We just finished one of our presentation skills discussion groups at Hong Kong University, our topic for the day was dealing with nerves.
We talked about the usual exercises we can do to calm our nerves; preparing, practicing, breathing exercises, imagining the audience as harmless children etc. But the one thing that stuck with me was the concept of visualizing your presentation as a success.
Now I’m not going to get all “law of attraction” on you, I’ll leave that to Rhonda Byrne but I do want to talk about a technique that is used by most successful public speakers and the majority of professional athletes.
Before Tiger Woods even sets foot on the first tee of a golf course, you can be sure that he will have played at least 18 holes of golf perfectly, in his head! He will go through each stage of his game, imagining as if he is really playing. He chooses his club, walks over to the ball, makes his back swing and then whack, he hits it. All flawless yet imaginary. He will go through each hole making sure he plays the perfect round.
When it comes time for Tiger to walk to the first tee, he already knows what he is going to do, what club he will pick and where he is going to hit the ball. He knows this because he’s already done it many times in his head.
There is no doubt that Tiger is one of the best athletes in the world. And what I really believe gives him the cutting edge is not the time he spends on the course practicing (although that certainly helps.) It’s the mental state that he takes when he is playing. He has said many times before that each and every golf competition he enters, he does so believing that he will win.
The same applies for your presentation skills, sure you need to spend the time practicing and honing your delivery, I’m not discounting that. But what I think will give you the cutting edge is your presentation is to visualize it as a success. After you’ve practiced and rehearsed and made the necessary changes, take the time to prepare yourself mentally.
Begin to imagine that you are giving a flawless presentation. Imagine the whole process from being introduced through to the audience erupting in rapturous applause when you’ve finished.
When you get up to give your presentation, you won’t need to worry about what you are going to do because you will have done it many times before!
What other tips do you have for calming presentation nerves? Leave a comment and let us know.
