If you see four executives sitting in the front of a room getting ready to give a presentation, there’s a pretty good chance that three of them have already sweat through their shirt. And it has nothing to do with their strength or weakness with presentation skills. Research shows that more than 75% of people experience anxiety before delivering a presentation.

For many, this fear can be paralyzing, impacting not only their performance but also how they feel about themselves. Improving presentation skills starts with practical techniques to help you overcome anxiety before any presentation. Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or stepping onto the stage for the first time, these strategies will guide you step-by-step toward feeling confident and prepared and give you a five-step approach to breaking through anxiety and unleashing your full potential to engage and amaze any audience.

After all, it's hard to give engaging presentations until you learn how to engage something more than your own fear.

Step 1: Prepare Like a Winner

Prepare yourself, not just your PowerPoint deck. Preparation encompasses more than just knowing your content. It’s about understanding your audience, the objective of your presentation, and the key messages you want to convey. And doing it in a systematic way that keeps you ahead of deadlines which only add anxiety.

Here is an easy-to-follow way to prepare:

1. Figure out your objective. Why are you doing this presentation?

2. Learn about your audience and figure out the audience’s biggest pain point. What are they struggling with?

3. Build a presentation around a big idea that addresses the audience’s pain point.

For example, the big idea behind my program, Presentation Transformation is that presentations shouldn’t suck for anyone—especially not the person giving the presentation. It addresses the pain point of most people who give presentations. They know their presentations suck and they don’t know how to change that.

Consider performing a run-through in the actual venue if possible. This gives you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the stage and the audience layout, alleviating some of the anxiety of the unknown.

Step 2: Breathing Exercises

When anxiety kicks in, your body's natural response can lead to shallow, rapid breathing, which only amplify feelings of panic. To counteract this, practice breathing down.

Let me explain. Most people when they take a deep breath lift up their shoulders and tighten their chest. Your lungs are down, behind your ribs, not up under your shoulders. Breath down. Expand your lungs, not your shoulders.

This gets more oxygen into your body, and it opens up your voice, giving it greater resonance. It also keeps tension from settling in your upper chest near your throat which makes it harder to speak.

Step 3: Use Visualization

Visualization is a mental rehearsal technique used by many successful speakers and athletes. You picture yourself delivering an extraordinary presentation, complete with an engaged audience responding positively to your message. Vividly imagine the details: what you are wearing, what the room looks like, the smiles, nods, and enthusiastic applause from your audience.

Visualizing a successful outcome not only helps to ease anxiety but also conditions your mind to believe that success is possible—and that it has happened before. Here’s the thing with your mind. It doesn’t know the difference between what you visualize and what you actually experience. The more you visualize success, the more your mind will believe you are experienced and successful. That shift will alleviate a huge amount of anxiety since your mind calms down when it thinks it has done this before.

Step 4: Develop a Pre-Presentation Routine

Creating a consistent routine before presentations helps establishing a sense of normality and self-assurance. Here’s my day of presentation routine:

· Exercise. I like to get in a workout the morning of a presentation.

· Visualize. I take a few minutes and mentally see myself enjoying a great presentation—and not merely getting through it.

· I chew gum. That helps me get some extra adrenaline out of my system to avoid feeling shaky.

· Arrive early. I get to the space early and talk with some of the attendees one-on-one. I learn a few names, listen to what people are struggling with, what they are hoping to get out of the presentation. Then I can fold their names, goals, and struggles into the actual presentation. It personalizes it and increases the chance of audience engagement. Most people love when you talk about them—especially in a positive way.

There are multiple ways you can build your own routine. Personalize it. Use the things that help you feel better. Here are some examples:

· Listen to your favorite music to lift your mood.

· Spend a few moments meditating or practicing mindfulness.

· Recite positive affirmations that remind you of your capabilities.

· Eat a healthy meal

· Take a walk

· Reflect on how you felt after a previous success in your career

· Imagine how you will celebrate a successful presentation

· Press your palms together while you breathe your mouth like you are breathing through a straw (great way to release anxiety)

You don’t have to overdo it. Find three or four that work for you and do them in sequence before every presentation. There’s power in repetition.

Step 5: Connect with Your Audience

Shifting your focus from yourself to your audience can alleviate performance anxiety. Remember that they are not there for you; rather, they’re eager to learn from you because that will benefit them.

Engaging presentations means connecting with your audience. To do that you want to make and hold eye contact with one person at a time as you speak. Don’t try to make eye contact with the whole room at once.

Here’s a trick that will help you feel good. At the beginning of the presentation, put most of your attention on the friendly faces, the people who are smiling or who are obviously eager to be there. Gradually as your confidence expands, include other people in your one-on-one eye contact.

Conclusion

The best presentation strategies start with improving you. Ultimately courage comes before confidence. You have to put yourself out there before your feel confident. These five steps will help to give you the courage to get you out there, the experience of getting out there and giving presentations grows your confidence. One thing leads to the next.

And here’s the big payoff: Remember that three out of every four people would rather die than give a presentation. The more presentations you give, the farther you get from the majority of your competition. Before too long they will look at you like a natural and when that happens, they won’t even try to compete with you because they’ll know they can’t.

I hope that helps you feel better for your next presentation—and everyone after that, too.