Could you present on a call to 40 people?

[redvelvet7]

Hi, just trying to see whether i need to just grow up or whether other people would be anxious with this situation.

I work for a large company doing an office type job, and due to restructures my team size has gone from about 10 to 40. There are regular sharing sessions where we are meant to present work and I honestly am getting insanely anxious at the thought of it. I get presenting anxiety naturally anyway and tended to avoid it where possible even when the team was smaller. I don’t know if most people would be okay with this? Like ok with 10 and ok with 40? It’d be an online video call rather than meeting room.

Yes, I can and do often.
I train people in presentations skills too.

I'd always rather present in person than online though, however many people are in the audience.

Yeah, I would and have done this and it's fine. Enjoyable actually, if you really know your stuff.

Remember it’s natural to be nervous. Remember this too about everyone in front of you; if they’ve presented, they got a buzz of nerves too. It’s ok to stumble on a word, no-one else can see you shaking (probably!), use cards not paper if you’ve got to hold notes (cards shake less) and see the nerves as adrenaline and there for a purpose. Breathe! Spread your toes in your shoes and physically ground yourself (an actors trick for combatting stage fright). Relax your shoulders, open your mouth wide (before you start!) and relax your jaw. Breathe again!!

ETA: and when I say rehearse, I mean spend time on your own reading out / presenting your presentation. Find the rhythm of the words, know when you’re going to pause and breath, where your emphasis will be. Practice the actual speech out loud as if in front of your audience.

Keep your slides simple and clear , and use them as prompts. You don't want loose your audience by - turning them off with a really full, messy slide or by them reading ahead.

If you want detail for yourself, use PowerPoint notes or make your own notes.

Slow down

ETA: and when I say rehearse, I mean spend time on your own reading out / presenting your presentation. Find the rhythm of the words, know when you’re going to pause and breath, where your emphasis will be. Practice the actual speech out loud as if in front of your audience

Absolutely this

yes.

it will feel akward at first but it will be reassuring to you during the presentation.

You can only see a few on screen at a time so pretend it's just the 8 or 10 or whatever?
But like imagining interviewers without trousers 😉

There's no way around it really other than practice and faking it until you make it. Get a trial group you trust to run through your material, take notes while you present and give you feedback.

During COVID, my manager asked me to go along (virtually) to another group's team meeting to talk about a project I'd been leading on. Their team was about 6 people. When I logged on 2 minutes before the allotted time, I saw there were 185 people on the call and actually, it wasn't a team meeting, it was a conference and I was one of the speakers! Now that was fairly alarming.

For most people the tips given up thread will help like rehearsing, practicing with small groups etc and the more you do it the better you will get and the easier it will become.

There are some people, however, who have suffered from complex PTSD for whom this won't necessarily be the case as basically your brain has been wired incorrectly.

I had tried everything that has been suggested up thread and for many, many years nothing worked and I never improved, despite extraordinary efforts on my part

I don't think many people realise that, like the person who gave up their university course, being unable to do public speaking can have devastating consequences for your career and life and has caused some people to commit suicide.

Eventually after many,many years of psychotherapy and reading and working on myself I am able to present to large groups of people.

It isn't just about knowing your subject, it's how you perceive other people and the world around you.

If you suffered trauma through abuse or neglect as a child your brain develops defence mechanisms to make you disappear to avoid being seen as that could lead to death.

Unfortunately these defence mechanisms which helped keep you alive as a child severely limit your life as an adult as part of your brain thinks that being seen and being the centre of attention puts you in grave danger.

Yes and do but it's horrible the first few times. Just make sure you speak slowly. Consciously slow your voice as you get faster with nerves. You get used to it soon enough and stop worrying

This is a great and hugely insightful post. It’s the first time I’ve heard it explained like this although I was kind of aware of some of the issues you raised.

I do it all the time, so yes.

Practice in the mirror, make some crib bullet point notes for yourself and you'll be fine. Good luck!

I could but I’d much rather do it in person. It was a fairly regular part of my job before retirement.

Propranolol is a life saver. It's a beta blocker which reduces significantly the physical manifestations of anxiety so well that you have the psychological confidence to do well knowing you won't be trembling or heart racing or quaky voice.

I would sometimes take a half tablet myself about 20 minutes before a big presentation. It lowers blood pressure and mines low aready so one has to be careful. I'd pinch my mum's usually.

It's a prescribed drug so may not be a suitable option depending on other conditions and BP.