Normally you don't have a problem saying anything at all. There is no fear of speaking with you. In meetings, you know what you want to say and at parties you are the pacesetter. Yet when you suddenly have to make a real presentation, even in front of acquaintances, you break out in a cold sweat. You really suffer from presentation anxiety.
To make sure that you suffer less from presentation anxiety, in this blog I will go over the causes, solutions and tips for mastering fear.
If you suffer from presentation anxiety, you are not alone. Research shows that more than 60% of college students have some form of presentation anxiety. Women and people with an abnormal voice suffer from presentation anxiety more often than men and people with a "normal" voice.
In addition to fear of giving presentations, then, you may be more likely to have fear of scary animals and suffer from panic attacks.
To avoid having a panic attack during a presentation, it is important to know why you have presentation anxiety in the first place.
The cause of presentation anxiety
There are several causes of presentation anxiety. For example, you may have had an unpleasant experience in the past that has traumatized you a bit with giving presentations.
If you think this is the cause with you but still can't put your finger on it exactly, regression therapy can help you pinpoint that event and look at it from a different angle.
This can change your beliefs about giving presentations.
A second cause may be your confidence in giving presentations. Perhaps you have insecurities about your appearance or how your voice sounds. Or even whether you are the right person to give the presentation because of the amount of knowledge you have.
In addition, there may be underlying fears in presentation anxiety, namely:
- Fear of making a fool of yourself.
- Fear of being humiliated.
- Fear of being seen while having anxiety.
- Fear of being judged.
- Fear of not coming across as confident.
For example, at first fear you may be afraid you will say the wrong thing or worse, that you will suddenly stutter.
You're afraid people will laugh at you, get bored or whisper to each other.
You're afraid people won't find you a good speaker and think you're unworthy to give a presentation. Perhaps you are afraid they will think you lack confidence.
Another thing you may be worried about is that people now find you radiating less confidence than what they are used to from you.
Reduce presentation anxiety with mental techniques
In the case of self-confidence for presentation, there are a number of things you can do to improve this self-confidence that are purely mental.
Hypnosis
For example, you can use hypnosis to repeat suggestions to yourself to change beliefs about how your appearance and voice affect presentation, for example.
For example, in the case of fear of being judged, you can repeat the following suggestions during self-hypnosis:
If I wasn't qualified to give the presentation I wouldn't have been asked to do it.
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time; a slip of the tongue is quite normal.
People listen to me because of the knowledge, not to judge me on my looks or self-assurance.
These are just examples of hypnotic suggestions you can repeat. A hypnotherapist can help you with suggestions that apply to your personal beliefs about presenting.
In addition, you can use hypnotic visualization to boost your confidence in being able to give the presentation. Through the visualization, you imagine yourself giving the presentation and how it will feel if everything goes well. You visualize your perfect self.
- How you look when you give a presentation perfectly.
- How you feel during a perfect presentation.
- How the room smells when you give a perfect presentation.
- How your hands feel when you give a perfect presentation and how you respond to people during the presentation during the perfect presentation.
If you have trouble visualizing a well-paced presentation, a hypnotherapist can help you with guided visualization.
Mindfulness
Another mental technique to reduce presentation anxiety is by using mindfulness. With mindfulness, you make sure your attention is in the here and now.
When you start fantasizing about what could go wrong during the presentation, you realize it faster and can focus first on your breathing and the feel of your body to put yourself back in the here and now.
This will make you think less about the presentation and also reduce anxiety.
Another benefit of mindfulness is that you can also notice and interrupt negative thought patterns more quickly.
Meditate
To practice not thinking about things in the future or past, but actively being in the here and now while otherwise doing nothing, you can also meditate. Meditating helps against anxiety because it shrinks the part of the brain that regulates your fear response.
As a result, after meditating, you will actually have less anxiety.
Keep control of your body
Anxiety often causes a physical reaction as well, for example, you start breathing faster, trembling, maybe even getting a little dizzy.
Keeping control of your body during and before the presentation also reduces the fear response. Keep smiling, keep breathing calmly and very consciously relax the muscles in your body.
You'll find that anxiety doesn't build up when you perform those physical actions. It simply affects your mental state.
While visualizing and practicing the presentation, you can also practice these physical reactions.
Focus on the positives of presentation
You often give the presentation for a reason. Certain things need to be made clear, for example. Focusing on the positives of presenting, such as that you learn more from it, become more confident through experience and can show your team what you have to offer, leaves less room for negative thoughts about presenting.
Practical tips to reduce presentation anxiety
In addition to these mental tips against presentation anxiety, there are other practical tips you can implement to reduce presentation anxiety.
Making a presentation
When creating the presentation, try to be with your focus on what information you will include in it rather than everything that could go wrong. Decide where you will give the presentation and what items you will need to make it professional, such as a projector, notebooks and a printed version of the presentation.
Structure of presentation
While building the presentation, it is especially important to grab the audience's attention early in the presentation. For example, start by asking a question or multiple choice question in which people have to hold up a certain color card, then you avoid a conversation but still have the interaction.
Talk about your presentation before you give it
When you finish your presentation, you can go over the presentation with someone. Talk about why you are going to say what. That way, you will gain confidence in your presentation, and by involving someone, you can get tips to make it even better before the presentation.
Practice presentation
Practice how you will present. Also, put on the outfit you want to put on ahead of time to make sure it fits well and that you are not distracted by the clothes you have on. You can also practice the technical side of presenting, such as showing a video or clicking through to the next slide.
If it is possible to practice the presentation in the room where you will be giving it, that is definitely a plus.
The more you can predict, the less scary it is.
Take a class in theater sports or improvisational drama
Taking a drama class once, and especially if it is full of improvisation, can give you much more confidence for giving a presentation. During an improv class you will sometimes do the craziest things, but the environment in which you do it allows it.
As a result, giving a professional presentation is suddenly a much smaller problem. Because you're not reenacting a Mini Maus on mount everest, but now you really know what you're doing.
Present with someone else
By finding a partner with whom you present, you can alternate "turns" with each other. This gives you an occasional breather in your presentation. Moreover, you also have someone to help you with questions. After all, two people know more than 1.
Just make sure to keep the distribution even and that you are not on the sidelines for the entire presentation.
Want to learn more about mental techniques for dealing with anxiety? Then come to a seminar or playshop and check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' trainings.
Sources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892199715003082
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178116306503
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeenacho/2016/10/05/overcoming-fear-of-public-speaking-through-mindfulness/#471425477b85
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2016/04/11/10-ways-to-get-over-your-fear-of-public-speak/#55259de05867
