What are the best ways to calm your nerves when presenting technical information?

1. Preparation: Thoroughly prepare your presentation. Know your content inside and out, and anticipate potential questions. 2. Rehearsal: Practice your presentation multiple times, ideally in front of a trusted friend or colleague, to gain confidence. 3. Visualization: Visualize a successful presentation in your mind to boost confidence and reduce anxiety. 4. Deep Breathing: Practice deep breathing exercises to stay calm. Inhale deeply for a count of four, hold for four, and exhale for four. 5. Focus on Message, Not Perfection: Concentrate on delivering the message rather than being perfect. Mistakes are okay. 9. Familiarity with Tools: Be comfortable with the presentation tools and technology you'll use.

Breathe, breathe, breathe! Breathe technics like deep, slow breaths rotation, "cube breathing"can help calm your nerves and pulse. Take a few deep breaths before you start, and if you feel anxious during the presentation, pause and take a breath faster, then exhale 2 times slower. Preparation is a key. Good content and deep understanding of the topic are crucial. Knowing your material inside and out will boost your confidence. Rehearsal and practise. Practice your presentation multiple times before the actual event. Rehearsing helps you become more comfortable with the material and reduces anxiety. Mindfulness & Meditation These techniques can help you stay focused and calm. Practise them regularly to build resilience against anxiety.

Your breath is your best tool to control your mental state in real time. Deep, deliberate breathing in particular widens blood vessels, lowers heart rate, and promotes calm. The best technique to access calm in the moment is called the “Physiological Sigh” Here’s how do you it 1. When you start to feel tense, slowly inhale through your nose. 2. When you feel that you’re lungs are at capacity, pause and take another quick inhale. 3. Then slowly release. Repeat 10-20 times The best part about this technique is that it’s discrete. Practice on your own and repeat as needed during tense situations!

Take a deep breath followed by short and snappy last breath intake using nose. Then exhale long breath using mouth.This is a method of breath control which switches your sympathetic nervous system to parasympathetic nervous system response. Follow Dr. Andrew Huberman’s @Stanford.

Practice your presentation several times with someone more technical, prepare and anticipate potential questions, close your eyes to visualize your presentation, and take a deep breath.

I always start with the question: Why am I the one introducing this topic? I use a technique called "explain it like I'm 5." This means I break down the topic into its basic parts and use clear, simple language. I also avoid jargon and technical terms. When I present to experts in a field, I know that they are already familiar with the topic matter. However, I also know that they appreciate it when I can explain things in a clear and concise way.

One way to present technical information to a general audience, is to not present technical information to a general audience. The information doesn’t have to be technical at all. Distill and translate technical terms into every day, layman’s language remembering why your audience should care about what you’re sharing with them in the first place.

Keeping content simple in bitesize chunks is always important for you to be able to skim read and remind yourself of your trail of thought and also to not distract your audience with confusing visuals as that will then take away from the importance of your message

One thing I've found helpful is to use visual aids that are no more than 2minutes to make sure you still have people's attention. Make your presentation brief and on point, remember you're not trying to impress you are there to share what you want the audience to know. Make sure your content has at least one thing they'll take home with.

One thing I’ve found helpful is playing to others strengths. I may not be well versed in everything on the topic, but if you have the opportunity to invite a technical voice in or include explainer videos- then use that!

Absolutely, practicing your presentation is crucial for managing nerves and improving performance. I personally rehearse and record myself, to step into audience’s shoes and identify the scope of improvement. This also helps me to adhere to the timings. Also choose your audience in the practice session similar to the actual presentation, in order to meet audience’s expectations and anticipate potential questions. Always remember- “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle."

At the beginning, I have underestimated this as a way to reduce my stress, I thought it will make the situation even worse. However, once I was preparing to present to high level leader, and someone asked me to present to him first, imagining him that leader, and guess what! "IT WORKED" I would rather call it "Role-Playing" rather just calling it a practicing. Speaking to yourself in the mirror is only Lv.1, try to make it real, use the same meeting room, the same meeting time, wear the same cloths, and make it realistic.

Make sure you hear your voice. If you are stuck or lose track go to slide find your topic and move ahead. Practice your pause. It is very important. Your pause should not look like you are stuck. Learn to give up if you forgot something then move ahead with the next topic. Not all things go as we plan. It's part of life. With experience you will get better at it.

For me practice makes the delivery more difficult. We are all different, practice works for some, but for others builds up on stress. Going over the presentation and visualizing in my head how I will present is for me the best preparation. It helps me shut down the perfectionist in me. By the time of the official presentation, I know the topic so well that even if someone interrupts me I am not bothered. That's my secret weapon: know the topic better than anyone else!

Always practice! Several times before you actually present. Practice in a mirror, with a friend/colleague or family member as your audience (they can often give great tips and pointers on your content or delivery) Recording yourself also helps as you can watch it back and see if you sound nervous, are talking too fast, if your presentation might be too wordy etc. Practicing also helps you with your visual prompts and to also check that all the tech works

Stress may stem from the (false) assumption that you are supposed to know it all and you may dread any "negative" feedback. Approach your presentation with a humble, open mind. You have done your homework. Others may have different perspectives and it's okay. Any feedback will add to your knowledge and will improve the quality of your outcome.

Ive always found it helpful to record my presentation on Powerpoint and keynote and listen to my presentation back to myself before I present. This keeps all the information front of mind and allows you to listen to your own thoughts and make peace with the presentation right before you stand in front of others

Knowing your material is always the best but knowing the information your going to be presenting isn't enough. When you practice your presentation be sure to practice with the same mind set and mentality you'll be in when presenting. If you know you'll be nervous practice and learn your material while nervous. This sounds odd but it comes from the world of psychology and how our brains wire information storage and recall. This has always worked really well for me and something ive implimented since my psychology professor taught this in college.

What is mentioned here is perfect, especially the part about doing breathing exercises. My recommendation is to reinforce what has already been mentioned about arriving early to your presentation and avoiding last-minute changes in your presentation.

I've been facilitating presentations for over a decade and after all these years something I have very clear is that practicing is still indispensable. Practicing helps you ensure clarity, bolsters confidence, and keeps you adaptable. Personally, regular practice allows me to maintain a well-paced and engaging delivery, reducing the risk of errors while ensuring that my message remains both accurate and impactful.

Building rapport with an audience is key to feeling comfortable, nobody wants to talk to a brick wall, ask questions, conduct quizzes by the form of raising hands, it keeps the audience engaged and you feel like your speaking to a room of people rather than a wall of silence

One thing I have found really helpful is engaging with my audience. I draw them in by being honest (Hey, I'm nervous!) Then I smile - an honest one not a creepy one. I also engage the audience with an active icebreaker before and if there's time, after the presentation. It's amazing to see the audience have a eureka moment when I use simple icebreaker exercises to drive home a point. Then I use more visuals than text.

Engaging with the audience means creating feedback opportunities. I once had to present to a room of over 200 industry experts, where my expertise didn't necessarily surpass some of theirs. The challenge was to break the ice and avoid being just another speaker. So, I began with a simple question: "How was your meal?" This icebreaker not only captured their attention but also linked to my presentation's content. It was a game-changer; I saw the audience getting more engaged, taking notes, and providing verbal feedback. All of this stemmed from a straightforward conversation starter that smoothly transitioned into the heart of my presentation. It underscores the power of initiating small talk to keep your audience involved and attentive.

In addition to interacting with the audience, interact with the other speakers. Focus on the objective and key success factors based on your presentation plan.

Always review your presentation and your presentation skills, this allows you to present better next time. Remind yourself where you stuttered, or where you went off script. This will allow you to focus on whats important to bear in mind for next time.

Progress is not linear. It's about personal growth and self-improvement. After a presentation, remember that learning from your experience is adding a brick to your wall of success. If there is a recording of your presentation, that helps a lot to identify both strong and weak points. As you learn from your mistakes, do not forget to pat yourself on the back for the effort you put in, and keep that positive momentum going.

Part of learning from your experience is actively listening to your audience during Q and AFTER. When you don’t know the answer, it’s okay to let them know you will get back to them, or engage a colleague in the room that can best answer the question. In that money, write down what the question was, and go and do a bit of homework to improve your presentation. Of the question was indeed relevant of course.

I definitely agree with presentation feedback. You can opt for a QR at the end of the presentation which leads to an online form; or informally, you can have some side discussions during breaks and get a feedback sense from the participants. Feedback strategies definitely help as you would have empirical data to back your presentation improvement!

The review of the presentation is key to continually improving in order to perfect the techniques and deepen the knowledge. Also, learn how to review which strategy helps you achieve more attention and participation.

Seek support!!! There’s power in sharing your presentation with others before the actual day. If possible, share your presentation with a trusted colleague or friend who can provide constructive feedback. Their encouragement and input can boost your confidence and help you refine your delivery.

One thing I have found helpful is to add a bit of humor in the opening or during the presentation to keep things light and calm yourself. Also look for some familiar faces in the audience to make an eye contact through the course of presentation. Try not to rehearse too much that it comes across scripted Lastly, less words and more pictures to avoid the audience getting distracted in reading the content as opposed to listening to you.

Above all, I have always found it valuable to be honest, tell your audience you are feeling nervous! This really allows you to own your feelings, and gives your counterpart the opportunity to make you feel more comfortable. You'll strike up a natural rapport, show your human side, and your audience will usually account for your nervousness when assessing the success of your presentation. It doesn't mean you get a pass for a monumental mistake, but if you need to take a breath it'll be clear why. Most of all, it will show that you care. Rarely are we nervous about things that don't mean anything to us.

Talk to individuals whom have done it already. You are not alone in this. Your peers have most likely gone through the ringer numerous times and have valuable insight they’d be happy to share with you. Also know that by being in that position to present complex topics to an audience that may not know as much puts you in a position to educate by simplifying. Make it easy, be confident, open it up for Q & A.

As someone with severe anxiety one of the biggest helps to me has been learning the phrase: "do it scared." You don't HAVE to calm your nerves. You don't have to steady your shaky hands before you get on stage. Your gut can still be doing somersaults. You don't have to feel 100% prepared. Advice whose end point is that there's "nothing to worry about" or "this quick fix will calm your nerves" isn't always practical. My nerves have never ended up calm - but that doesn't mean I can't do it, or won't do it well. Don't get caught up in the vicious loop of being anxious about being anxious. All these other great tips and plenty of practice may help, and I hope they do, but if they don't: you can and should still do it scared.