We’ve just finished GCSEs in our house. Of the whole family, there’s only one of us who was sitting the exams, but we were all nervous! Some of us have more reason than others: unfortunately, nerves are infectious. I’ve heard arguments that it’s to do with pheromones of the nervous person being breathed in by the people around them and I’ve heard people say it’s just down to us interpreting the nervous person’s body-language. Whatever causes it, the effects can be potent.
If you’re one of a group of speakers when you’ve got to make a presentation, as often happens in meetings or conferences, you could find yourself suffering from other people’s nerves. So how do you fight this?
Well, it’s not easy, to be honest.
Part of the answer is easier said than done – just stay focused on what you have to do and ignore other people – but another part is quite straight-forward: stay away. If you can, sit near a window (or door) to keep yourself in a flow of fresher air. This will keep you cool as well as unaffected by pheromones. Sit down, don’t stand, which will make it easier for you to avoid the wind-up activities such as pacing, hopping from leg to leg and so on.
Then concentrate on your hands: make a point of keeping them open and “floppy” so that there’s no rigidity in the tendons there. You’ll find that keeping the extremity of your hands in this (artificially) relaxed state will help hugely to keep the rest of you relaxed.
This is partially ‘cos it works in its own right and – of course – partially ‘cos it works as a kind of mantra, keeping you from stewing in your own presentation nerves.
A simple presentation trick, for sure – but simple is best when it works (like our presentation skills training)
