As a professional speaker coach, I’ve seen it all. Presentations that have made the audience gasp, cry, and beg for more, and presentations that have made the audience search wildly in their bags for their phones to check their mail the entire time. What makes a great presentation great? Oh, sweetie, so many things. Too many to mention here. However, I’d like to give you 1 Golden Nugget of Wisdomwhich will help you rock your next presentation. Or meeting. Or negotiation session. Or job interview. Oh, the list is endless…..
One of the biggest ‘Awesome Presentation (And Other Forms Of Comunication) Killers’ is nerves. Do you ever get nervous before you have to give a presentation? Or before you walk into a high-level meeting? Dry lips, shaky hands, sweating like a monkey….the works! I’ve been there, believe me. (Although I never get nervous, I get “really excited to do this!!!”)
This simple technique will help you deal with those nerves. If you get nervous, you start to breathe higher up in your body. This could even get to a point where you will actually start to hyperventilate. There’s no need to let that happen. Managing your breath is the first step to slaying that big nervous dragon that lives inside you and feeds on your fears. Let’s slay that dragon together in just 3 minutes. What you need to do is to sit comfortably, with your feet on the floor (unless you are very short and/or young and your feet don’t reach the floor, then just dangle them over the edge of your chair). I’d like you to breathe in through your nose, for a count of 4. Then hold that breath for a count of 7. Then exhale, as slowly as possible, from your belly, while making the ‘f’ sound, for a count of 8. Then repeat. In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. If you do this just 5 times you’ll feel a slight difference already. Your shoulders will drop and there should be less tension in your neck. Keep this up for as many breaths as you need to feel more relaxed. The important thing is that you exhale longer than you inhale.
You can do this simple exercise before a stressful meeting, while you are stuck in traffic, in a far too long supermarket line….anytime, any place! I have been doing this for a while and it makes such a difference in how I deal with stress! I now pass out flowers when I’m on a supermarket line. At least, in the supermarkets where they still allow me in.
If you feel relaxed, your audience will be relaxed. There will be an open communicative mood in which everyone feels….kind of groovy. And who wouldn’t want that? If I have to choose between sweating like a monkey and feeling groovy, you know which one I’d choose!
I hope that you found this tip valuable. If you’d like more coaching on presentation or communication skills, just hit the ‘reply’ button and send me a message! Always happy to hear from you!
Thank you so much for reading, dear. If there’s something you’d like me to cover in a future newsletter, just let me know! I’m here for you, after all!
Enjoy today. It will never come back again.
See you next week!
X buffi