To feel sick with anxiety at the thought of doing a 15 minute presentation to my team?

[ethelfleda]

This really! How do I overcome it? In the role I am in, I have had to do this about 3 times so far in the last 12 months and I absolutely hate it. I’m terrified of fucking up and looking like a complete moron in front of a mainly male team.
This time, I have to present some of the creative aspects to my job. It almost makes me feel even more vulnerable, somehow. I can’t shake the feeling that everyone will be sitting there looking at me and thinking I’m useless or don’t know what I a talking about.
To make matters worse, I have a week off this week and the presentation is the first day I am back, meaning that i will spend the whole week worrying.

Help me please!

Not at all unreasonable to be extremely nervous. Nerves just mean that you want to do a really good job, in a situation where there are a lot of unknowns. This will all become much less daunting the more you do it. Be prepared- make sure you know your material inside out and back to front. Practice your presentation, film yourself on your phone if its useful. Dont try to wish the nerves away, they're a normal part of public speaking. Good luck!

If it's really bad you could see about getting some beta blockers from the GP. They won't affect how you present but they will dampen down some of the anxiety. I had them when I was suffering a lot of panic attacks and they did help. You could also practice the presentation in front of someone to help you feel more confident about it and get some practice in. I do sympathise. Fear of presenting like that is one of the things that stopped me going for promotion! The other thing to remember is many people feel the way you do. I remember once a woman who came across as so confident and outgoing, had to do a presentation in front of some of us and when she walked up to do it the poor woman was shaking! It made me realise that so many of us have anxiety about this type of thing.

I hear ya, OP. I've got a work related presentation next week as part of a course, so it's an assessed piece. Yep, am stressed to buggery. The good news is all of us in the group have to present on different aspects of the course so we're a sympathetic and supportive audience. That's about the only positive thing I can think at the moment though .

Keep it simple, is my motto. Overthinking is not your friend.

Imagine them all sitting in front of you naked and practice practice practice beforehand.....to anyone who will listen (it’s harder to people you know well) and also on your own.

Yep-absolutely. I feel like this every time I have to do any sort of public speaking-it absolutely fills me with dread. My voice sounds shaky, my lips do strange things and start to sort of tremble, my hands shake!

Would beta blockers stop these physical symptoms?

I used to present frequently in my old job, sometimes in front of a lot of people, often in front of a mainly male, very experienced audience. The first few times I did it, I was petrified - I quickly learnt to take a couple of Imodiums beforehand and also to go over and over the material. This helped me to realise that I was an expert. I didn't need to be a nervous wreck because I could answer their questions. I was still nervous of course but another thing that really helped me was to repeat and remember that "this will be over soon". In a couple of hours normal life will resume and this will be over. It really helped me - good luck OP

For the longer term join Toastmasters.

In the short term, hit YouTube. Dan Lok is quite good. He is prolific! Here's just one that might help you.

I was still nervous of course but another thing that really helped me was to repeat and remember that "this will be over soon". In a couple of hours normal life will resume and this will be over.

Yes, that’s the tactic I try to use-‘this too shall pass!’

I still hate it though.

Me too, and I'm a blusher which seems to make it all worse.
Makes me feel like a teenager, not a mature woman in her 50s!

Good luck OP.

I totally sympathise, I find them horrific! I’m that bad that I took the hit on my grades in college by not doing them and losing twenty percent of my overall grade! I feel silly saying it but I really was that anxious that I’d actually be feeling quite unwell at even the thought of it!!! To this day thinking back to it fills me with dread!!! So I’m sorry I can’t really offer tips but just say in solidarity you are not the only one!!!

I used to feel like this. I still get really nervous sometimes but it's way better than it was, and I have been told that I'm actually quite good at it.

I think preparation is the key - practice, practice, practice! If you're going to worry all week anyway, set aside some time to ensure that you know your material really, really well. Also, it's important to practise out loud, don't just do it in your head.

Also, remember that other people won't know how terrified you are inside. You might feel that it's obvious, but they probably won't pick up on it. And even if you do show some nerves, most people will be sympathetic to this. Fear of public speaking is very, very common, so most of your audience will fall into one of three categories: a) they used to find public speaking scary but have managed to overcome the fear and will be cheering you on to do the same; b) they still find public speaking scary and totally get how you feel; or c) there is no sodding way that they would be willing to get up and speak in front of anybody so they really admire you for getting up there and having a go!

Next, remember that it's just talking. It isn't a performance, you don't have to stick to a script. As long as you know what your main points are, you'll be fine. If you stumble over a word or two, don't worry - nobody will even notice.

Finally, don't forget to make eye contact with your audience and smile - it will make you and them feel more relaxed.

You'll be fine, good luck!

You've got this OP. You know your stuff as you have been asked to present. Try and get control over things you can control - so, your outfit, having water to hand, your presentation materials, a hand out summarising your key points etc. That will give you confidence. Then, as this presentation has a creative aspect, try and think of something that has a creative aspect to it to start you off. As examples, if you are talking about equality/fairness you could hand out sweets at the start but miss some people out and give some people extra - ask them how did that feel etc. If product development, ask them to get out their phones - they all look similar so what makes the real difference to consumer choice, functionality etc. This minute or two opener shakes things up, gets them involved and underlines your confidence. Good luck!

Can totally relate. Best way to go about it is to spend time preparing so 5hat you are as confident about what you are presenting as you can.

Then rehearse and rehearse and trust that you are much better than how you feel inside. I hate presenting, get sickly nervous, feel like I'm shaking, talking nonsense, coming across as a jittery mess, but people I trust have told me that so come across as confident and knowledgeable.

In the end, some people are naturally great at presenting and others not. As long as you are closer to being good than crap, you're ok and in the majority!

Have a good think about your audience. What will they want to know? What do they care about? What could you show them that makes them decide to do something different when they walk out of the room.

I find it helps me a lot to focus on what the audience is after rather than focus on how to show myself off/up.

Thank you everyone. Some great tips here - and it’s reassuring to know that this is such a common fear!

Bear in mind a fair proportion of your audience, will dislike or fear public speaking themselves and be thanking their lucky stars it's not them up there.

As PPs have said, know your material inside out and backwards. And it honestly does get easier the more you do it. I used to be incredibly nervous and blush beetroot too, yet ended up accepting invitations to speak at a couple of industry conferences.

Good luck