Big presentation - how to cope with nerves

jc2008

Hi all


I've been in a graduate job just over a year. The job is challenging but rewarding. However, I have not been subjected to much experience in giving presentations to a large audience (mainly because of my junior position). I also did almost none of it in my college course.


Short story - I have been asked to share a piece of work that I did at an industry event. That industry event is tomorrow night.


At first I thought this was a great opportunity and experience. I am racked with nerves at the moment though (and I am not a nervous person at all, rarely get stressed even in stressful situations).


What can I do? I won't have time to do a dry-run in front of a practice audience.
I'll try Rescue Remedy but I imagine it's placebo-effect at best.
I have a habit of talking too fast in day-to-day life so I'll try talk as slow as possible and remember to breath!


I've recently learned the audience will be larger than I had anticipated. I am worried that I will have a shaky voice / mind will go blank / I'll fluster my words because of nerves. The audience will be made of people that I don't know and people I do know, at all levels of seniority.


Does anyone else suffer from this? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

athtrasna

Knowledge is the biggest support you can have. Know your stuff inside out, that always helps confidence.

I've spoken and sung in front of crowds most of my life so it's second nature to me but I've always had the mantra that the audience are just people. Not a big bad monster, just people.

Believe in yourself and good luck

bee06

Completely agree on being prepared and knowing the content inside and out. I always feel much more confident if I know I can answer anything that's thrown at me. Even if you have no one to practice in front of still practice out loud on your own. It will get you used to hearing your voice, controlling your breathing etc. Practice pausing between sentences to deliberately take a breath and do this in the presentation on the day as well. It will feel like an age at the time but the audience won't notice. It's also a good way to punctuate an important point. Pause for a bit longer to give your audience time to digest what you said and give you a chance to catch your breath.

I used to get so nervous doing presentations to the point that I would do everything in my power to avoid them. That wasn't always possible though so I have ended up doing maybe one or two a year in my 10 year career. I still get nervous beforehand but once I start talking I forget about the nerves. I just remind myself that the nerves are caused by adrenaline in my body. It's just a natural fight or flight response that kicks in.

Remember that most people feel nervous doing presentations so most of not all of your audience will appreciate and understand what you are feeling.

beveragelady

I've helped a few people to prepare and deliver speeches, and I think I have condensed the advice I give into a few nuggets of gold.

Don't think of it as delivering a long spiel. Think of it as a number of key pieces of information you need to tell the audience.

Don't deliver your presentation by reading it in its entirety. Instead have key words written out clearly so that you know what you need to tell your audience next. This way you won't get tied up with trying to remember sentences, you'll be focused on saying whatever needs to get said.

Take your sweet time. Slow right down.

Is there anybody you know who might volunteer to listen to you run through it on skype?

Alf Veedersane

I could have written your post a couple of years ago (that's not to say I'm comfortable giving presentations but I'm not as bad) but the key to it going well was that it was on something I knew well and that came through in the delivery.

It sounds like it's something you know well because you've worked a lot on it - so just make sure you're not relying on lots of text but on key points around which you have a structure of what you will say but you're not relying on knowing a speech verbatim.

And just let the fact that you know this seep through you and once you start to speak, you'll relax onto it.

getaroom

I regularly give presentations. I have my own way of dealing with them. I never uses notes unless its a powerpoint presentation.

Firstly, I dont think it helps imagining everyone listening is sitting on the toilet

Turn your self "off". Become an actor playing a part. Your bound to be nervous. I always make a funny flippant remark, even if the President is present. If you can get them to crack a smile - they will be on your side you can tell them black is white - your on stage - so you must be the expert. What your saying is not as important as the confidence you generate as you say it.

Does that make sense? Let us know how you get on.

LegacyUser

I haven't given a presentation as big as that but have given a few before, one of which was open to the public and had family members and university staff there too which was very nerve wracking. Like others have said, make sure you know what you are talking about. Don't learn it off and recite it, write down bullet points in the order you will talk about them. Divide it into a few main sections, depending on how long it is expected to be, and write about 3 short points/words beneath them for if you get stuck.

TRY NOT TO LOOK AT THESE IF YOU DON'T NEED THEM!

That's a mistake I have made. Things are going ok but I look at my notes and realise I've forgotten to say something and it puts me right off, even if it wasn't a big deal that I left it out. Try to smile while talking too. You feel better when you smile, you sound a lot better, you look better and you don't tend to talk as fast.

If it's a PowerPoint Presentation know your slides. I have forgotten to pay attention to this and it can put you off by not knowing what slide comes next. Also if you do know which one is next it will help you to stay on topic. Try not to turn around to the screen too much too. Face your audience and look at them without having making eye contact with everyone.

I hope I haven't made you too nervous but I am just trying to give you a few pieces of advice from mistakes I have made.

It's also ok to make a mistake. I was once giving a presentation to the CEO of a company I had carried out research for, and I had put a lot of work into it. My nerves hit me and my mind went blank despite knowing my stuff inside out. I apologised to him, took a few deep breaths to clear my nerves, looked at the slide (as I hadn't made bullet points because I thought I didn't need them) and remembered what I was going to say. It turned out he was so impressed at one of my key points that he didn't mind my blunder.

Relax and I'm sure you'll do fine, and the very best of luck.

jc2008

Many thanks for the replies, really appreciate it and they were all very useful.

Presentation went well (I find it hard to assess my own performance but I feel it didn't go awful - people I know afterwards said it was good).

The audience was a bit smaller than I expected which probably helped. I knew the content well - I had my notes on the podium but didn't look at them at all.

I made a few stumbles but recovered. I actually enjoyed it - funny how a 15 min talk felt like about 2 mins. Feel a lot more confident about future presentations now - will take opportunities to get practice whenever I can get them!

bee06

Well done OP!

Augme

jc2008 wrote: »

I made a few stumbles but recovered. I actually enjoyed it - funny how a 15 min talk felt like about 2 mins. Feel a lot more confident about future presentations now - will take opportunities to get practice whenever I can get them!

If presentations are going to be a big part of your career future you should definitely look at Toastmasters.

MartyMcFly84

As mentioned above the more you know the subject the more comfortable you will feel. It helps incredibly if you go through the presentation a number of times out loud and to test it if possible on whatever device you will be presenting on.

Nothing worse than not being able to open the file or the clicker not working.

Bring a glass/bottle of water with you. Taking a sip or two can help with a dry throat, breaking up different parts of the presentation or giving you a few seconds to gather your thoughts before answering a question.

Another tip is to engage with the audience by presenting to them. Do not turn away from them and talk to the screen or only talk to one side of the room.

Best of luck with it anyway and let us know how you get on.

-Edit I just saw you already did it well done