Presentation nerves & anxiety
Some nerves are good – they will help you perform better. Be aware of how your body and mind interact.
- How you think – ‘I’ll forget it all’, ‘I’ll panic’, ‘No one will listen’, ‘People will laugh’
- How you feel physically – ‘Butterflies’, ‘Sweating’, ‘Shaking’
- How you behave – ‘Quiet voice’, ‘Rushed speech’, ‘Poor eye contact’, ‘Nervous laughter’
- Your emotional mood – ‘Despondent’, ‘Worried’, ‘Overwhelmed’
(Padesky and Greenberger, 1995, cited in Gallagher, 2016, 174)
Improving your thoughts
You could try the following…
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses
- Identify areas for improvement
- Replace unhelpful feelings with helpful ones
- It will seem strange at first if you’ve spent a long time thinking negatively
- Negative thoughts are unrealistic – they don’t usually happen and you’re setting yourself up for failure
- Think of a positive counter thought to every negative one
- You may have to try this repeatedly
Some positive things you can think/do to improve your feelings and performance:
- Take prompt cards to aid your memory
- Rehearse so you’re sure of what you’re doing
- Be prepared to laugh at yourself
- Relax before the presentation: chat about positive things, look after yourself
- Show enthusiasm and confidence during the presentation even if you don’t feel like it
Although you might want to get the presentation over with as soon as possible, talking fast will lose your audience and give off a nervous vibe
Keelan Balderson, 1st year Journalism
TEDTalk