No matter how cleverly you construct a presentation—no matter how eye-catching your slides or how insightful your anecdotes—none of it will do you any good if you walk out onto the stage, knees knocking, and freeze!

Whether this is your first presentation, or your hundredth, almost everyone suffers from some level of stage fright or performance anxiety. Actors and singers suffer from the same feelings, and many say they never get over them.

Carly Simon and Barbra Streisand for years refused to tour due to their incapacitating stage fright. Another mega- talented Grammy® Award-winning artist, Taylor Swift, also gets stage fright before performing in front of thousands. She uses positive self-talk to control these feelings—literally talking to herself in front of a mirror to calm herself down before going on stage to perform. Swift repeatedly tells herself that she is “going to be OK.” Given her sold-out performances, I’m guessing this technique works and that she was more than OK.

There’s no need to put yourself through hours, days, or even weeks of terror anticipating a presentation. Use the time to prepare and practice so you truly own the material. Nothing will replace that! At that point, what is the worst that can happen?

Most anxious speakers fall prey to one or more of these six common fears:

1. Fear of your mind going blank. This can and does happen. Early in her career, Barbra Streisand forgot the words to one of her songs mid-concert and refused to appear onstage again for many years. But a blank mind doesn’t have to spell disaster for your presentation. Thorough practice really does limit the possibility of your mind going blank. That’s why I don’t suggest that you memorize your material when you practice. Say it differently each time—that way you “own” the flow and content and don’t get thrown by questions or a momentary blank mind. But if it happens, pause, look at your notes to pick up again where you left off, or move on to your next thought. Don’t be afraid to use your notes to get back on track. If you make a mistake, correct it later if it’s important, or let it slide if unimportant.

2. Fear of looking nervous: trembling hands, sweating, and/or being flushed. Yes, this can be embarrassing, but there are many techniques to help you control these. You need never call attention to physical symptoms of anxiety. If you keep your focus on the audience and not on yourself, the symptoms will dissipate.
3. Fear that someone will challenge you and you won’t know the answer. Don’t lose sleep over this one because it’s OK to not know the answer to every question. Honest! Just remember: NEVER fake it. Of course, you should always anticipate (and prepare responses to) questions that may be asked. Along with preparing for the audience’s questions, practice this statement: “I don’t have the answer to that; let me research it and get back to you.”
4. Fear the audience won’t think you know enough to be an expert and have no business acting like one. If you have backed up your material with facts and figures, and anecdotes to illustrate your points, this shouldn’t be a problem. Do your homework!

5. Fear of a bad presentation ruining your reputation. This is a legitimate fear, particularly if you are presenting to senior leaders. If you haven’t prepared thoroughly, including taking time to know your audience, a bad presentation may damage your reputation. When you’ve prepared, you might still flounder a bit presenting live, but chances are it won’t be as bad as you think. If you do receive negative feedback, address this concern head on and show that you are working to eliminate similar errors in the future. This one blemish probably will not ruin your reputation.
6. Fear of making a fool of yourself (or being judged or ridiculed). Of course, this is the biggie that probably underlies all the others. If you’re well prepared and have practiced enough, everything should go smoothly. It’s important that the audience feels your enthusiasm for your subject, even if you’ve made some mistakes or have lost your place. A sincere presenter doing his or her best, who’s obviously well prepared and interested in the audience, will not be judged harshly. So, relax.

The first step is to accept that stage fright is a normal feeling, experienced by most people.

Methods for Beating Stage Fright

Once you’ve identified your fears, you can begin working to manage them.

Self-Talk Builds Self-Esteem

Your internal conversations build or destroy your self- image. If you can regulate your self-talk to upgrade your self-image, you can convince yourself of almost anything. If you walk into a presentation believing you are going to fail, you probably will. Positive self-talk is an effective means of controlling stage fright. The goal is to be inwardly cocky and outwardly confident. No one wants to see an uptight, nervous speaker.

I frequently use a self-talk mantra: “I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad you’re here. I know that I know.” I repeat this mantra over and over to myself until I am relaxed. The message you are sending to yourself is one of joy and ease. It expresses your pleasure in being there to present. It says, “I’m thinking about you,” to the audience and communicates that you have taken the time and effort to prepare a presentation worth giving and hearing.

Visualize Success

Picture yourself in front of the audience. You are composed, confident, and in control. In your mind’s eye, you watch yourself as you successfully engage the attendees and deliver an audience-centered presentation. You may want to include a positive response by the audience. Standing ovation, anyone?

By picturing yourself in a successful situation, you are able to give yourself the confidence you need to achieve your goal. Visualization techniques are time tested and proven successful by everyone from politicians to Olympic athletes.

Use Relaxation Techniques

Before hitting the “stage,” do some gentle stretches, toe touches, head/neck rolls, and shoulder rolls. They will loosen you up and let some of that tension go.

If you are seated at a dais or table in the room, and waiting to present, do some deep breathing right at the table and extend your body. Both of the following deep breathing exercises help slow your heartbeat. As you do these breathing techniques, you also slow down the adrenaline surge that’s making you tense.

Deep breathing I: Take a deep breath in through your nose and tighten everything in your body, starting at your head, down to your neck, shoulders, hands, fingers, legs and toes. Hold the breath for six seconds, then slowly let go of the tension in your body as you exhale through your mouth to a count of 10.

Deep breathing II: Take a deep breath and clasp your hands together. Hold your breath as you squeeze your palms together tightly. Let go of your hands and exhale at the same time.

Control what you can

There are many things you can do to ensure a successful presentation. Doing them will take a load off your mind and make you that much more comfortable.

1. Arrive early. This gives you a chance to relax, talk to audience members, survey your surroundings, make a trip to the restroom, organize your thoughts, and check the facilities, as well as any equipment you may be using. Rushing in at the last minute does you a disservice and amps up the anxiety. We all need the time to mentally prepare ourselves for the event at hand.

2. Eat lightly. Avoid having a heavy meal right before you present. This also means no alcohol or dairy products (they create dry mouth), and nothing that might cause your stomach to be upset. Bananas are a good choice, they are both light and filling—and the potassium will give you extra energy! Avoid taking medications that might make you drowsy. You don’t want to appear tired during your presentation.

3. Use humor in your presentation to help release endorphins. Laughter is a great tension reliever. This helps you and your audience members relax.
4. Use interactive techniques. Plan to ask audience members a question and get them to raise their hands. Or, have them brainstorm, or talk to a partner, or do any other interactive activities you can imagine. This will take some of the focus away from you, and put it onto them. You can use these moments to take a deep breath and relax.

At one presentation that I attended, the speaker had the entire audience learn a goofy little dance. We were all laughing and by the time we sat down, we were so relaxed and in such a good mood, that the speaker could have done no wrong!

This probably won’t work at a board presentation, but getting the audience involved does help. Even some board members like to have fun.

Got more stage fright symptoms?

We’ve got the solutions!

For dry mouth	Do’s	Don’ts
	Lightly coat your teeth with petroleum jelly; it will stop your lips from sticking to your teeth Lightly bite the tip of your tongue (this helps youto salivate) Drink room temperature or warm water (with lemon, if available)	No milk products, soda, alcoholic beverages, caffeine, sugar
For sweaty hands/body	Use talcum powder or corn starch Carry a handkerchief
If your voice is shaky	Project your voice to the back row of the audience	Avoid being soft spoken
If your hands are shaky	Use deliberate gestures, that are controlled	Don’t over gesture Don’t hold anything that makes the shaking noticeable
If your legs are shaky or your knees are knocking:	Move; take two to three steps	Don’t lock your knees together
If your heartbeat is rapid	Do some deep breathing	Avoid caffeine

You aren’t nervous, you’re excited!

There’s no one method of controlling stage fright that works for everyone; the most important thing is what works for you. If trying to calm down isn’t helping, researchers at Harvard Business School have come up with a new strategy to manage anxiety: getting excited!

According to their research (published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology), this is effective because it forces people to think about the positives, rather than their fears.

Study author Alison Wood Brooks, an assistant professor of business administration, said, “People have a very strong intuition that trying to calm down is the best way to cope with their anxiety, but that can be very difficult and ineffective. When people feel anxious and try to calm down, they are thinking about all the things that could go badly. When they are excited, they are thinking about how things could go well.”

Makes sense to me. I know that when I get excited about something, there’s a bit of an adrenaline rush that feels similar to anxiety, only it’s pleasurable, not debilitating. Is it possible that the feeling of excitement can simply overshadow the feeling of fear? According to the study’s researchers, it might be easier for people to view anxiety as excitement.

One of the study’s experiments involved 140 people who were asked to write a persuasive public speech on a specific topic. In a (successful) attempt to increase participants’ anxiety, their speeches were videotaped. They were told that their performances would later be judged by a committee.

Here’s the fascinating part: Each participant was advised to say either, “I am excited” or, “I am calm,” before delivering their speeches. According to the study results, participants who used the phrase “I am excited,” gave lengthier and more compelling speeches than those who used “I am calm.” They were also judged as more effective and relaxed.

“The way we talk about our feelings has a strong influence on how we actually feel,” Brooks said. “Even if they don’t believe it at first, saying, ‘I’m excited’ out loud increases authentic feelings of excitement.”

So, apparently, excited is the new relaxed.

If all else fails, keep in mind that in every presentation, there are three components: you (the speaker), the speech material (content), and the audience.

Note where the arrows are pointing. You, the speaker, need to be focused on the material and the audience. You need to make sure that the audience is getting the message.

Where are the arrows pointing when you are nervous? Back at you. You are thinking one of three things:

• I should have said …
• He doesn’t like me
• I forgot to say …

“I, I, I.” Wrong!

Instead, stay focused on the audience. Ensure that they are connecting with the information. Forget about yourself.

Unless you are a rock star, the audience members came to get information that would benefit them. So, you can invite your ego to get out of the way!

Come with an attitude of service, not ego. By keeping this in mind (and having done your preparation and practice), you will have no trouble turning your stage fright symptoms into excitement!