Presentation and Public Speaking Anxiety: How to Manage Your Nerves
Anxiety is really the emotion that plagues presenters rather than fear. Let’s talk about presentation anxiety and not public speaking fear. Presenters are anxious, they are not afraid of their talk; they are anxious. Let me explain what anxiety is and how to deal with it.
Fear vs Anxiety: The Difference
Fear is fear of an existing threat – a knife to your back or a gun to your head.
- Anxiety is worry about the unknown, worry about something that is out of your control (i.e. people’s reaction to your message).
Breathing
Navy Seals practice 4×4 breathing
- Segment your breaths in 4 parts at 4 seconds each
- At the top of your breath, wait for 4 seconds and then exhale and take 4 seconds to do so.
- Repeat for the next four breaths.
Conclusion Anxiety can derail the best presenters
Use these two mind and body tricks to eliminate anxiety
- Eliminate anxiety with these techniques so you can win on stage or in the conference room
- Scott is an author, speaker and founder of Ethos3.com, and the host of The Primal Presenter podcast
How Do You Overcome Public Speaking Anxiety?
Anxiety is a universal human emotion so whether you are an athlete, businessperson, parent, spouse, or a presenter, there are practical and common sense things you can do to manage anxiety
Visualization
Given the complexity of the day whether there are so many variables, it is absolute must to visualize the day.
- In public speaking, take the time to visualize how you are going to be in front of the room, how the audience will react, and how it is going to look when you conclude your talk.