Presentation @ Conference - Public Speaking Anxiety

[loulou0402]

Hi all
I've recently been promoted to quite a senior position in my organisation.

I've been asked to facilitate a one hour session at a conference next month, for 300 people ((!)

As someone who has major insecurities and quite literally freezes in these situations I really don't know what to do.

The session is mine to design / determine what it looks like, so perhaps I can bring others in to support or help with the sessions Delivery? Or try and make it more interactive than me talking at the audience for 1 hour.

This is already leaving me with sleepless nights and dread

I also work in HR so feel any session on this topic to the business is sometimes an easy punching bag!

Help / advice welcome!

A very anxious manager!

X

No advice, but following with interest! I've been asked to speak at a conference soon, but luckily only for 5 mins and about a topic I know lots about.

If it's an hour, I'd say go for interactive and collaborative to avoid boredom and getting sick of hearing yourself?!

Are you confident with the topic you're going to be exploring / delivering on?

Oh I feel for you. I’m the same and had a big presentation last year that I was terrified of. My confidence presenting has just diminished over the years and I completely froze two years ago and literally couldn’t speak. It was awful.

This time around I planned the presentation way in advance and then recorded myself talking it through. I then listened to that recording again and again as well as speaking it through regularly. I also went to the doctor and got some propranolol which while didn’t completely get rid of the nerves, did mean that I could actually get on the stage and speak.

One thing I didn’t do but did look into was joining a local toastmaster group to get more practice in. I think that could be helpful but I didn’t have the time.

Sometimes I think about hypnosis too.

Having some form of audience participation/two way dialogue is really useful. An icebreaker at the start can help too, just asking people if they’ve heard of x and to raise their hand if they have can give you a minute to breathe and compose yourself.

You could also consider doing it as a panel? Do an intro and then interview/discuss with a couple of subject matter experts. Then it’s not all on you.

I think some people just react really badly to adrenaline. At least that’s what I think my problem is. I really struggle to get any words out in conflict/stressful situations. I was trying to argue with a very unreasonable letting agent a week ago on behalf of my mum and my voice went halfway through. I was completely in the right but my adrenaline soared and I froze.

Good luck!

I feel you, I’ve to do a twin min one and I feel so sick with it.

Toastmasters is great, but it's a longer term strategy, if your conference is next month.

Practice is key - make sure you know your material. If you've got someone who can go through it with you and give constructive feedback, even better.

Be prepared for things to go wrong - most likely to fail is tech, so don't be 100% reliant on slides. They should enhance a presentation, but ideally you shouldn't be dependent on them.

Focus on breathing- when we're anxious, we breathe more quickly and shallowly, which leads to hyperventilation. Consciously breathing slowly and right down to your diaphragm is how we bresth when calmer, and it makes your body think you're calmer if you consciously do it. It should also help slow your speaking, which often deeds up with nerves - and pausing between points gives you thinking time about what's next, and your audience time to absorb what you've said.

Good luck!