Calming your nerves–moments before you speak
I was standing on a rickety bridge 230 feet above a raging river on New Zealand’s South Island. My feet were strapped together, and I was told the bungee would stop my face two inches above the water’s surface.
I should have been terrified. But the Kiwi who was prepping me knew how to manage my nerves. He told me not to look down but instead, enjoy the stunning scenery. Next, he engaged me in conversation. He told me about the craziest jumps he had seen (and how some backpackers were so tight on cash, they would even jump naked if they could do it for free!)
When it was my time to jump, I shuffled to the edge, looked straight ahead, did my best swan dive and screamed the whole way down.
Sound familiar? It should, cuz it’s a lot like giving a presentation (only way more fun and dangerous).
When are you most nervous? It’s the minutes right before your presentation when the cortisol kicks in, the heart races, the palms start sweating. So let’s talk about what you can do to manage your nerves in those critical moments right before you speak.
1. Arrive early and test everything
The more things you have in your control, the less nervous you will be. I arrive an hour before any presentation or training. I test the network, projector, remote and anything else that could sabotage me.
2. Stop practicing!
Bet you never thoughts you’d read that. All your practice (and there should be a LOT!) needs to happen in the days and weeks leading up to your talk. But in the last 30 minutes or so before you go on, there are better things to do such as:
3. Get physical
Some people do push-ups. Some do air squats. I like to take a brisk 5-10 minute walk outside. I’m a kinesthetic thinker, so my brain works better when the blood is pumping. All of these help to process the cortisol that is raging through your veins and put us in the right physical state.
4. Get mental
This is a wacky one, but it’s a great distracter. Trying counting backward from 200 by 17s. Go ahead–try that now. Impossible to worry about your presentation while doing math-robatics like that!
5. Breathe
Simply taking 5 slow, deep breaths engages the Vagus nerve, which slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure and reduces anxiety.
6. Get happy
When I coach speakers for global product launches in front of thousands of people and millions online, I tell them to think of something they love or someone who makes them smile or laugh.
7. Shmooze
Grab a cup of coffee and have a conversation. It will help distract you, could give you content for your talk and add another friendly face to the audience.
8. Smile!
This not only makes us appear friendly and approachable, it also makes us feel better.
So there you have some incredibly helpful tips on how you can manage your nerves in the hour before you speak. Keep in mind that you’re never going to eliminate your nerves. But if you follow these tips, next time you are about to jump off that bridge, you’ll be in control–not your nerves.
Thanks for reading and happy speaking,
Robert
P.S. Our Presentation Skills Training will give you the confidence and skills to manage your nerves and nail every presentation.