How to deal with the physical symptoms when giving a presentation

There are a couple of basic principles that you need to know.

1.The more you try to control and hide your physical signs of anxiety (e.g., trembling hands, sweating, blushing, trembling voice, shortness of breath) the worse the symptoms will become. This is because as you try to control your symptoms, you focus more on the sensations, leading to more anxiety. Your mind does this because you recognize the symptoms as a threat and your mind starts to focus on the treat in an effort to disarm it. The problem is, this only leads to worsening symptoms. So the first thing you need to do is to put every ounce of your mental willpower toward focusing on something else (preferably the speech and the people you are talking to). Yes, I know how hard this will be, but it's not an all-or-nothing activity, so any amount of time or conscious space that you can refocus on to what you are trying to communicate to your audience will lead to decreasing physical sensations of anxiety. This is a proven method with immense power.

2.Your symptoms bother you more than they bother your audience. If you can pull it off, have someone video tape a speech or presentation so that you can see the proof of what I'm about to say. Your sweating, shaking, nervous-sounding voice, and other symptoms don't show as much as you think. The reason goes back to principle number one. Your mind is so focused on "the problem" of physical manifestations of anxiety that you have a magnified sense of how prevalent and obvious those symptoms are. Other people are used to seeing signs of nervousness in speakers. They quickly route their attention back to your message and your words if they notice signs of anxiety. So focus on keeping the words and the interesting thoughts going.

3.If you cannot breath well enough to finish your sentences because you are hyperventilating, you need to learn deep, diaphragmatic breathing. Start by blowing out as much of the air in your lungs as you can (to unspasm your diaphragm--which is the sucks the air into your lungs and then expels the air). Next, you want to breath in slowly and deeply (deep into the bottom of your lungs) to a count of 6-8 seconds. Then breath out for 8-10 seconds (make sure you breath all the way out). You stop your diaphragm from locking up on you by breathing all the way out at the end of each breath (which usually translates to the end of each sentence once you start talking). I suggest you practice this breathing as you wait for your moment to present. Make sure you don't over-breath. To avoid over-breathing, count eight actual seconds in and eight actual seconds out. Otherwise you will begin to hyperventilate (which causes you to have too much oxygen along with a tingling, dizzy sensation and the feeling that you need to breath more).

4. Practice, Practice, Practice. You need to join your local chapater of Toast Master's International where people get together to practice giving presentations. Here you can practice dealing with the nervous feelings.

5. If you need more help with racing heart, ask your physician if you could take a small dose of a beta-blocker, which is a medication that stops adrenaline from causing your heart to race. Beta Blockers like Propranolol (inderal) or Atenolol can prevent your heart from racing so hard. Once your heart slows down, you won't feel as anxious and you won't need to breath as hard to supply your racing heart with oxygen. The down side to these medications is you can't use them spur of the moment. You need about 30 minutes to an hour of time before they will kick in.

Watch the "Turn Anxiety into Action" email newsletter for more secrets on this topic during the coming months. Click here for info on a banish-public speaking fear course If you click on the above link, you'll be taken to a page that provides information about a course on building confidence for beating anxiety. What I like about this course is it gets you out there and talking fast, but with gradual steps that make it seem easy. It fits with the principle of practice, practice practice. Plus it gives you some great advice for talking in ways that people find entertaining and engaging. So I recommend it. Please note that I am a compensated affiliate for the product you will see if you click the above link. All commissions received go toward the costs of hosting this free site.