Relieve Anxiety Of Presentations Essays Example

Anxiety and fear of public speaking and presentation is experienced by most of the people. The fear of one’s own ability and the attention that is placed by the audience while speaking cause anxiety. Even the best of speakers and the most practiced presenters do get nervous. By learning to reduce speech anxiety it is possible to give an effective presentation. The ways to relieve anxiety is discussed below.
Before making a presentation it is important to know the audience and what is expected by them. This will help to reduce the fear of talking to unknown people and also helps to have control over the audience. The material to be presented should be interesting to the audience and must be prepared well .It should not be too long which would make the audience impatient. From my experience when I see that the audience is restless I get nervous which will make me lose my confidence. The audience participation makes the presentation more conversational .Finding friendly faces and making eye contact can reduce anxiety. This helps to control nervousness as it gives a break from getting the total attention. Presentation needs to be structured .Writing key phrases will help to remember the order in which it should be delivered .Practice well before the presentation to be confident .This can be done by audiotaping as it will show where changes are needed. Appearance also matters when facing the audience. Eating healthy with proper rest and comfortable clothes gives confidence. Deep breaths, drinking water and walking a bit calms and relaxes the nerves.
Drinking water helps to avoid what is known as cotton mouth, which is when the mouth becomes dry and the lips turns white due to anxiety. Most times nervousness is experienced just before the turn to speak. Efforts should be made to remain calm by visualizing something pleasant, keeping a smile or diverting thoughts to something humorous. Mistakes may occur, but it has to be managed in a cool way and should keep going. Observing experiences of another speaker also helps to gain confidence. Visualizing a positive outcome will have positive effects. Pausing and making the speech conversational will help to remain calm. Getting familiar with the surrounding and the equipment is also important.
Nervousness can be controlled by developing a strategy to use that energy positively. It is not a problem which cannot be solved. Good preparation and practice with physical relaxation methods will help to remain calm and give an excellent presentation. Confidence can be got by learning the skills through practice and managing nervousness.