Public speaking can be incredibly scary. It doesn’t matter if you are using the most awesome PowerPoint graphic designs, standing in front of a bunch of people is intimidating, there’s no way around it. You can try the age old ‘picture everyone in their underwear’ trick but when you open your eyes, everyone is fully clothes and the anxiety returns. So, here are a few tips for calming your nerves before you have to give a big presentation before the powers that be.
Practice Makes Perfect
Run through everything multiple times. Know what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it; run through PowerPoint presentation slide design and make sure there are no glitches; basically run a complete dress rehearsal. It might sound silly but you should even wear what you are going to have on, on stage, so that you can feel comfortable moving around in it. You may find out that your lucky suit shows sweat patches and that is a definite no go. You don’t want to find that out after the presentation is done. You should know the order of your PowerPoint graphic designs and don’t rely on the system. If one skips or gets stuck, you need to know what comes next. It would also help to practice where you are going to be giving the presentation.
Go to Other Speeches
By attending other people’s speeches, you’ll see the things that you like and dislike as the audience. You’ll hear feedback from those seated near you that will help you in your own presentation. You may even see something in their PowerPoint graphic designs that will help you better your own. It also will show a certain amount of respect for your fellow speakers if you are giving your presentation as part of a series or conference.
Get There Early
You need to allow yourself plenty of time to get set up and make sure that everything is functioning properly. The person running the technology behind you needs to be familiar with PowerPoint services so they can help you out quickly if something goes wrong. Meet the people at the sound board and familiarize yourself with the helpers. Once everything is done and set up, you should take some time for yourself. This is the main reason that you want to get there early. Sit on the stage quietly for awhile and see where your blind spots are. Imagine a person filling every single seat so that when you get up there to start, you won’t be surprised by the enormity of the whole thing. After that, spend the rest of the time relaxing somewhere where no one is going to bother you.
Turn Nervousness into Enthusiasm
You need to be passionate about your subject or no one is going to be paying attention. If it bores you, it’s definitely not going to capture their attention. You can use your nervous energy to your benefit and turn into excited and enthusiasm for the subject you are speaking on. The more energetic and enthusiastic you are the more interesting your speech will be. Passionate speakers win over the crowd much easier than eloquent ones do.
Pause Appropriately
One of the major tell tale signs of nervousness is that speech speeds up and the individual ends up talking a mile a minute without taking a breath. This will make you run out of breath which will make you more nervous and possibly panicky. Don’t be scared to slow down and take a break. Pause during your speech. You could even write in your notes where you should pause in order to emphasize a particular point. Why not? Singers do it! Music theory will teach you how to write in when to take a breath so the song moves more smoothly. While a two second pause on stage feels like forever, the audience doesn’t sense it. Their minds are processing what you are saying for the first time so they need those pauses in order to catch up and stay attentive.
Your PowerPoint graphic designs or business presentation design services should be free of mistakes and yourself, excited about your subject. Combine those to and you can’t go wrong.
