Overcome Stage Fear: Master the Art of Powerful Presentations

What do you do if you have stage fear to such a degree that you're literally shaking and shivering on stage? If that ever happens to you, listen to your body. It's telling you something. It's telling you you have not prepared your presentation. Now you may be saying, well, tj, I worked on that slide deck for days and days and days. That's not the presentation. If it were as simple as a slide deck, you could email that to people and stay home in bed. The presentation is you standing up, looking at people, speaking, talking and engaging them, being interesting. So if you're shaking, that's your body telling you you didn't prepare. You don't really know if what you created is going to be interesting. The solution to this is to prepare a different way. You're not going to like it, but here it is. Pick up your cell phone. Practice your presentation on video again and again and again. Watch it until you like what you see. If you can point to a screen on a cell phone, an iPad, or a computer and look at yourself giving the presentation, and you like how it's coming across, it becomes virtually impossible to be nervous when you're giving the presentation. Few other tips. Don't hold papers because if your hands are shaking, it will be very noticeable. Keep your hands free. Move your hands that way. If they're shaking a little bit, it will be much less noticeable because it will be within the context of the movement. Don't hold other things saying, oh, this will calm my nerves. You'll look nervous to others if you're holding a pen and don't grab hold of the lectern. I've seen people look like they're going to walk out of the room or out of the conference holding the lectern. You want your hand moving freely, but nothing is important as practicing on video. Do that, you will not be shaking anymore. You'll be like this.