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While fear pervades many aspects of business, presentations consistently drive it to exquisitely high levels. We use the term “presentation” to include any important one-on-one meeting, small group discussions around a table, or speaking before an audience of thousands.

We are talking about a particular kind of fear. Some fear helps motivate you to divert time from the pounding surf of your daily schedule and prepare for your presentation. There comes a point for most of us, however, when the fear is no longer useful. It has crossed the line from excitement to dread. Instead of driving preparation, it now impairs concentration and kills energy.

Fear has a thousand faces, but we have only three basic responses:

1. Ignore it
2. Evade it
3. Transcend it

Ignoring Fear

Merely suffering through your fear is the simplest and most common response. It requires no learning, effort or practice. Negative consequences flow from this path. In addition to being very stressful, fear tends to break concentration during preparation and disturbs other obligations.

Perhaps even more importantly, these enervating fears can also have an extremely negative impact on your performance in delivering your presentation. Fear robs your ability to casually walk to the stage and be yourself. It tends to kill excitement and block the ability to connect deeply with your audience. Fear can make your body stiff, your breathing labored and your physical movement unnatural.

Evading Fear

Usually the first step in dealing with your fear of the big presentation is figuring out how to avoid the fear. Even if you are looking for a longer term solution, at least temporarily avoiding the problem is a key step in creating the space to fashion more encompassing approaches.

Transcending Fear

Creative visualization is the first step in removing yourself from the scary thoughts and consciously guiding your mind to a new space: actively imagining the desired end result.

Professional and Olympic athletes spend time imagining the desired end result and track the measurable increased performance that follows the creative visualization sessions. Fear stems from the unconscious repetitive thoughts and feelings about failing.

VISUALIZATION

The key to successful visualizations is simultaneously feeling the emotions that would naturally attach to images that you see. To drive emotion, the most powerful vehicle is music – - music that stirs you. Often it is high energy music, something like the Rocky theme, hard driving rock, or passionate jazz or classical. The key is that it drives your energy higher, actively imagining the desired end result.

In visualization, there are two distinct ways to envision yourself: either looking at yourself from the position of an outside observer, or seeing the whole event through your own eyes. While everyone is different, it is usually easier to start by seeing an image of yourself from the perspective of an outside observer. As time goes by, many find it more effective to do the visualization through your eyes as a presenter.

Imagine the room in which you will present. If you know the room location, try and visit it before hand so you can create the exact setting of your presentation. If you can’t see a remote location, just imagine the kind of room it is likely to be.

VISUALIZATION EXERCISE

Imagine what you will experience prior to the presentation. See yourself walking toward the spot from which you will present.

As you see yourself approaching “the moment of truth,” can you feel where in your body the tension resides?

As you continue walking to the front of the room, see if you can exchange the feelings of fear with a closely related feeling – excitement. Fear is often a part of excitement and their affect on the body is the same: pounding pulse, heavy breathing, a slight shake in the extremities.

Feel the empowering sense that this could be your break-through moment. This could be when you reach to a higher level than you ever thought possible.

Imagine yourself now in front of the audience facing them, looking calmly and intently into their faces. Take a big breath and feel relaxation welling-up within you.

See their faces. Are they interested? Do they need something to enliven them? Take a moment for some “in-flow” of information before you begin the “out-flow” of information.

“There are two types of speakers; those that are nervous and those that are liars.” Mark Twain

Most of us put public speaking at the top of our list of things to avoid. Then along comes that promotion or new opportunity, and with it, new responsibilities. Among them: communicating, powerfully and effectively in public. Before you rush to get out of that responsibility, consider what it can do for you.

This one ability–communicating ideas powerfully and effectively–can impact professional success more quickly and more absolutely than nearly any other. Become an effective communicator, and you will solidify a reputation as an effective leader. Yet many otherwise accomplished executives never learn to communicate well and take pains to avoid having to speak in public at all.

That’s a lot of wasted opportunity. You can’t expect your ideas to be considered or followed, much less admired, if they’re not communicated well.

Speaking to a group, even a small group that knows you, can be an intimidating. No one has yet died in the effort. We can all get past our fear of public speaking with practice. The important thing is to understand the power you have, that we all have, to communicate effectively. Here are some tips for powerful public speaking:

–Don’t hide behind charts, graphs and power point slides. Despite the cliche, facts don’t speak for themselves. Materials can only support your communication, not substitute for it.

–Accept the “public” part of public speaking. Speeches and presentations delivered before an audience really are about you and your ability to connect. If you’re bored, your audience will be as well. Find the passion in your work and build your presentation or speech around it.

–Put real effort into the question and answer period following your speech or presentation. For many in the audience, it’s their chance to connect with you and you to them.

–Make sure your public speech or presentation isn’t simply a recitation of the facts. Your audience could get that from you in an email. What any audience wants is your perspective. Always provide a context for the data or information you provide.

–Never go long. Any performer knows it’s best to leave them wanting more. Make sure you have something your audience can take home with them to think about.

–Don’t forget to speak ABOUT something. Your main points should be clearly stated and they’ll be back. Before long, you’ll be wondering how you ever considered public speaking something to avoid!

Above all, practice, practice, practice. Don’t run from public speaking opportunities–embrace them–and the power they have to promote your professional success.

Avoid talking in a monotonous voice. Speak distinctly and at a volume loud enough for everyone to hear without either shouting or sounding as though you are whispering. Respect your time limit, do not go on and on or finish way before the allotted time decided. Humour should be used with caution as it can work in your favour or even go against you.

Depending on your preference, you can inform your audience to ask questions during the presentation or after it ends or even both. Repeat the question for everyone to hear as well as make sure you understand it well, before you start answering it. Keep responses brief and to the point. If you do not know the answer, say that you will check up on that and revert back. Do not fake an answer to appear knowledgeable when you may not know the real answer. It is better to be truthful rather than give a wrong answer. You can offer a source where the answer could be found.

The more often you practice presenting to an audience, the more confident you will get. You will be able to understand what works best for you. You will be more willing to try out new techniques of presentation. Practice makes one perfect! As long as you know about your topic, are enthusiastic about it, are professional in presenting that is all that matters. Little bit of nervousness is natural. So expect that, take a deep breath and enjoy yourself during presentations.