Practice out loud.

Imagine that you have decided to take part in a bicycle race. Now you only bike about every other month. In three months you will be biking sixty miles a day for five days. Your friends are participating so you do want to be able to do the race. What do you start to do? You start to bike. You don’t think about biking in your head. You actually get out there and ride the bike. This is what you need to do if you want for feel confident as a presenter. You have to practice out loud, not in your mind, and do a real rehearsal before the actual presentation. Practicing out loud with an audience, even just a couple people, builds confidence.

Practice using the technology.

As the technology gets more and more sophisticated, you need to practice using it. What does that technology include? You will probably have a LCD Projector. If you have one of the newer models, the projector will do all the work. It will focus your screen and it will match its resolution with your computer’s resolution. If you are using animation you want to be sure your laptop is fast enough that the animations work well. That means you practice your talk with the animations and see how long it takes for them to come up on the screen. You can get nervous if you have to wait a while for your screens to change. You need a remote mouse. Use it and see if you like how it feels in your hand and if it is easy to use.

Breathe.

Practice filling your diaphragm with air. If you speak from your throat and not from you diaphragm, you will start to feel anxious. Lie flat on the floor with your knees bent and breathe, filling up your stomach and diaphragm. You want to learn how to fill your chest with air so that when you are standing and feel your voice start to crack you can breathe through your body to relax yourself.

Put yourself in a good mood.

The better you feel the easier it is to give a talk.

Create a group supporters.

Have some colleagues and friends who will give you the pep talk you need. Plant people in your audience who will give you smiles of encouragement as you talk.

Really look at your audience.

When you really look around at people, you will see that most people have a positive look on their face. They want you to do well. They’ve been in your place and know what it’s like. Remember, they want to feel comfortable and the way for them to feel comfortable is for you to act confident, enthusiastic, and pleased to be speaking.

back to overview »