Overcoming Your Speaking Nerves

1
|
Overcoming Your Speaking Nerves
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
PRESENTATION
SKILLS

2
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
The written content in this Slide Topic belongs exclusively to Manage Train Learn and may only be reprinted
either by attribution to Manage Train Learn or with the express written permission of Manage Train Learn.
They are designed as a series of numbered
slides. As with all programmes on Slide
Topics, these slides are fully editable and
can be used in your own programmes,
royalty-free. Your only limitation is that
you may not re-publish or sell these slides
as your own.
Copyright Manage Train Learn 2020
onwards.
Attribution: All images are from sources
which do not require attribution and may
be used for commercial uses. Sources
include pixabay, unsplash, and freepik.
These images may also be those which are
in the public domain, out of copyright, for
fair use, or allowed under a Creative
Commons license.

3
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

4
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
NERVES
The symptoms of nerves before a presentation are the
symptoms of stress. When the mind perceives a threat, as it
does when it thinks about everything that could go wrong, it
automatically switches on the fight-flight response. In
gearing up for this reaction, the following symptoms of
"nerves" will appear:
1. stage-fright
2. butterflies
3. sweaty palms
4. shallow breathing
5. thumping heart
6. weak knees
7. panic
8. loss of control
If you feel nervous facing a large audience, imagine that you
are just talking to one or two close friends instead.

5
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
The 10 Worst Human Fears
The ten worst human fears recorded by David Wallechinsky in "The Book of Lists" are:
1. Making a
speech
2. Heights 4. Money
problems
3. Bugs 5. Deep water
10. Dogs
9. Loneliness
8. Flying
7. Death
6. Sickness
Flickr attributions: /maveric2003/487418200/; /78139009@N03/8687062948/; /lodefink/756608073/; /teegardin/6093699369/;
/27565889@N00/2927080618/; /ayguey/10439951/; /wdm/9246235469/; /ask9/339802887/; /x1klima/9880255744/; /talibamba/3944338401/

6
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
FACE DOWN YOUR FEARS
When we calmly take a moment to analyse what causes our
pre-presentation nerves, we have the chance to decide just
how justified our fears are. Often our fears are groundless
or exaggerated: it isn't a life-or-death situation after all. We
can rationalise ourselves out of our fear.
If we discover that we have good reason to be fearful - for
example, we have forgotten an important prop - then we
can immediately take steps to do something about it. Facing
down our fears enables us to take action rather than sitting
and worrying about things. It is the first step to replacing
our negative thoughts with positive ones.
"I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the
audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd
be out there watching them." (Ethel Merman)

7
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
Confidence Here are 6 definitions of what it means to be a confident presenter.
5.You can switch on
confidence by
practising poise, the
ability to feel at
home wherever you
are.
6.You become
confident when you
relax and can access
the rich store of
knowledge that is
unique to you.
4. Confident people
avoid doubts, self-
criticism, and worry
about the
impression they're
making because
they see themselves
as loved.
2. Confident people
are well prepared but
not so much that they
lose their spontaneity.
3.When you're
confident, you speak
15% louder than
normal.
1. Confidence
means feeling at
one with others,
knowing that you're
in this together and
the only outcome is
"I'm going to win
and so are you.“
Flickr attribution: /rpavich/8453448247/

8
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
“I”, “They”, “We” and “You”
The words, "I", "They", "We" and "You" have various
subtle effects on your audience and can move you
closer to them or further away.
“I”. The word, "I", to talk about yourself, should be
used sparingly. Use it only to refer to your past
experiences or mistakes, not to build up your own
importance. It can also be used to identify with your
audience as in letting them know you understand
their situation.
“They”. Reserve "They" for bad news, for example,
when you are being critical, cynical, or in any way
negative of others, as in, "Our competitors think we'll
fail; but they're wrong".
"We", "us", "you" and "your“. These are good news
words. Use them to announce achievements and
successes, as in "We'll beat the opposition". "You're
onto a winner".

9
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
AIDA: The Four Steps to Getting Buy-In
AIDA is an acronym for the
four steps in grabbing
someone's interest and
getting them to take the
action you want. It is the key
to selling any product or
service. AIDA stands for:
A - Attention of the customer
I - Interest of the customer
D - Desire for what you are
offering
A - Action in the direction you
want
The model is commonly attributed to
American advertising pioneer, E St Elmo Lewis
(1872 - 1948). However, it came to
widespread prominence in an advertising
contest run by the Bissell Carpet Sweeper
Company in 1899. This contest was judged by
Fred Macey who was considered one of the
top advertising experts of the day.
Flickr attribution: /brizzlebornandbred/8730956607/

10
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
THE WALL PUSH
The Wall Push is a technique recommended by writer
Dorothy Sarnoff to control stage fright in actors. It was used
successfully by Yul Brynner, star of the musical "The King
and I".
The technique is as follows:
Stand about 18" away from a wall and place your palms flat
on it. Push against the wall. As you push, the muscles of
your "rectus abdominis" will contract. As you breath out,
hiss and contract the muscles below the rib cage as if you
were rowing a boat against the current.
A similar effect can be produced by pressing the base of the
hands against each other, elbows akimbo.
These moves prevent the production of nerve-enhancing
noradrenalin and epinephrine.

11
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
Make Sure You Stand Out inYourAudience’s Memory
With a business audience, a presentation is likely to be part of an ongoing attempt to build a relationship. The talk may be
just one part of what you will do for each other. It is important therefore to make sure that your presentation stands out,
catches their attention and stays in the memory.
Here are 7 ways you can stand out:
1.You can be distinct by being
different.
gimmicky.
simple.
risky.
5.You can be distinct by being funny.
entertaining.
7.You can be distinct by being good.
"People who do not get noticed get overlooked and left behind." (John Holmes)
Flickr attribution: /garryknight/2565937494/

12
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
Attention Spans
Research indicates that most people's
attention spans start to decline after about 17
minutes of non-stop listening. Research also
shows that attention is higher at the start and
end of a talk than in the middle.
This means that you should time a once-off
presentation to last no more than about 20
minutes. If your subject requires you to speak
longer, think of using suitable breaks, intervals
or a change of pace and style.
"No one can say just how long a message should be, but you rarely hear
complaints about a speech being too short. The amateur worries about what
he is going to put in his speech. The expert worries about what he should
leave out. An artistic performance is concentrated, has a central focus."
(Edgar Dale)

13
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
A MANTRA MEDITATION
Meditation is a form of relaxation which focuses all your
thinking on one object, picture or sound.
A mantra meditation directs your focused thinking onto a
repeated phrase, a mantra being a mystical Hindu chant.
The repeated words can take your mind off your
presentation, relax you and put you into the positive frame
of mind expressed in the words.
This is a mantra to use before you speak and can be said to
yourself for as long as you have to wait.
"I'm pleased I'm here;
I'm pleased you're here;
I care about you;
I know that I know."

14
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
How to Recognise the Onset of Presentation Nerves
The symptoms of nerves before a presentation
are the symptoms of stress. When the mind
perceives a threat, as it does when it thinks
about everything that could go wrong, it
automatically switches on the fight-flight
response.
In gearing up for this reaction, the following
symptoms of "nerves" will appear:
stage-fright
butterflies
sweaty palms
shallow breathing
thumping heart
weak knees
panic
loss of control
If you feel nervous facing a large audience,
imagine that you are just talking to one or two
close friends instead.
Flickr attribution: /briannalehman/4339457187/

15
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
First Impressions Last
When you have been introduced or have completed
your own formalities, the audience's eyes and minds
turn expectantly to you. They want you to interest
them.
Your opening words and the way you express
yourself must make an immediate impression. The
audience needs to each say to themselves: "this
looks worth staying for." You must look and sound in
charge.
One simple way to achieve this is to use an impact
opening technique: one that intrigues, grabs the
attention, and surprises without embarrassing or
unnerving your audience.
In fiction, one of the most attention-grabbing
openers is the opening sentence of George Orwell's
"1984": "It was a bright cold day in April and the
clocks were striking thirteen."

16
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
The Infectious Power of Enthusiasm
"Enthusiasm is the greatest business asset in
the world: it beats money and power and
influence. Single-handedly the enthusiast
convinces and dominates.
Enthusiasm spurns inaction. Like an
avalanche it overwhelms and engulfs all
obstacles in its path, sweeps aside prejudice
and opposition, storms the citadel of its
objective.
Set the germ of enthusiasm afloat in your
business: carry it in your attitude and
manner; it spreads like a contagion and
influences every fibre of your industry; it
means joy and pleasure and satisfaction to
your workers; it means life and virility; it
means spontaneous bedrock results - the
vital things that pay dividends."
(Quoted by Dorothy Sarnoff)
Flickr attribution: /dmott9/9008676911/

17
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
WILL IT TO HAPPEN
A quick and easy technique to deal with any phobia like fear
of public speaking is to will the phobia to happen. It’s known
as “paradoxical intention”.
What happens is that you decide not to resist what you fear,
on the grounds that we get more of what we resist. Instead
you invite the fear in, trivialize it (something inside you deep
down knows it’s not really going to happen), and have a
laugh about it.
So, if you fear losing your place in your talk, tell yourself that
you will, that everyone will find it hugely amusing, and so
will you. Almost certainly your brain will stop this
happening.
Incidentally, it is the same idea as curing insomnia not by
trying to sleep but by trying to stay awake.

18
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
Criteria for Successful Presentations
As actors and politicians know only too
well, it is notoriously difficult to
guarantee success when you speak.
One day, a talk goes down well; the
next it fails to raise any response.
In the planning stage, it is helpful to
think about how we might judge the
success of our presentation, even if we
have to acknowledge that hitting the
target every time may not be possible.
The success of a retirement speech
depends on an appropriate level of
humour, sincerity and tone.
The success criteria of an informative
talk depends on how much people
remembered.
The success criteria of a sales talk
depends on the level of new orders.
The success criteria of an after-dinner
speech depends on how much people
laughed.
Flickr attribution: /putu_adi/2407850452/

19
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
7 Steps to Conquer Your Nerves BeforeYou Go On
Sandra Zimmer of self-expression.com says that
there are 7 things you can do to calm yourself
before your presentation so that you can go on
with total confidence. They are:
7ThingsTo Do BeforeYou Go On
1. Don't think of the presentation as a test. People haven't come to
judge you but to find something to their advantage.
2. Detach from your expectations of how things should go. Put
yourself into neutral energy where you are open to more
possibilities.
3.Write down the likely questions you would ask of you if you were in
the audience.Then prepare your answers thoroughly.
4. Imagine you are an athlete just before a sprint final.Warm up
your body. Do some light stretches. Feel the blood pumping
through you.
5. Ground yourself by imagine energy melting out of your head and
flowing all the way down to your feet, filling you as it goes.
6. Breathe deeply. Breathing oxygenates your brain and stops
you feeling the flight-fight response of fear.
7. Find some common areas of rapport with your audience and drop
them in to your presentation.When you are like them, they will like
you.

20
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
How Bill Gates Galvanised
anAudience with One Prop:
Mosquitoes
Despite being the richest businessman in the world, Bill Gates
was never regarded as an outstanding presenter. Which is why it
was all the more surprising when, in the middle of a TED talk,
entitled, "Mosquitos, Malaria, and Education", Bill Gates did the
unthinkable. He made his audience sit up and pay attention. And
he did it by using a prop: mosquitoes.
This is how Bill Gates introduced his unusual prop in his talk:
"Now, malaria is of course transmitted by mosquitos. I brought
some here, just so you could experience this. We’ll let these
roam around the auditorium a little bit. (Laughter) There’s no
reason only poor people should have the experience. (Laughter)
(Applause) Those mosquitos are not infected."
Andrew Duglan of sixminutes.com says that Bill Gates’ prop
was perfect because it met the 6 requirements of a great prop:
it was totally relevant to his subject, and it was concrete,
unexpected, dramatic, humorous, and entirely memorable.
InsiderMonkey attribution: /99132385@N06/9338079871/

21
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
“Hara hachi bu” or “Eat Until You’re 80% Full”
One of the problems which both presenters and audiences
have with traditional presentations is that they are so
open-ended that they can become aimless, over-long, and
hence boring.
To counter this, Brady Forrest of O'Reilly Media in Seattle,
came up with the idea of a style that he called Ignite and
defined as "enlightening, but quick".
In an Ignite presentation, the presenter has 5 minutes to
talk and uses 20 slides that move automatically forward
every 15 seconds. Garr Reynolds says that this style pleases
audiences because it gives them a taste of the information
rather than stuffing them full.
Ignite works because it requires the presenters to prepare.
They have to re-shape their talk to the slide their on or else
get lost. It also means that flim-flam and side-tracking are
avoided so that the audience gets a more concise and
focused talk.
The idea of limiting your presentation is often called, "hara hachi bu", aJapanese concept, meaning "eat only 80% of
what's possible". It is a practice of the people of Okinawa who are among the healthiest and longest-lived people on
the planet.
Flickr attribution: /cc_photoshare/10728238955/

22
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
BREATHING
Breathing exercises before a presentation ensure that you
are calm and relaxed when you begin to speak.
There are a number of good breathing exercises, ranging
from simply becoming aware of your breathing to
meditation.
This simple exercise can be carried out anywhere:
Find a quiet place where you can be undisturbed. Stand still
and feel the ground beneath your feet. Imagine yourself
suspended by a thread connected to the crown of your
head. Let your neck and shoulders relax. Bend your knees a
little. Bring the thumb and forefingers of both hands
together and turn the palms upwards. Close your eyes. Now
just listen to yourself breathing and allow any thoughts to
wander in and out of your mind at will. Feel at ease and if
you feel hurried, tell yourself there is no rush. Slow your
breathing. In your own time, come back.

23
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
What Your Speaking Speed SaysAbout You
There are 3 factors that determine the pace you speak.
First, there is your natural speed which depends on
how easily you connect to your emotions. Secondly,
you'll speak quicker if you feel nervous or stressed.
And third, you'll speak quicker if you use complex or
long words and sentences.
Andrew Dlugan of sixminutes.com measured a range of
TED speakers and found that the speech rates ranged
from 133 words per minute (wpm) at the lower end,
(eg ex Vice President Al Gore), to 188 wpm at the
upper end, (eg entrepreneur Jacqueline Novogratz).
The average was 163 wpm, used by speakers such as
Steve Jobs and Hans Rosling.
The rates at which we speak are also related to the impressions
we want to create in others:
if you want the audience to get a mental picture, talk quite
quickly;
if you want the audience to hear internally, speak slower and
deeper;
if you want the audience to get into the feelings, speak even
slower still and deeper.
Research suggests that fast
speakers (at 195 wpm) are more
persuasive than slow speakers.
However, if the audience
inherently agree with the
message, slow speakers (at 105
wpm) are more persuasive.

24
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
Andrew Dlugan of sixminutes.com says that there are 7 deadly sins of public speaking
that far outweigh the occasional slip-up or "ah" and "um". These are:
7 Deadly Sins
1. Sloth, or failure to prepare
You cannot wing a presentation. It is unfair
on you and unfair on your audience.
3. Lust
The idea that all you have to do to
overcome your nerves is to imagine your
audience naked won’t help you at all
2. Envy of “natural” speakers
There’s no such thing as a “natural”
speaker. A “natural” speaker is someone
who has mastered the art.
4. Gluttony, or info overload
There is a limit to what people can take in,
so where presentations are concerned, less
is always more.
5. Greed, or talking too long
Instead, finish early but with everything
fully covered.
6. Anger, when things go wrong
Don’t do this or you’ll lose all credibility
with your audience and make them feel
uncomfortable.
7. Pride, or putting yourself first
It's never about you. It's always about
them.

25
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
RELAX
Relaxing is the art of "letting go". This means letting go of
the nervous tension in your mind and body, in particular
parts of the body that tense in response to stress, such as
the neck, the shoulders and the facial muscles.
You can use any relaxation technique that suits you. Here
are some additional suggestions:
1. tense and release any tight part of the body from head
to toe tensing and releasing in turn
2. collapse on the ground like a limp rag doll
3. lie on your back on the ground and let the floor support
your body as if you were floating
4. imagine that you are made of rubber and go wibbly-
wobbly
5. relax the mouth by sitting in front of a mirror and
making a horse's laugh with your lips.

26
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
Be in a Team One way to inject more variety and interest into a presentation is to use a team of
presenters rather than presenting by yourself. This approach has advantages and
disadvantages.
Pros: a team presentation enables everyone to concentrate on
what they each do well.Teams reduce the levels of presentation
anxiety by sharing the stress. If well-rehearsed, the talk can look
slick.
Cons: A team presentation is likely to be longer than a solo
presentation and risks being repetitive. Audiences will watch
everyone including those not talking and form an impression from
their demeanour. An audience is likely to compare the speakers with
each other. Not everyone in a team will be a good speaker. More time
will be needed to rehearse.
Flickr attribution: /imaginecup/9246814469/; /imaginecup/9250610204/

27
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
What Did Lee Iacocca Tell Bill ClintonAbout Presenting?
In his years at Ford and Chrysler, Lee
Iacocca was a strong advocate of
training in presentation skills. It was
his communicating ability rather than
his engineering talent that persuaded
Congress to make loan guarantees of
$1.5 billion to bail our Chrysler in
1979.
By 1983, Chrysler had paid off the
loans and the US Treasury was $350
million richer.
In his autobiography, Iacocca wrote,
“I’ve known a lot of engineers with
terrific ideas who had trouble
explaining them to others. It’s always a
shame when a guy with great talent
can’t tell the board or committee
what’s in his head.”
Image attribution: Wikipedia

28
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

29
|
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

Overcoming Your Speaking Nerves

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (13)

Similar to Overcoming Your Speaking Nerves

Similar to Overcoming Your Speaking Nerves (20)

More from Manage Train Learn

More from Manage Train Learn (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Overcoming Your Speaking Nerves