AboutDoug Staneart Expertise Doug Staneart has over ten years experience in and can answer questions dealing with overcoming nervousness or anxiety associated with public speaking, how to become a more polished and confident speaker, how to write and organize a speech, or how to deliver effective sales presentations.
Experience
Doug Staneart has been a speaker and trainer for over ten years specializing in public speaking, sales training, and team building. Doug is CEO of The Leader?s Institute® (Public Speaking Training) based in Dallas and author of the books 40 Ways to Influence People and Fearless Presentations. He has accumulated over 700 hours of classroom coaching and training and began his career with Dale Carnegie Training® where he was recognized on numerous occasions for superior instruction.
Question Hi, my name is Jim. I hate to admit it, but I get so darn nervous and anxious before/during I make a speech. I have always been like this since high school. Since I am in grad school now, I have to make alot of presentations. I don't know why I am so nervous, but I think I am afraid that others will critize me. Any suggestions would be so helpful.
Answer Jim,
I know exactly where you are coming from. I used to feel the same way. In fact, studies show that over 95% of the population have a fear or nervousness in front of a group.
One of the first things I tell my class members is to focus less on themselves and focus more on the topic and the audience. Next time you have to present, look around the room at the audience. Chances are, that each of those people will have to speak, so they are not concerned about you in the least. They are focused on themselves.
Instead of designing your speech by looking at points to fill in time, design it by asking yourself, "What does my audience really need to know about this topic? How will they benefit from the topic?"
The following are a few tips from my book that have worked well in the past:
1) Realize 90% of Nervousness doesn't Show: Most of the symptoms of nervousness, butterflies, sweaty palms, faster heart beat, etc., never show to an audience. If you set your notes down on a lectern, the audience won't be able to see even shaky hands.
2) Written Material: Never, never, never, never, never write out a talk word for word unless absolute accuracy must be maintained as in legal situations. Otherwise, just make brief notes. A little spontaneity adds a tremendous amount of character to your talk. Written speeches are almost always boring, and when you read text, it is much more difficult to make a connection with your audience.
3) Committing Your Talk to Memory: Never memorize a talk word for word. Memorizing a talk word for word can actually lead to more anxiety. If something out of the ordinary happens or if you ever lose your place, you will put an extreme amount of pressure on yourself to get back. A better way to memorize a talk is to narrow your talk down to just a few main ideas and commit those main ideas to memory. If during your presentation you have additional time, you can add additional details to the main ideas, and if time runs short (which it often does,) you can rest assured that your main points were delivered.
4) Show up Early: Get an idea for the setting, mingle with your audience, and test any equipment that you will be using.
5) Take a Few Deep Breaths: When many of us get nervous, we tend to take shallow breaths. This robs our brain of oxygen and can create a negative reinforcing cycle. What happens is that we originally take a shallow breath out of nervousness and try to speak. Somewhere along the way, we realize that we won't be able to finish our sentence, so we speed up. That makes us more nervous, so we breath even more shallow. When this cycle occurs, just pause, take a deep breath, and continue.
6) Look for a Friendly Face: As you are approaching the front, make eye-contact with a few friendly faces in the audience. Smile, and they will probably smile back. It will put you both at ease.
7) Drop your Hands: Your hands and your gestures can add great impact to your delivery, but when you are not using your hands, just drop them to your side. It will feel awkward at first, but dropping your hands to your side is the most natural gesture you can use. For instance, when you walk down the hallway at your office, do you cup your hands in front as you walk? Is it more natural to lock your hands behind you when you walk? Probably not. In most situations, it is natural to just let your hands drop to your side. When you do this, it will allow you to make more purposeful gestures when you need to. (See Chapter 6 on Gestures and Movement.)
8) Speak Only on Topics in which You are an Expert: One of the reasons that speech classes and toasting clubs can actually make people more nervous is that the topics we choose to present on during these activities are topics that we put together after just a little research. If someone is going to ask you to present about a business topic, the main reason would be because you are the most qualified person to speak about the topic. You are qualified because of your experience. Your delivery should be as casual as if your best friend came up to you and asked, “How is your project going?” This will allow you to deliver your topic is a way that makes the audience feel as if you are talking to each person directly.
9) Be Excited about Your Topic: If you aren't, no one else will be either. If you give your audience energy, they will give energy back to you.
10) Practice: Rather than practicing your presentation in front of a mirror (when we do this, we tend to find things to nitpick that an audience would never notice,) try practicing your delivery by using it in a conversation with a friend or loved one. “Hey, have I told you about the project I'm working on…”
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Call me at 1-800-872-7830 if you have questions or e-mail me at doug@leadersinstitute.com.
Doug Staneart
The Leader's Institute
www.leadersinstitute.com
