Presentation Skills Handouts
Handout P-2
TIPS FOR REDUCING ANXIETY
1. Organise
Lack of organisation is one of the major causes of anxiety. Learning and
applying appropriate presentation planning is critical and will give you more
confidence.
2. Visualise
Visualise yourself giving a successful presentation. Imagine yourself walking into
a room, being introduced and delivering your presentation successfully, feeling
confident and leaving the room feeling like you have done a great job. Mentally
rehearse this sequence with all the details of your particular situation, and it will
help you focus on what you need to do to be successful.
3. Practice
This is the most important factor in banishing those nerves. Don’t just practice
mentally, run through your presentation verbally and with your visual aids. Make
sure that you know the order of the topics.
4. Breathe
When your muscles tighten and you feel nervous, you may not be breathing
deeply enough. The first thing to do is to either sit-up or stand-up erect. Now,
relax and inhale deeply a few times.
5. Focus on Relaxing
Instead of focusing on how tense you are, focus on your breath. As you breathe,
tell yourself on the inhale “I am” and on the exhale “relaxed”. Clear your mind of
everything except the repetition of this statement and continue the exercise for
several minutes.
6. Release Tension
As tension increases your muscles tighten. This may cause your hands and legs
to shake. Before your presentation, it’s a good idea to release some of this built
up tension by doing the following simple exercise. Starting with your toes and
calf muscles, tighten your muscles up through your body finally making a fist
(i.e. toes, feet, calves, thighs, stomach, chest, shoulders, arms, and fingers).
Immediately release all the tension and take a deep breath. Repeat, until you
feel the tension drain away.
7. Move
Speakers that stand in one spot and never gesture experience tension. In order
to relax, you need to move your arms and legs. Move naturally as if you are
having a one on one conversation.
8. Eye Contact
Give your presentation to one person at a time. Relate with your audience as
individuals. Look into people’s eyes as you speak, and connect with them. This
makes your presentation more personal and helps you to relax because you feel
less isolated from the audience. As you progress, it also enables you to gain
valuable feedback from your audience.
© 2002 Success Builders International
Version 4.0
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