For anyone who gets a little nervous talking in front of people, it has been proven that concern over appearing nervous doesn’t matter, as people cannot even see it. To reduce your nervousness, try the following:
- Become The Subject Matter Expert — You can quickly impress your audience by having a clear command of your subject matter. If you know your data, content, and handouts cold, you will woo your audience within a short period of time.
- Limit How Much “Copy” You Use On Each Slide — Go through each slide and make sure that your copy is “bullet point” driven vs. “sentence” driven. Your presentation should be built around the highlights of your subject matter; you are there to expand on each point, for you want your audience focused on you and not the projected screen. If you are giving a detailed presentation, make sure you have a supplemental handout to support your presentation.
- Control Which Questions You Will Answer — There is nothing worse than seeing a speaker get sidetracked with irrelevant questions. If someone asks you a question that is not relative to your content, address it by telling that person that you will answer his/her question after your presentation.
- Slow Down — If you are nervous, there is a good chance that you have sped up your speech or skipped over certain things. Keep little reminders in your presentation to prompt you to slow down. You could have a little stop sign in your presentation that acts like a trigger.
- Walk Around The Room If Possible — When giving a presentation where the venue is more casual, make an effort to walk around the room and interact with some of the people who are watching you. You will be surprised how this will help you become more “at ease” during the presentation.
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