What are the best ways to overcome speech anxiety when presenting to investors?

Make it personal Telling a relatable story about yourself can often help you connect more with the subject matter which can go a long way to calming your nerves. This can help your pacing become more casual as well as make you feel empowered and boost your confidence going forward.

The best ways to overcome speech anxiety when presenting to investors or any other person are as follows: 1. Calm your mind, and train your brain to remain at peace even at the time of chaos. 2. Develop a positive chemistry in your body so that you can remain at ease. 3. Have a positive body language as it plays a crucial role and your target audience can easily catch that. 4. Everything starts with you, if you are positive from inside, you are going to deliver the same. 5. Most important, stay positive, think positive.

Mental preparation the night before. Find a quiet spot and eliminate ALL outside stimuli. Visualize your presentation at least three or four times. Visualize your tone of voice and the confidence with your content. Visualize the audience giving positive feedback. Visualize answering questions with confidence. Visualize success! Then knock it out of the park the next day. After all -you have already knocked it out of the park many times before. As recently as last night.

Remember that the investors are just people. They may seem like gods to you as they potentially hold your future in their hands but they are also human. Humans need human connection so don’t be afraid to look for opportunities to connect with them. A relevant personal story can work well (without over sharing!) in achieving this connection. It’s also good to realize that they may be frowning or look disinterested not because of what you’re saying but because of something else that’s going on in their lives. We’re all human!

Overcoming speech anxiety, especially when presenting to investors, involves a combination of physical and mental preparation. Taking inspiration from Tony Robbins:'I Am Not Your Guru', I incorporate high-energy activities like jumping and hyperventilation before presenting. These actions build adrenaline and sharpen focus. Rehearsing the pitch intensely, akin to a theatrical performance, ensures delivery with confidence and clarity. On another level, meeting investors' expectations is key. This involves a clear articulation of the value proposition, business model, key financial indices, and sales performance KPIs. Providing this crucial information in a confident manner makes a difference in winning their trust and investment.

EVERYONE experiences some degree of anxiety when they speak and present! It’s perfectly normal, so don’t be so hard on yourself. Often the more you care and more that’s on the line the greater the fear response. Being prepared and practicing a lot will really help you overcome that anxiety and more importantly BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE. Confidence is what will allow you to push through the fear (because the fear and anxiety will never completely go away) and perform at your best.

Practicing and recording yourself is a great way for you to see what areas need improvement. You can also ask a friend or colleague to listen in and gain additional feedback. It can also help to create an outline or speaking points for each slide to help prepare for the presentation.

It’s good practice to rehearsal in situations close to the ??real thing??. Stand up, pretend to hold a mic, look out to a pretend audience, pause and look around etc. During the real thing this will calm your nerves as your body will remember that you’ve done something similar before and survived so it’s not a life or death situation.

Public speaking requires a lot of practice and repetition. Now I am not saying you need to be word perfect, because if you are too perfect you will be robotic. But you should have a good understanding of your presentation, when to pause, shift your pace, and use your voice and body language to engage the audience. Remember to have fun with the presentation and show your personality. Lastly, enjoy the process and the presentation in the moment.

Practice in different ways! In the mirror, to a close friend, over the phone, record yourself (video + audio) to listen and review.

Warming up (body, voice, mind) are all helpful. You can also use diaphragmatic breathing exercises to help calm and refocus yourself during the presentation itself. Give yourself time to pause and breath between your sentences. This gives the audience time to absorb what you’re saying and keeps your nerves in check.

Remember that the worst they can say is “no”. If the audience fails to see the value in your proposal that does not mean that the proposal has no value. With that understanding you will feel at ease.

Effectively addressing speech anxiety in investor presentations is vital for a confident pitch. Thorough preparation involves researching your business proposition and market trends, establishing a solid foundation for confidence. Regular practice, whether in front of a mirror or with friends and family, enhances familiarity, mitigating the risk of stumbling during the presentation. Visualization techniques, Engaging with your audience through eye contact and direct communication, aid in anxiety management and foster a positive mindset. Familiarizing yourself with the presentation environment in advance it minimizes anxiety. Shifting focus from yourself to the message, emphasizing the value you bring, helps manage performance anxiety.

This is some of the most crucial advice. Many presenters get too caught up in being perfect or wanting to get things exact. This then increases their nerves and then results in a tense, and usually bad performance. Using stretching, deep breathing, and meditation can be helpful. However, I would argue spoken voice and movement (acting practice) are more powerful in learning to relax on stage. If you can find one of these coaches they can help you learn to relax on stage.

Sometimes, people also need a little extra. Their systems just don’t handle public speaking/presenting. They’ve done an exposure therapy, they’ve done CBT and still. That’s where propranolol can be helpful (ask your doctor). It physiologically doesn’t allow your heart rate or blood pressure to go up. Therefore allowing yourself to be present and use all of your tools.

Para superar a ansiedade ao falar diante de investidores, é essencial focar na mensagem que você está transmitindo, em vez de em si mesmo. Concentre-se nos pontos-chave e benefícios da sua ideia, buscando uma conex?o genuína com o público. O uso de recursos visuais pode ser um grande apoio, ajudando a manter o público engajado e desviando parte da aten??o de você, o que pode aliviar a press?o. Ao direcionar sua aten??o para o valor da sua mensagem e o impacto que ela pode ter, você naturalmente se torna menos autoconsciente e mais confiante na sua apresenta??o.

Message dictates the flow. A long and complex message makes it difficult to remember and as such chances of messing up. Prepare your message to be as concise as possible. If you meet an investor in a lift and have to explain your message by the time he gets out of it, how would you do it ? It usually gives you 7 seconds and is popularly known as elevator pitch. Prepare your core message to fit in 7 seconds. Be confident for that 7 seconds. For the rest of the presentation, expand as the same narrative as the elevator pitch.

A wise man once told me: “Never take yourself seriously. Take your audience seriously. Take your message seriously. But never yourself.” If you’re thinking about yourself, your mind is in the wrong place. Shift it to your message and your audience, and you’ll not only overcome anxiety but also deliver a better result.

Feedback is key! All feedback is good feedback. Think of it like riding a bike- the more you do, the better you’ll get! There is no failure, just lots of trial and error to make us better and better. Feedback also allows us to connect with the people in front of us. The more we get, the better we can connect with others.

Feedback is golden! It’s a gem of information to take and use. It’s a wonderful tool when you take yourself out of their feedback and listen to it as information which then can help you adjust your speech for even more impact in the future

Ultimately you have little control over how they will react. Keep that in mind and speak what's on your heart and in your head. Then trust that it was enough for the RIGHT person.

There are2 key aspects to confidence whilst speaking. Know your topic. Most, if not all of us will experience moments of doubt in our career journey. For some this is transitory, for others a pervading sense of being an imposter in their own role can be overwhelming. The roots of this are primal and link back to being accepted by the tribe. Knowing your topic to the greatest extent possible will support your having the confidence that the information you are presenting is sound and that you have the resources to answer any on-topic question. Know yourself Practices like the Circle of Excellence or Embodiment can add the confidence to allow you to provide the information in the most dynamic and direct way possible.

Experience has shown me, value is not as subjective as it seems. As children and young people we learn to appreciate and respect each other’s unique value system . In business it’s not as subjective, bottom lines rule supreme. Followed by ethics and then people. If you are presenting something that improves the business be confident. The success of your presentation is a matter of your ability to convey that value. Focus on that element, the audience will love you. Confidence will follow.