It’s normal to be scared of public speaking, especially if you haven’t done it much.

One week before the presentation: text and the right mindset

1. The most common cause of stress before a presentation is worrying about what the audience will say about you. You won’t know this in advance anyway, so there’s no point in worrying about it.
2. Prepare your text in advance; you can even write an essay on the topic of your presentation. Calculate the time and make sure you can fit within the allotted time.
3. Rehearse, but in moderation. You can memorize individual fragments, but don’t memorize everything, otherwise your presentation will come across as dull and dry. Jot down some key points to help you stay on topic.
4. Think about transitions and greetings—you definitely need to say hello, but there’s no need to introduce yourself, especially if you’ve already been announced, unless you find it difficult to start speaking without doing so. If you do introduce yourself, use a phrase like, “As I’ve already been introduced, I am…”
5. Think about your facial expressions and gestures, record your speech on video, and watch your performance from the outside. Practice holding the microphone—not too low and far away, otherwise no one will hear you, but also not too high and close to your lips—the shadow from the microphone will fall on your face, and the sound will be loud and unpleasant. By the way, the radio signal transmitter is located at the bottom of the microphone, so it is advisable not to grab it with your hand and create interference, otherwise your speech will ring and be interrupted in the recording or broadcast. Hold the microphone in the middle.
6. Visualize your fear. Most often, it is the unknown that is frightening, especially if you rarely speak in public, so try to rehearse your speech in advance and several times.
7. Continuing the thought about fear of the unknown. It is impossible to foresee everything, but it is worth thinking through the details. For example, find out in advance what room you will be presenting in, whether it has a projector, screen, and everything else that is important to you. Send your presentation to the organizers a few days in advance, and bring a flash drive with two copies: one in pptx and one in pdf (the latter is just in case pptx is not supported, especially if you use audio and video in your presentation). Arrive at the venue some time before the event and inspect the room — pay attention to where the equipment is located and where the lights are directed. If there are steps, climb them several times so you don’t trip. Check to see if there are any wires on the floor that you could get tangled up in. Check that the microphone and slide control remote are working properly. Think about where on the stage or in the auditorium you should stand so that you don’t block the board or screen and so that the lighting is good.

A few hours before: calm down and pull yourself together

1. Stress is also a state of the body. There are two types of natural reactions to stressful situations: fight or flight. To give the body strength, cortisol, the stress hormone, is produced. Give your body a chance to “use up” this hormone: do some exercises, wave your arms around, or, as Steve Jobs did, do a few squats.
2. If your palms are sweaty, wet the back of your elbows with cool water.
3. Do some breathing exercises or take a few deep breaths and drink some water, and just before your presentation, look in the mirror and smile at yourself for a few minutes. Your mood is guaranteed to improve.
4. Shortly before the performance, it is better to be in a bright and spacious room — in dark and cramped rooms, we usually feel anxious. Try to relax — take a comfortable position and stand like that for a few minutes. You can eat a piece of dark chocolate.
5. If you are not the first to speak, observe the others: how they move, how they speak, how they behave in general — this way you can learn something useful for yourself and avoid repeating other people’s mistakes.

On stage: speak!

1. If you are very nervous, do not look your audience in the eye during your presentation. This is psychologically difficult, and if the person you are looking at suddenly laughs or leaves the room, you will become even more confused. Look slightly above the heads of the people in the audience or hall—for example, at the back row.
2. During your presentation, try not to walk from corner to corner—this will distract the audience and prevent them from looking at the slides. If you cannot speak without moving, mentally draw a square on the floor and move within its boundaries, like a king in chess.

Good luck with your presentations!

And remember that your audience does not want you to fail, and that it is even beneficial to be nervous before a presentation. Stress hormones help us by increasing our concentration and improving our intellectual abilities, i.e., they help us to be more focused, concentrate better, think faster, and make decisions more quickly. Therefore, if you respond to a stressful situation correctly, you can even use stress to your advantage.