How can I get rid of the "butterflies in my stomach" or nervousness before giving a speech or presentation?

Question

Just about everyone has some level of nervousness or "butterflies in the stomach" before giving a speech or presentation. If you have a high level of anxiety or nerves before speaking, and you can't get it under control quickly while speaking, it will clearly come through during your talk, which can impact your credibility with your audience as well your ability to keep their attention. It will also make it so much more challenging for you to get through your talk. In really extreme situations anxiety and nerves can even prevent someone from giving their presentation at all, or it can force them to stop and walk away in the middle of presenting.

Whether you're like most people and you have a moderate level of anxiety or nerves, or you're extremely anxious, it is possible to reduce the nerves and anxiety at the outset, before you start your talk, while also learning to manage the nerves during your presentation.

Answer 1

First of all, know that it is perfectly normal to be somewhat nervous before getting up to speak in front of others! Even the most seasoned presenters will be a bit nervous beforehand. I've taught Engineering workshops for over 30 years and would still be a little nervous before each new class.

The good news is that you can reduce your pre-talk jitters to a manageable level, and you can learn how to manage the nerves or anxiety during your presentation.

The key to reducing your anxiousness or nervousness before you give you presentation is to maximize your confidence: Your confidence in the material you'll be presenting, and your confidence in your delivery or presentation skills.

Increasing your confidence in your material requires you to prepare as much as is practical. If you're presenting from a PowerPoint slide deck, for example, practice-practice-practice to the point where you know exactly what you're going to say for each slide as soon the slide appears, or even better, learn to anticipate the next slide. If there are no visual aids, then memorize your speech as best as possible, with minimal glances to your notes. During your prep also try to anticipate any questions or concerns or objections that may arise, and prepare appropriate responses. Asking some friends or colleagues, or an expert coach to listen to your material after you feel prepared, doing some role playing and allowing them to ask you questions, giving you feedback about the flow of your talk, how clear and understandable it is, etc, can be very helpful.

Increasing your confidence in your delivery or presentation skills is easier if you are or will be presenting often - the more you do, the more confident you become with time and practice. However, if this is not something you do regularly, getting some expert coaching can really make a difference.

From my experience with 100's of presenters, I can guarantee that, once you're comfortable and prepared with your topic and you're confident in your ability to deliver your presentation, your level of anxiety will be drastically reduced. Trust that your confidence WILL overcome any nerves or anxiety that remains. As soon as you start talking, within the first 30-60 seconds, you'll get into the groove of your presentation, and the nerves will magically melt away.

What if you're still nervous during your presentation, or worse, what if you lose your train of thought or you simply forget what to say next or you forget what a slide is about, and you start to panic, what do you do then!?

They key here is to remember that your audience does not know what you're thinking or what's happening on the inside! You can be totally freaking out on the inside, panicked about forgetting your next line or some other issue, but as long as you "keep your cool" on the outside, your audience will never know what's going on! The trick, if this happens (it happens to all of us!), is to simply be quiet, and allow yourself the time to regain your train of thought, while maintaining your outward composure. Maintain a pleasant facial expression (neutral, or a tiny smile), stay standing still, or walk slowly/deliberately as though you're thinking, maybe looking at the screen (if applicable), or looking up or down, or even directly at your audience, but remaining silent all the while. Believe it or not, you can do this for 3-5 seconds, and if done correctly, your audience will simply believe that you are in deep thought, really searching for the right words to say next, or you're stopping for some dramatic effect, or you're giving them time to catch up or think about what you've said so far. They will NEVER suspect that you are panicking on the inside. Most of the time, these 3-5 seconds are enough time to allow you to remember what to say next, and continue as though nothing happened. And if, worst case, you still don't remember, you smile and simply admit to your audience that you forgot what you were going to say, and that you'll get back to the point as soon as it comes back to you - and it usually does come back! No one will bat an eye if you do this, because it happens to everyone. The key is to maintain your composure and stay calm.