How to deal with the fear of presenting…
Most of my clients experience fear just thinking about their upcoming presentation.
Whether it be fear of judgement or internal criticism, fear of forgetting their words or of repeating what happened last time, or fear of simply starting, fear can dominate the process of speech preparation.
Step 1: Begin by working with your fear
Often, we don't know why we're experiencing fear and anxiety around public speaking. The first step in the process is to write your fears down, get to know them. What are you afraid of?
Then, look at your list and ask yourself the following questions:
"How likely is this to happen, really? Do I have any evidence from past experiences?"
"If this terrible thing did happen, will it truly be the end of my life?"
I explore common mindset problems. The most important take away from this exercise is to understand that fear is part of the process. Once you accept your fears and begin working with them, they will not play such a large role.
Step 2: Manage your fear before it shows up
Fear (or the fight, flight, or freeze response) will kick in once your body is triggered by any number of stimuli--you stumble as you walk up to the front of the room, you go blank for a moment when you see your boss in the front row....etc. Once you are triggered, it's hard to get off the fear rollercoaster.
The key to preparing for a successful presentation is to prepare to be triggered. How do you do this? Give your body what it needs in order to stay calm, centered, and assured before the fear has a chance to start.
Here’s what your body wants:
1. A familiar environment.
Here's what you can do: A day before your talk, walk into the space where you will be presenting. Sit in the chair where you might be sitting and practice walking up to the podium. Stand behind the podium, look out at the empty chairs, and smile. Imagine people that might be there sitting in those seats. Breath in and out and allow the fear (that you will already feel) flow through you.
2. Friends to talk to.
Here's what you can do: Practice your presentation out loud in front family or friends. Practice, again, by yourself, imagining that you're speaking to colleagues that might be there, especially the intimidating ones. Imagine the room and place these people in chairs. Visualize their faces. Once you get in front of the real audience, it won't feel like it's the first time.
3. Relaxation.
Here's what you can do: Stretch and rehearse a little everyday. Stretch your face, your lips and your tongue. Take a few deep breaths, bringing your arms above your head as you inhale. Roll your head to stretch your neck. Rehearse parts of your talk, in the morning and at night. Practice being relaxed while speaking. This practice will form muscle memory for your talk. On the morning of your big day, take a moment of silence or meditation to remind yourself of your purpose in speaking.
There are many other tools and techniques that I can teach you. These are just a few....
As you can imagine, using just any technique could come across as “trying too hard” or inauthentic; that's where a coach comes in.
As a one-on-one coach, I tailor our work together to your individual communication style, helping you to make the unique shifts that you need to make to reach your career goals.