How To Deal With Nerves Before A Presentation

There’s a lot of situations that produce anxiety, but giving a presentation is quite possibly the most nerve-wracking off the professional workplace. it could be a presentation in a small meeting, or a pitch to the board, or an address to the whole company or a keynote speech at a conference. Whatever it is, standing in front of others and hoping you don’t forget your lines…or say them wrong…is a recipe for a high level of anxiety.

I get asked about nerves often because…well…most of my job is giving speeches. So, inevitably while I’m waiting backstage someone will ask “Are you nervous? Do you still get nervous?” Or some variation of that question. And I reply the exact same thing every time.

I say no…I’m excited.

It’s not boastful, it’s actually me trying to hack my own psychology. Sure I get butterflies in my stomach, but I learned how to reframe them. A recent study by Alison Woods Burns of the Harvard Business School that looked at anxiety producing situations and the best strategies to deal with them. Burns divided study participants into two groups and then exposed them to an anxiety producing situation. She used a range of different situations, from singing karaoke to giving a presentation.

To the first group, she asked them to repeat the affirmation “I am calm” to try and soothe the…