“I’m nervous” are the two most said words in the history of public speaking. There is a mis-conception that being nervous is a rare occurrence when speaking in front of others. Why would you think you should be comfortable getting up & talking in front of a group of people? There is nothing that is comfortable about public speaking. Congratulations for stepping outside your comfort zone & doing it anyway.

The key is not to let the nervousness take over & show the audience that you are nervous. You could be ready to vomit & run off the stage but the audience does not need to know that. The audience needs to believe you are in complete, confident control of your presentation.

You get up, there is a rush of adrenaline to which your body has a reaction. It is adrenaline that causes butterflies in the stomach or clammy hands. This physical reaction snowballs into you feeling nervous and then acting upon that feeling with throat clearing, hand wringing and deer in the headlights eye contact.

Behaviors are the key to masking any type of nervous habits that you tend to display. The two best behaviors are to 1. breathe & 2. move.

1.You hear “take a breath” often enough for it to sound like a cliche, but breathing helps to calm the adrenaline coursing through your body. Take three deep breaths while clenching and unclenching your fists before you get up. This will move that adrenaline through your body and clear your mind.

2. Move! If you stay rooted in one spot then you will have nothing but to worry over your nervousness. Moving with a purpose towards member of the audience will help quell the flood of adrenaline and make you appear confident by owning your space. Just don’t pace 🙂

For more tips visit www.publicpresenceagency.com