I have been doing a lot of presentations, but every single time has never been an easy job for me. Sometimes, I suddenly feel butterflies in my stomach, break out in a cold sweat, and my mind has gone blank. Have you ever faced a similar situation? If yes, you do not have to worry much because even Warren Buffet said that he was terrified of public speaking early in his career so he asked a help from a public speaking professional to deal with his nervousness. To calm your nerves and nail your presentation, I suggest you follow the tips below.

  1. PROFILE YOUR AUDIENCE

To deliver a great presentation, you need to be well-prepared. You will be prepared if you know how to speak with your audience and who that audience will be. You have to understand your audience by research and answer the following questions: 1) Who will be your audience? 2) Why are they here? and 3) What do they need? You can also ask the committee about the profiles of your audience, such as age, gender, interest, job roles, and so on. You can also ask audience representatives to identify their needs, what they expect from the presentation and answer their needs through your presentation.

2. WRITE YOUR MATERIALS

Instead of winging it, you can write your presentation script to sound great. You also have to plan on how to build an engagement with your audience in your script. However, you better not read from your script during a presentation for it is only to assist novice speakers to sound great. Instead, you can create key points on a cue card to guide you during a presentation and make sure that your key points will trigger you what to say next.

3. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Confidence comes from familiarity. A ton of practices will help you to speak fluently and confidently. You can practice your presentation independently in front of a mirror. Or, you can do it either in front of your family or your friends and obtain feedback from them! If your presentation has a time limit, time yourself during practice to ensure that you do not exceed the time. Well, the more you practice, the more confident you will be!

After doing a series of preparation, you need to learn to embrace your nervousness and turn it into positive enthusiasm to be able to deliver an excellent presentation! Good luck, folks!

Keep learning & Keep growing!