Presentations are a very important part of our professional lives. If you belong to the corporate world or own a business or are even in college, giving presentations is a part and parcel of life! And that’s why presentation skills training is not something that can be taken lightly.
The most common issue with giving presentations is that feeling we all go through…nervousness. Yes, a lot of people feel nervous before and during giving presentations. And unfortunately, this nervousness can really mess up the presentation they deliver even if they have the information or knowledge. This in turn can make them lose business, a coveted promotion or lose marks in their exams. And the worst thing, make them feel not good enough, lower on confidence and even more nervous! It’s just amazing how something as small as a 10-15 minutes presentation can decide your career, business and self-worth!
Let me tell you, feeling nervousness is very normal. Most confident people in the world feel nervous. In fact, I would say, nervousness keeps them grounded. A person like Amitabh Bachhan who is a superstar and has acted in so many movies still feels nervous in front of the camera! So, don’t worry if you feel nervous. But yes, it should be in your control. Your nervousness should not control you.
Now how do you do that? How do you control your nervousness? Let me give you some tips that really work:
The first thing to do is to be well prepared in advance. We get nervous because somewhere our preparation is incomplete. And preparation does not pertain to just knowing our content in and out. We must also think of questions that our audience may ask us and be able to answer those. That’s when we feel ready and confident enough to answer anything that is thrown at us! For this, plan and prepare for the presentation before time and practice.
Nervousness manifests differently in different people. While some feel their palms going moist, others feel butterflies in their stomach, yet others run to the restroom again and again! Whatever the case, you need to realise you are nervous. Accept it rather than denying it. And then start working on the nervousness and develop leadership skills. Doing Mindfulness is great for this. It will help you first get aware of your nervousness, accept it and release it by facing it. You can also do deep breathing. When we get nervous, we normally forget to breathe normally! Try focussing on your breathing at this time and take deep calming breaths. It will supply oxygen to your brain and bring your nervousness down.
Next is to think positively. Sit down and visualize that you have achieved the desired results from your presentation. Visualize the most positive outcomes possible. This will make you feel good and reduce nervousness.
Lastly, avoid overthinking. Our nervousness comes from overthinking. We tell ourselves the most gruesome stories of how we messed up the presentation; blanked out in between, our slides stopped working for some reason, we were unable to answer the audience questions. And eventually how we were just not good enough. Now to avoid doing this, start implementing the three techniques mentioned above. And if you need more help, we can always come down and conduct a corporate training programs for you and your team. Always remember, nervousness cannot be eliminated completely. But it can be controlled. And it is in your hands.
Presentation skills training covers handling nervousness as a major part of it. It also helps you prepare well and understand the areas you need to focus on to reduce nervousness and deliver a great presentation. Most importantly, presentation skills training helps in developing confidence.