Do you you get the shakes, sweaty palms, and a racing heart when it's time to present your work in front of others? You're not alone! Let's exchange practical tips, proven techniques, and personal anecdotes that have helped us tame those butterflies and deliver engaging (or at least cohesive) presentations.
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Latest comments (17)
Personally I just remember that being scared is normal. It's totally ok. And that usually calms me down. And then of course I have to remember to go slower than I want to... Because most people tend to speed up when stressed. Hope this helps!
No worries, we've all been there!
One trick is to take deep breaths and remind yourself that you're awesome. It's also helpful to practice your presentation beforehand, so you feel more comfortable with the material. And remember, the audience wants you to succeed, so just be yourself and let your enthusiasm shine through. You've got this!
Nowadays I do not feel very anxious (although YMMV depending on the occasion), despite considering myself quite shy (but maybe this changed with age).
However, I still remember my first talk in a conference in Florence. I was a young PhD student and I had a paper of mine accepted to this conference and I was there, all alone, for this "baptism of fire." It was my very first conference, not only as a presenter, but also as an attendee; therefore, I had no idea of how things worked.
My talk was the first one of the first session of the first day, so I had no opportunity of seeing other talks before mine. My anxiety was burying the needle: I rehearsed my presentation many, many times in order to avoid going beyond my time-slot, I was not confident in my English proficiency, sure that everyone but me spoke a perfect English. I was so nervous that I spoke as fast as machine gun, my slides fell down (it was end of 80s and we used plastic slide with overhead projectors... Yes, I am that old). Not the best performance, I must admit.
After my show I listened to the other talks and discovered that my fears were just nonsense: many speaker did not respect their time and about English... well, mine was not perfect, I admit, but for sure it was not the worst one...
Practice makes perfect and the more you do this the better you get. In the moment though try grounding techniques or distraction techniques. I personally find mentally listing 5 things I can see, 4 I can hear, 3 I can touch to be helpful (you can continue to 2 for smell and 1 for taste if needed), this distracts my brain from what it has to do.
Get something that u can fidget with an out ur hand behind ur back an use body language with one hand. Stand up straight don’t slouch. Smile. And the most important is breath in through ur nose and breathe out ur mouth. This will help. If it ain’t working then u ain’t doing it properly.
I feel anxiety when I think there's someone in the audience who knows more about the subject. The alternative for me is to present from a learning/student perspective. Instead of pretending "I'm THE expert in X, let me lecture all of you", say "hey, this is what I've learned about X"
Another strategy I've used is Uncle Bob's strategy: take a few minutes at the beginning to talk about an interesting but unrelated topic. He uses Astronomy. That helps to get into the flow.
Dunno. I'm joining Toastmasters this week to help me deal with that exact issue.
I've general anxiety (and recently diagnosed ADHD) Public speaking is NOT a preferred activity 😁!
If presenting, I don't like slides I prefer to show something and talk about. If the format demands slides, I don't speak the same information as is on the slides. I use the slides as prompts for me, and a visual "hey look at this" for the audience. If there is a graphic to show, show it but then talk about it. I also try to not have a script. Sounds counter intuitive but I feel that if I know what I'm talking about, I only need short notes.
Also, audience participation can be a great driver though the dull parts. Ask them questions and allow questions not just at the end. Just be sure to push back if they take you too far off the subject of the presentation.
I get very very nervous if I have to give a presentation.
The only thing that even remotely helps me is practice. I have to know my presentation inside out. I also need to know my topic inside out, so I can take any questions.
Even then I still go too fast.
I remember I was doing a presentation at a geek night in my city. It was only a minute long. I was worried I would over run. Nope. I had about ten seconds left after I blazed through the slides.
As with most of my anxiety, the problem is prioritising possible negative outcomes over all other possibilities. If I could get past that I would probably be a lot better at presenting.
YES to this, overpreparing always helps me feel more comfortable, because I can focus on the facts, instead of my anxiety! I find when I focus on how excited I am to share information with others, instead of how scary it actually feels sometimes, I feel much better.
Just hide. Boxes are readily available to hide under. Lol. Do what you can. Speaking in front of people terrorizes me, but I can do it if it’s online.