How to Manage Speaking Nerves
Why is it good to feel nervous?
Specific Solutions To Manage Speaking Anxiety
The purpose of my next four posts is to give you specific ideas about how to control your nerves. The concept I’ve created may be the worst pun I’ve ever created, but it works. Here it is:
When I Mean When I Write ‘Preparation?’
There are several steps to this:
STEP 1: Write your presentation on paper/type it on a Word document. Some people say, oh, I can wing it. I know my material. That’s great. I’m sure you can. But if you want to have a memorable presentation that sticks with the audience, then you need to write it down.
In its first form, it will be a mess. In fact, one of my coaches, Craig Valentine, says, a message is a mess with age. Get the messy part out on the paper. Write out every thought you have about your topic.
STEP 2: Put it into some kind of order. Use a foundational concept, the main idea of your talk. Determine how you’ll support that concept — stories, analogies, or statistics. decide how you’re going to open and conclude.
STEP 3: Practice. By yourself two or three times to get comfortable with the flow. Then, go speak to people and get feedback.
STEP 4: Gather all evaluations. Review them. Integrate the suggestions which are relevant to your talk. Make those changes.
STEP 5: Repeat the process.
Are You Willing to Do What the Best Do?
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Do you routinely have to stand up and present to others? Would you like to become the kind of speaker who is more confident, impactful and influential? If so, then you should join us for the complimentary webinar Stand Up, Speak Up, Stand OUT!
In this program, you’ll pick up 3 fundamental concepts that enable you to present with more confidence, whether you are speaking 1-on-1 to clients, or to a room full of people.
Attend this event and you’ll discover:
1) THE Key to managing speaking anxiety.
2) How to avoid overloading others with too many PowerPoint slides or too much information
3) The most important skill you can develop to deliver your talks more dynamically.
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Michael’s mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - it’s a learnable skill. Once he discovered this ‘secret’ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the world’s best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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Thank you for sharing these tips! I can’t wait to try them out, but I do have one question. Do you think it would be a good idea to utilize CBD products before speaking to help calm my nerves or would it be a waste of money?
Rick, my apologies as your comment just came to my attention. I don’t think using CBD before you speak would be a good idea. The ability to handle your nerves will come with repetition, making mistakes, and learning from them. The goal is not to get rid of nerves, but to manage them.