Do You Plan to Avoid Presentations for The Rest of Your Life?

You can avoid giving a presentation for the rest of your life; however, why would you?  Your life and the lives of people around you would benefit from you sharing your thoughts and knowledge; plus, you can receive many benefits too.

Would you like to earn higher grades?  Would you like to land your dream job? Would you like to earn a job promotion?  Would you like to earn more money?  Most folks would answer yes to these questions; however, only a few will do what it takes to realize these things.  One way to realize these benefits is to give presentations.

Most of us let fear stop us from learning public speaking.  We all have fear; however, we need courage to overcome fear.

Our physical body has the following reactions when we fear public speaking: sweaty palms, nervous stomach, shaky hands, rapid heartbeat, sweating, hot or red face, a white face, shaky knees, voice cracking, and dry mouth.  Now, notice the physical reactions to excitement and anticipation of something good: sweaty palms, nervous stomach, shaky hands, rapid heartbeat, sweating, hot or red face, a white face, shaky knees, voice cracking, and dry mouth.

They sound the same don’t they?  Well, they are the same!  Our bodies go through the same physical uneasiness; the difference is our attitude towards them.  Rest assured that these happen to most everyone.  However, we see many people succeed.  How do they do it?

Being afraid of presentations shouldn’t stop us from doing them. Follow these four strategies:  One, be positive.  Understand that the biological feelings we are having like the nervous stomach are natural and we all feel it.  We are outside our comfort zone and it makes us uneasy.  Use those biological feelings to your advantage; they will make you sharp and animated.  Two, be rational.  Think of the worse things that could happen. Then, be realistic, and see how they will not happen.  No one is going to laugh at you, you will not forget everything (if you do forget something, so what?  They audience won’t know it).  Three, be listener oriented.  Concentrate on the listener getting the information she/he came to hear.  Don’t look at a presentation as a performance.  Presentations are not about the presenter; they are about the audience.  I hate to tell you this; but, the audience really doesn’t care about you, your hairstyle, your dress, your nose, you weight, or anything else about you.  They care about the message you are giving.  Four, be prepared.  Prepare early and practice often.  An audience will get downright hostile if you come unprepared.  It is your duty to be prepared.  Many people tell me they aren’t good at presentations after only preparing for one day.  My response to them, “That’s not accurate, everyone can give good presentations; you simply are not good at preparation.”
 
Follow these four tips and practice as often as you can, your nervousness is normal and natural.  You will become good at presentations thus earning better grades, more money, and better jobs.

 
Copyright Rod Mattson

Mattson Communication Training

www.MattsonCommunication.com