GET NERVOUS BEFORE YOU SPEAK IN PUBLIC? TRY THESE 5 THINGS

As I stood up to present, I was visibly shaking. The trembling had started in my legs, but by the time I was standing in front of the audience, it had spread to my hands. when I opened my mouth, it attacked my voice too. I was a nervous mess, and my audience couldn’t understand a word I was saying.

The problem?

Nerves.

I had let the nerves get to me, and not in a good way.

You see, nerves aren’t always a bad thing. Experiencing nerves means the stakes are high – that you’re about to step out of your comfort zone. This is a good thing. However, when you let this feeling of nerves take over, it can turn into dread – and when you’re feeling dread, nothing good will ever happen.

The key to battling nerves is to turn them into excitement. Excitement is positive. Excitement in forward-focused - excitement in outrospective. When you’re excited, you are ready to perform. When you’re experiencing dread, you are ready to bomb.

So how do you harness your nervous energy and turn it into excitement?

Every time I give a talk, I do these 5 things. I’m pretty sure they’ll work for you too.

#1 – CREATE GREAT CONTENT

One of the key drivers of excitement is confidence. When we’re discussing presenting, confidence is very much rooted in your content.

Put it this way:

You can be the best speaker in the world, if you’re content is poor, your speech will be poor.

So, take the time to make sure your content is as good as it can be. Some ways you can do this is by including some inspirational stories in your talk, or some shocking statistics, or some great looking slides*.

However you do it, just make sure you do. You can’t get rid of nerves until you are confident in your content – it’s that simple.

#2 – PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Another element of confidence is confidence in yourself. In order to rid the ‘dread’ nerves and replace with ‘excitement’ nerves, you need to be confident that you can deliver. There is only one way that you can build up this confidence – practice.

You need to practice your presentation over and over and over again, and then some more. To put this in perspective, every time I give a speech or presentation, I have practised it – in full – at least 30 times before. That means in front of the mirror, in the shower, to my partner, in the car, first thing in the morning, to my partner again, and so on…

What I’ve found is that practising has a hidden benefit too. The more you practice, the more you start to improve the actual presentation itself. You catch things that aren’t quite right, or that need to be changed in terms of order, and you improve.

The bottom line is this... If you want to rid yourself of the worst kind of nerves, and you want to be excited about your next presentation, you need to practice, and you need to do it a lot!

#3 – REMEMBER WHAT YOU’RE THERE TO DO

I remember rehearsing for a speech I was giving about empathy. It was an important one, to some important people, so I was nervous. I was doing a run through to my partner to see what she thought. Half-way through, she stopped me, and asked me ‘Why are you doing this speech?’

I couldn’t really answer…

I didn’t really know.

Was it to get my name out there?

Was it to look clever?

Was it because I thought I needed to?

Of course not she reminded me… I was doing the speech to explain to my audience why empathy was so important! I was doing it so they understood what I understood!

I was doing it to explain, not perform.

As soon as I realised this, everything changed. Suddenly my focus was outward, not inward, and I felt liberated.

This is important for you too. If you’re nervous, it’s probably because you’re looking inward about how you will perform. Actually, that’s not what you’re there to do. Your job is to help your audience understand the content of your speech. That’s it, nothing more… Your job is to explain.

#4 – AND BREATHE

Imagine you’re sitting there, and you’re just about to be called up to talk. Your nerves are building by the second, and you can start to feel the shakes coming. What’s literally happening in your body is your breathing rate has increased, and with it your heart rate is through the roof.

What you need to do is breathe, and breathe deeeeeeply.

Moreover, you need to start consciously doing this for the 10 minutes leading up to your presentation. When you know your time is approaching, start to consciously take deep breaths. Breathe in for 4 seconds through your nose, and out for 5 seconds through your mouth. Do this consistently up until the moment you’re on stage.

This does a couple of great things. Firstly, it lowers your heart rate back to a normal level. When this happens, your body regulates, and you start to feel normal again. Secondly, you becoming far more present in the moment. You realise it’s just you and a group of people, and you take yourself out of those ‘dread’ based thoughts in your head.

This is the most immediately way to prevent yourself from nerves – remember to breathe!

#5 – BE PRESENT AND LEARN

I remember when I started speaking in front of audiences, I would get to the end of my speech, and I wouldn’t be able to remember any of it! I had just rushed through it so fast, without being mindful or present at all. The problem with this is, how can you learn, when you don’t remember?

You can’t.

You must be present when you’re on stage.

A great way to do this is to take a couple of seconds when you step up on stage. Stand there in front of your audience and just take a few deep breathes before you begin. This will help to centre you on stage, and will bring you back into the present.

This will help you with two things. Firstly, you will be present and will begin to enjoy the experience a little more. Secondly, you will be able to look back at the experience and take some key learnings from it.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

Nerves are actually a good thing, as long as they lead to excitement and not dread. The next time you have a big presentation looming, beat the dread by trying these 5 practices. The better your content, the better prepared you are, and the more control you are of your mindset, the calmer you will feel, and the better you will present. The most important thing to take from a presenting experience is to enjoy it. Speaking in front of people can be one of life’s great pleasures. So, good luck, practice hard, and remember – you got this ??

*Alternatively, just drop me a message and I can help you with turning your speech into a great, and inspirational talk ??