If thinking about standing in front of an audience for a presentation causes you to feel butterflies or break out into a cold sweat, you should know that you’re not alone. It’s believed that around 75% of adults are affected by a fear of public speaking- but rethinking the way you think about stress can have a positive impact on our physical and mental performance. While it’s true that it’s easier to surrender to you fears, you’ll be better off if you learn to face them.
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For some, it only requires a little bit of effort to get past their fears- but others require more effort and may even need some tips and tools to get through the process. In this presentation, I will provide you with the 5 secrets for ensuring you sound confident during your next presentation.
Use Humor
Typically, a joke to start things off will get the presentation moving in the right direction because it will help you relax and lighten the mood of the room. Laughter somehow creates a bond, particularly if you are able to get the audience to join you in laughing at yourself. Laughing at yourself is a way to humble yourself and when others join you, it creates trust. Plus, laughter shows your audience that you’re really not all that different from them.
Focus on Those that are Nodding
If you feel like you’re not connecting with you audience, it can be quite worrisome- and if there are members in the audience that seem disinterested, it can be even worse. Usually, though, you will be able to look out and see those who are nodding, which can be incredibly reassuring. When you focus on these people, it can help you feel more confident.
Be Expressive
Many times, no matter what you do to calm yourself, it doesn’t work. However, you can work to hide your nervousness by expressing your emotions. If you’re talking about something you were excited about, play up that excitement. On the other hand, if there was something that was incredibly disappointing, play up that disappointment. You may find that it’s easier to hide your nervousness by using other emotions than it is to suppress it.
Practice makes Perfect
May people assume that public speaking is one of those skills that you either have or you don’t. Others believe that its something that can be built up through practice. Go around to some of the civic clubs in your local area and offer to speak for free. Set up a video camera in the back to record yourself. Then, afterwards, review the recording and see what you can do to improve in the future. The more you speak, the better you will get- which means your confidence will begin to improve.
Be Prepared for Mistakes
Even the professionals who have been speaking for many years make mistakes from time to time. These mistakes are nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, they make you more relatable. Mistakes make people see that you’re not that different from them. If you are uncomfortable with your mistakes, the audience will be uncomfortable as well. However, if you learn to use those mistakes to laugh at yourself (as mentioned in tip number 1 above), it can help everyone be more at ease. Therefore, go ahead and prepare a comment ahead of time to help get past those mistakes.
Conclusion
If you tend to get nervous when preparing a presentation, you’re not alone. In fact, it’s believed that 3 out of 4 adults feel this way. However, you really don’t have to be. There are some things you can do to help yourself sound more confident when speaking in front of others. Confident public speaking is a skill that can be developed- just keep these 5 tips in mind next time you have the chance to get in front of an audience.