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Public speaking anxiety is an affliction that’s affected most people who’ve needed to give presentations in their professional lives – it’s a natural ‘fight or flight’ response to the unknown.
But you don’t need to let it get in the way of you delivering memorable and impactful presentations; the presentation design experts and communication pros at Manchester-based presentation design service Buffalo7 have divulged expert secrets on their blog that will empower you to turn public speaking anxiety into a positive.
Buffalo7’s professional tips for overcoming public speaking anxiety include:
Turning Nerves into Positive Energy
Anxiety can be self-fulfilling: telling yourself that you’re nervous and that you’re going to fail makes things more likely to go that way. Instead, think about how excited you are to share ideas and engage with an audience – you’ll feel better and your enthusiasm will permeate.
Taking Deliberate, Calm Breaths
It’s a cliché but deliberate breathing does wonders for reducing anxiety. When adrenaline kicks in, we often don’t realise how short our breath becomes – which negatively affects delivery. Deep inhalations will fill your lungs and help you to compose yourself.
Taking Your Time
When we’re nervous, the temptation is to rush through a presentation in order to ‘get it over with’. But will stress you out more, as well as meaning your audience won’t be able to absorb your content. Instead, make a point of taking your time and don’t fear silence.
Using the Right Body Language
Your body language can have a huge impact on how you present. Harvard researcher Amy Cuddy found that simply holding an ‘assertive’ posture increases testosterone in the brain while reducing stress hormone cortisol – raising confidence and reducing anxiety.
Keeping Momentum If You Make Mistakes
It’s important not to let any mistakes you make during presenting throw you off your stride – you’re the only one who knows the script and your audience probably won’t even notice. Just move on the the next thing as usual and remember that communicating your key messages with passion is more important that remembering every fact and figure.
Nailing Your Introduction
This is the one part of your presentation should know inside out: it establishes the tone and agenda for everything that comes after. Nail that first minute and you’ll hit your stride and feel any presentation anxiety rapidly dissolving away.
To read more about about Buffalo7’s tips for overcoming presentation anxiety – and to find about about its professional Presentation Design Service – visit: http://buffalo7.co.uk/powerpoint-specialists
