Presentation Nerves: making them work for you!

Are feelings of abject terror coursing through your body? Do you feel gripped with fear and nerves? Are you experiencing a racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, a dry mouth or throat, shortness of breath and a sick feeling in your stomach? Are you unable to think properly, and are beginning to forget everything you had planned to say? If your answer to some of these questions is yes, you may be about to give a presentation!

Well, not only can I take the sting out of your nerves – I can also tell you how to make your nerves work for you – to your advantage!

If you are really short of time you will find the exercises at the bottom of the article particularly useful.

You don’t have ‘nerves’
Right – first up, let’s dispel this notion of nerves. You don’t have ‘nerves’. If you went to a doctor and said ‘I’ve got nerves’, he would tell you there is no such diagnosis. Nerves are long fibres, or bundles of fibres that transmit messages from your brain to the rest of you body and vice versa. What you are in fact experiencing is simply the effect of extra adrenaline being pumped around your body in response to a threat. This threat is the thought of having to stand up and say something reasonably sensible and coherent in front of a (possibly large) group of people, all of whom are going to be staring at you!

‘Fight or flight’
It’s the age-old ‘fight or flight’ physiology. The adrenaline surge makes you feel like you want to take flight and run away – but remember; it can also empower you to fight! Your body’s natural booster system can enable you to stand your ground and win the day.

So why is this important? Well, it is important to dispel this idea of ‘nerves’, because labelling your symptoms as ‘nerves’ will only make things worse. Let’s face it, if you simply stand or sit still and say the word ‘nerves’ 5 to 10 times – you will start to feel more nervous. Try it! However, if you realise it is simply adrenaline being released into your system that is making you feel uncomfortable – and that this is a perfectly normal response to stress (it happens to everyone to some degree) – then some of the ‘mystique’ of this condition is immediately removed.

Excitement!
It gets even better when you realise that some of the symptoms you are experiencing could have another label – excitement! Now you may well be thinking – ‘why on earth would I be excited about the prospect of giving a presentation?’ But, some of the symptoms of excitement are the same as those of ‘nerves’, because they’re all caused by adrenaline. So, when you’re experiencing butterflies in your stomach, your heart’s racing, and you’re breathing a little faster – remember that some of those feelings are because you are excited as well as afraid. After all, the opportunity to profile oneself in front of a group of people is both exciting and scary all at the same time.

So, the state of nerves doesn’t even exist. Your feelings are simply a side effect of adrenaline, and this is partly because you are excited about the prospect of giving a presentation – even if you refuse to admit it to yourself!

Using the power
Believe it or not – it now gets even better because the energy you get from an increase in adrenaline production is actually one of your biggest assets. Remember fight or flight. Well, if you choose not to run away, then your body’s autonomic nervous system will provide you with lots of energy so you can stick around and do a great job.

One of the major problems that people face when presenting is a lack of passion and energy. It’s pretty easy to keep your energy levels up for the first 5 to 10 minutes, but after that many people start to ‘drop off’ in their delivery and sink into a monotone speech pattern. Your audience largely depends on you for their ability to be attentive. If your energy levels drop, then your audience is highly likely to lose interest. Anything that will give you extra energy is important to you, so the energy that adrenaline provides is extremely valuable.

An extra boost
It’s a bit like having an on-board battery. But, if you try to suppress the adrenaline you will be wasting that valuable (battery) energy on a fight you won’t win. Trying to get control of your adrenaline is like fighting a tiger. Instead, welcome the free energy source it brings you. If you do this on a regular basis you will find that the more negative symptoms will quickly dissipate, and you will be left with a well of positive adrenaline energy to channel into your presentation. You may not be able to fight the tiger, but you can tame him.

Taming the tiger
What if all that still isn’t working for you? What if the fear is overpowering and you really can’t manage to think clearly enough to channel your adrenaline energy in a positive way. Well here are some simple and practical steps that you can take to reduce any overpowering effects of adrenaline. Firstly, go for a brisk walk (if possible) before you are due to present. This will lessen some of the adrenaline symptoms as the effect of the hormone is used up during physical exercise.

There are two other physical ‘exercises’ you can use to calm your body down and lessen your degree of stress, and both are simple and quick.

Exercise 1 - deep breathing
The first is deep breathing; slowly, in through your nose … hold for four seconds … then out through your mouth. Then repeat times two. This may seem too easy and basic to be worthwhile, but the simple practice of deep breathing has been scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, heart rate and respiration.

Exercise 2 - clench both hands
For the next exercise, first clench both hands into tight fists, then push your arms and hands away from your body. As you push away, open your hands out wide. Again, repeat this a couple of times.

Both of these exercises will make you feel more relaxed almost immediately. And they can be undertaken fairly quickly without attracting too much attention – although for best results they should not be rushed. If you are feeling particularly stressed then you can do these exercises in tandem. Clench your fists as you breath in through your nose, and then extend your arms and hands slowly as you breathe out through your mouth.

Exercise 3 - You can actually choose to feel good
Lastly (believe it not) you can decide on your emotional response to a threat or stressor. Again it takes practice, but it can be done. You can actually choose to feel good or bad about something. If you want to feel good about the whole presentation experience then decide you are going to. It may feel impossible at first because you don’t feel good; and for many of us our emotions are very strong messengers for our mood (i.e. feelings of worry, sadness or fear are so strong that it appears they cannot be changed). But you really can change your emotions by thinking differently. It’s not easy, but it is possible; and it’s a lot less time consuming than visualisation. Take a few deep breaths; then ask yourself, would I rather go through this presentation in a state of panic and terror (and probably do a bad job), or would I rather be calm and have some fun (and perform well)?

After all, whatever you decide you still have to deliver the presentation. So, if you have to do it, why not decide to enjoy it instead of worry about it?

Mick Miller is Director of Power To Present www.powertopresent.com

References
1. Mori H, Yamamoto H, Kuwashima M, Saito S, Ukai H, Hirao K, Yamauchi M, Umemura S. How does deep breathing affect office blood pressure and pulse rate? Hypertens Res. 2005 Jun;28(6):499-504.
2. Miller KM, Perry PA. Relaxation technique and postoperative pain in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Heart Lung. 1990 Mar;19(2):136-46.