5 things I tell myself before a presentation
By: Talia Levitt
Tags: Public Speaking, Confidence, Presenting, Tips, Fear

I faced my fears and you can too

It started aged 14, when I fudged my lines in a performance of Road Dahl’s ‘The Witches’.

The humiliation buried itself deep within my subconscious, rearing its head in my mid 20s whenever I had to speak in front of a crowd. My body went into fight or flight. Come on ‘mind’, I told myself, I’m not in danger — I’m just reading notes off a page!

Whether it’s a wedding speech, or sharing ideas at work, there’s really no avoiding presenting. It’s a big part of many roles, especially mine as a content designer.

This was a problem. I had to do something.

I found motivation from this quote from a favourite childhood book, ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen:

“We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh no! We’ve got to go through it!”

Instead of avoiding the thing I feared, I ‘went through it’ and booked a public speaking course.

Here are 5 tips I learnt from the course, which I tell myself before presentations. They help me free up mental space so I can present to the best of my ability.

1.Reframe nervous energy as excitement

The adrenaline before I’m about to present can feel scary and debilitating. Physically, the feelings are like the butterflies and racing pulse you get when you’re excited.

But this nervous adrenaline isn’t helpful, so I reframe it. I “trick” my mind and tell myself these are feelings of excitement and that I can’t wait to share my knowledge with the audience! I add a smile too, because you smile when you’re excited, right?

It might sound silly, but give it a try — it works for me.

2. Act confident to feel more confident

Everyone wants to feel confident when they’re presenting. But even if you don’t feel it, you can still appear confident. How? Body language.

Body language is a powerful tool. A large proportion of how we communicate is with our facial expressions, tone of voice, eye contact and how we hold our body,

All it takes is a few small tweaks. Smiling, standing tall and pushing your chest out and shoulders back are easy changes to make.

So how does this help your confidence? Well… Fake it till you make it. Once you practice this body language enough, you end up actually feeling more confident. This is because what we do with our body, can change our mind. Ah, a satisfying virtuous cycle.

Appearing more confident also has other benefits for presenting. It helps the audience to relax and listen to what you’re saying.

And when you’re not thinking about seeming nervous, you have more mental space to concentrate on the content of your presentation. You might even be able to interact with the audience or throw in a joke!

3. Don’t be apologetic

“Don’t apologise with your body for taking up space”, the teacher said when I first walked on stage.

‘Apologising’ with your body is easy to do if you’re not aware of it, especially for women.

This is due to engrained societal messages that often tells women we don’t belong in certain situations, or we’re taking up too much space (see: patriarchy). This manifests as looking at the floor, not making eye contact or not waiting for applause.

And it’s the same with what you say and how you say it. Trailing off at the end of your sentences or turning away as you talk has the same ‘I’m-sorry-for- being-here’ effect.

Instead of rushing through your words, pause between sentences to let the audience take in what you’re saying. Finish your sentences with the same enthusiasm as you had at the start. And stay on stage (or screen) for the applause.

4. Assume people are interested

If you’re feeling nervous, it’s easy to fall into thinking that no one cares about what you have to say. This can come across in your tone and make the audience feel awkward.

Flip it on its head. Assume the audience is interested in what you have to say. Because why wouldn’t they be?

Now think about how you want them to feel. Entertained, at ease, curious? Keep this in mind before you present, instead of the thought that no one’s interested. This will make you feel more positive, brighten your tone and make the audience feel more comfortable.

5. Mistakes are opportunities

If you slip up, use it as a moment to connect with the audience. Maybe throw in some humour to make light of the mistake. This shows humility — we’re only human after all.

Style it out, and you’ll not only win over the audience, but will also be remembered for your joke and not your blunder!

Have you got any tips for pre-presentation nerves? I’d love to know in the comments.

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