towards my Masters so it going well would be an amazing confidence boost.

It's just the unpredictability of when I get nervous that worries me- sometimes I feel fine until I start and then go to pieces, sometimes I can hardly walk to the front of the room but then could happily talk forever... it makes little sense! Same thing with the amount of people there- there seems to be no correlation between how many or how well I know them and how nervous I am.

Still, I will be taking some of your advice (perhaps not the whiskey though...I did consider it already but the line between confidence and incoherence seems far too thin and blurry for comfort!) On the plus side the presentation is first thing in the morning so I don't have to sit around all day with my class, getting more and more nervous first.

Trying to focus on how great I'll feel afterwards but I still fear there will be sleepless nights between now and then...