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Wellbeing
Managing anxiety and presentations
Wellbeing
Managing anxiety and presentations
Wellbeing
Managing anxiety and presentations
Summary
Anxiety about giving a presentation is extremely common, and you can assume that most of your peers will also be feeling apprehensive. However, the key is to be able to manage anxiety so that it doesn’t negatively impact your presentation.
Here are 4 tips that will help:
Practice
Refine
Visualise
Prepare
Summary
Anxiety about giving a presentation is extremely common, and you can assume that most of your peers will also be feeling apprehensive. However, the key is to be able to manage anxiety so that it doesn’t negatively impact your presentation.
Here are 4 tips that will help:
Practice
Refine
Visualise
Prepare
Read this article
Practice
The single best thing you can do to help control your nerves is practice. Practice in the mirror. Practice with a friend or family member. Practice with someone over Zoom or Teams - they can turn their camera off at first to make it easier.
Frequent exposure will help you get comfortable with the content, and understand that although presentations are intimidating you will get through it. So practice, practice, practice!
Refine
When practising, take notice of any specific areas that cause you to feel particularly nervous. If you are less confident about what you are saying, take some time to know the subject fully. Worried about how to pronounce a word? Reword the presentation to remove areas you are struggling with, or just use a thesaurus to find a simpler to pronounce word.
Visualise
Imagine yourself giving a great presentation. Use your brain's ability to visualise that to your advantage. Picture giving the presentation in great detail. Imagine what it will feel like, and how you will begin, picture the audience and room, and consider whether you will sit, stand or walk about.
This technique is effective for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’ll help you to prepare and make sure you remember your key content. Secondly, after you give your imagined presentation you will feel as if you’ve done it before, and your actual presentation will be much easier.
Prepare
Our in-depth article - How to prepare for a presentation gives a full breakdown, but for a quick synopsis, you need to:
Work out what you need to take with you and pack your bag.
Charge your phone and laptop.
Print out any notes or your script.
Pack a bottle of water.
If you can, work out what you’ll wear - choose something comfortable and that you feel confident in. The aim is to make tomorrow as easy as possible.
On the day of your presentation, reduce any sources of stress or anxiety you can. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready and get there to remove the stress of running late. It may be useful to have a playlist or a podcast ready to listen to that will help you feel positive.
Read this article
Practice
The single best thing you can do to help control your nerves is practice. Practice in the mirror. Practice with a friend or family member. Practice with someone over Zoom or Teams - they can turn their camera off at first to make it easier.
Frequent exposure will help you get comfortable with the content, and understand that although presentations are intimidating you will get through it. So practice, practice, practice!
Refine
When practising, take notice of any specific areas that cause you to feel particularly nervous. If you are less confident about what you are saying, take some time to know the subject fully. Worried about how to pronounce a word? Reword the presentation to remove areas you are struggling with, or just use a thesaurus to find a simpler to pronounce word.
Visualise
Imagine yourself giving a great presentation. Use your brain's ability to visualise that to your advantage. Picture giving the presentation in great detail. Imagine what it will feel like, and how you will begin, picture the audience and room, and consider whether you will sit, stand or walk about.
This technique is effective for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’ll help you to prepare and make sure you remember your key content. Secondly, after you give your imagined presentation you will feel as if you’ve done it before, and your actual presentation will be much easier.
Prepare
Our in-depth article - How to prepare for a presentation gives a full breakdown, but for a quick synopsis, you need to:
Work out what you need to take with you and pack your bag.
Charge your phone and laptop.
Print out any notes or your script.
Pack a bottle of water.
If you can, work out what you’ll wear - choose something comfortable and that you feel confident in. The aim is to make tomorrow as easy as possible.
On the day of your presentation, reduce any sources of stress or anxiety you can. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready and get there to remove the stress of running late. It may be useful to have a playlist or a podcast ready to listen to that will help you feel positive.
Written by Tim Jones
Written by Tim Jones
0:00/1:34
Summary
Anxiety about giving a presentation is extremely common, and you can assume that most of your peers will also be feeling apprehensive. However, the key is to be able to manage anxiety so that it doesn’t negatively impact your presentation.
Here are 4 tips that will help:
Practice
Refine
Visualise
Prepare
Read this article
Anxiety about giving a presentation is extremely common, and you can assume that most of your peers will also be feeling apprehensive. However, the key is to be able to manage anxiety so that it doesn’t negatively impact your presentation.
Here are 4 tips that will help:
Practice
Refine
Visualise
Prepare
Practice
The single best thing you can do to help control your nerves is practice. Practice in the mirror. Practice with a friend or family member. Practice with someone over Zoom or Teams - they can turn their camera off at first to make it easier.
Frequent exposure will help you get comfortable with the content, and understand that although presentations are intimidating you will get through it. So practice, practice, practice!
Refine
When practising, take notice of any specific areas that cause you to feel particularly nervous. If you are less confident about what you are saying, take some time to know the subject fully. Worried about how to pronounce a word? Reword the presentation to remove areas you are struggling with, or just use a thesaurus to find a simpler to pronounce word.
Visualise
Imagine yourself giving a great presentation. Use your brain's ability to visualise that to your advantage. Picture giving the presentation in great detail. Imagine what it will feel like, and how you will begin, picture the audience and room, and consider whether you will sit, stand or walk about.
This technique is effective for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’ll help you to prepare and make sure you remember your key content. Secondly, after you give your imagined presentation you will feel as if you’ve done it before, and your actual presentation will be much easier.
Prepare
Our in-depth article - How to prepare for a presentation gives a full breakdown, but for a quick synopsis, you need to:
Work out what you need to take with you and pack your bag.
Charge your phone and laptop.
Print out any notes or your script.
Pack a bottle of water.
If you can, work out what you’ll wear - choose something comfortable and that you feel confident in. The aim is to make tomorrow as easy as possible.
On the day of your presentation, reduce any sources of stress or anxiety you can. Give yourself plenty of time to get ready and get there to remove the stress of running late. It may be useful to have a playlist or a podcast ready to listen to that will help you feel positive.
Written by Tim Jones
Prior to co-founding Booost Education, Tim previously worked with neurodivergent and disabled students at various universities and trained as an assistive technology consultant with AbilityNet.
Written by Tim Jones
Prior to co-founding Booost Education, Tim previously worked with neurodivergent and disabled students at various universities and trained as an assistive technology consultant with AbilityNet.