To not to go an interview as I don’t want to do a presentation

[Polarbearflavour]

I’ve passed the promotion board at work - yay. I’m on the reserve list for one job but I’m still looking at others in case it doesn’t pan out.

One job I have an interview for is a trainer role. Only thing is, I have to do a 10 min presentation on any topic at interview as well as the competency questions. Argh! I did group presentations at uni years ago but nothing since.

AIBU to withdraw my application as I feel really anxious about presenting? I can’t even think what topic I should choose!

Why are you going for a trainers post if you don't like doing presentations?

Surely a trainer role requires you to present? If you don’t even want to do 10mins at the interview how will you do the training job?

If it's a trainer you really need to do a presentation.

what they said....

not sure how you're going to be a trainer without doing presentations

In a trainer role if you can't do a presentation then you can't do the job.

Presenting is pretty basic stuff in a trainers role. If you can’t face it, then training really isn’t for you.

Do it!

Get it over and fine with. But practice first and choose a topic you're very knowledgeable about.

Yanbu. You should pull out as you aren't suitable for the role.

I’ve done informal training in another role but that wasn’t a problem.

Okay I don’t think this is the right role for me then if I’m really anxious about presenting at interview.

To be honest if you are anxious about presenting, maybe a trainers role isn't going to be something you'll enjoy? Maybe give that one a miss.

I understand it's scary I've had to do two recently in interviews. I can only speak for myself, but I find writing/preparing it way more stressful than actually presenting it. If you can get through preparing without convincing yourself you're useless (as I usually do ) you may find the event itself isn't that hard.

Good luck

Maybe the job isn’t for you but higher up the corporate ladder you go it’s really common to have to present at interview stage. They want to know you can contribute at board level and put your point across.

I don’t think I’m ever going to be a corporate high flier presenting to the CEO, middle management all the way! I attend meetings at work but it’s not the same as preparing and presenting in a more formal environment.

I have similar anxieties, I usually find that the thought of public speaking or pretending is far worse than actually doing it. The anxiety tends to subside within a minute or so of beginning the speech/presentation, and having felt so anxious about it initially I feel a much greater sense of accomplishment for having done it.

It's good to do things that scare you, OP. In your situation it doesn't seem that you have a great deal to lose - you don't have the job as it stands. You won't get the job if you don't do the interview. If you struggle at the interview you won't get the job, but you will have faced a fear and taken good experience away from it. Or you might excel under pressure and get a job offer. You might not want the job if you are offered it and you decide it's not a good fit but if you need to do a presentation for a job that you really want in the future you'll have more confidence. I think you should go for it.

For a training role, I do agree that you need to be able to present. However, I do think that they are making it harder on you if the topic is genuinely "any topic", as it adds in all the anxiety about whether the topic is appropriate.

So...conventional approach would be to do a presentation on what experience you bring to the role, how you would see yourself fulfilling that role from the beginning, and how you would see yourself developing that role in the future.

An alternative would be to pick a topic on which you would be training people if you got the job, and presenting that topic, to prove you can train people on the relevant material.

A more out there possibility, though harder if you're not confident, is to pick something slightly weird, from outside work, that you're good at. Photography, gardening, cycling...whatever your thing is. High risk strategy, but if done well can really work. I once did one showing people how to do higher quality doodles, for meetings. And one on how to find an appropriate Shakespeare quotation to look erudite at work.

I was in the same situation myself recently, asked to do a power point presentation at interview. After much stressing I pulled out but the main reason was I was only given a couple of days notice and I did not know how to produce a power point??

Practise practise practise. Present to your DP, friends, DC, in laws. ... it's only 10 mins. Easy. 5 slides. Intro, 3 content, summary. Done. Don't let the anxiety hold you back.

From one person who hates presentations to another...put your big girls pants on and make yourself do it. It's the only way to get past it.

I was a trainer for 7 years and interviewed many for the job. Presenting is the easiest way to see how you perform in front of a crowd.

You can easily turn presenting into facilitating and get the group involved.

Do you have anything you're particularly interested in?

Anything that you can get people to do? Make a cocktail? Tie a Windsor knot in a tie?

If you get them involved then 10 minutes flies in

If the topic can be anything and it is only ten minutes you could choose a brief history of a big business. McD's has a lot of facts that are really interesting, Coca-Cola, FB; the rise of social media and company survival e.g. friendsreunited, MySpace. Or the internet experiences of say a 15 year old who would not likely have heard of them. Bring props, e.g. can or bottle of coke, doughnuts if you choose crustycreme

If you do it, my tip would be don't use powerpoint, but do use some kind of visual aid, like an object relevant to your topic. Choose something you could bore your friends for hours on, familiar topics are always a confidence boost.

1. Introduce your topic and aim
2. Topic in 3 succinct sections
3. End with your key message

If you can't think of a topic, you could do 'Why I hate giving presentations at interview'!

M ambivalent about presentations at interviews. But that is because for my work they take about two working days of time to prepare including research. Present them well as I am an experienced presenter and they I get a rejection making the entire exercise more of an exercise in futility than secondary school sports day.
Sorry if that wasn't helpful but I wonder If the OP IS feeling a similar vibe on this?

I once did a presentation on making cheese sauce for something like this.

I have a role similar to the one you're going for. In the past week alone I've done 2 presentations to 20 people each and one recorded on film in front of a group.

Practice is the only way to overcome the fear. Speak slowly, clearly and rehearse. If you really can't face it then the job isn't for you.

I had to do this for a promotion. I considered it the most nerve wracking part in the run up to the interview, in reality it wasn't that bad at all.
Pick a topic you like and are familiar with, if you're allowed. Use jasminedes idea to break the it down and practice presenting it beforehand. Pace your delivery, don't waffle or go too in depth. Be prepared for questions to be asked afterwards. Don't use PowerPoint if you're not comfortable doing so (I used a flip chart). Most of all, sound confident, even if you aren't!
See it as a means to an end, if you want the job you have to do the presentation to get it.

Do you know if you'll be required to do presentations in the trainer role?

I think you should consider it, partly because you would find it difficult.

Preparation is the worst part, if you practice well and chose a topic you are familiar with, you might well find it is a confidence boost to say to yourself that you did it. Then if a job you really really want comes up in future (that requires a talk) you will know you can do it?!