So, you’ve built your presentation from the ground up, and the day is coming up on you fast. You shouldn’t feel alone when you panic or experience anxiety before your big moment, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to buckle down and transform your fears into something helpful and productive! Here are a few steps you can follow to make the road to giving your presentation easier and less stressful.
1. Video Record Yourself Rehearsing
The fact that you have to rehearse is obvious, right? So, take your rehearsals to the next level and record them. Practice does not make perfect, but rather practicing the right skills make perfect. The more you practice your speech using the correct presentation skills, the more confident and persuasive your presentation will be. The more natural your speech is to you, the better you will be at giving it. For more information on why it’s important to record yourself, check out another one of our blog posts: The Importance of Watching Yourself Present
2. Own the Pace of Your Speech
While practicing your speech, you may start to notice patterns and rhythms emerge in your delivery. You may start to see that you run out of breath if you speak in a certain cadence, or that certain words or phrases will constantly cause you to fumble. Owning the pace of your speech is knowing when to speak and when to let the silence in. Not only does doing this help you ensure that your diction remains strong and consistent, it also makes a huge difference on how your audience feels your presentation, giving your impactful moments more impact and making your presentation a more enjoyable experience for everyone!
3. Get There Fashionably Early
You’ve heard this your whole life, but are you doing it? Being early has a whole host of advantages associated with it. When you get to your speech early, one major source of anxiety that you may not make it there at all is taken care of right off the bat, but in addition to that, rooms look smaller and not as intimidating when empty, which can often help you ground yourself before the seats fill in.
4. Convert Fear into Fuel
Anxiety, fear, dread, jitters. Everyone feels some amount of these things before giving a big presentation, but one way to get past them is to let them energise you! Positive thinking and meditative thinking can be paired to harness those negative feelings and channel them into enthusiasm for your delivery!
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If you’d like to truly enrich your speaking skills and master the art of presentation, be sure to register to join us for one of our virtual or in-person Executive Presentation Skills® seminars! It’s not too late to register for our upcoming public seminar coming to London 8-9 October. It will be held at the Radisson Blue Edwardian at the Heathrow Airport (Google maps link). You can reserve your seat here or reach out to me at jdonaldson@communispond.com.
