Presenting Yourself Properly
Fear of public speaking affects about 75% of people. It’s a common and understandable fear. It’s very vulnerable feeling: standing in front of people of varying degrees of importance, needing to say words that are most likely technical in nature…it can be very daunting. However, there are tricks one can use to make the mountain of public speaking seem like more of a molehill. Here are four tricks that I have found work most effectively whether it be a presentation or a theatre performance.
- Prepare thoroughly.
I had a choir professor in college who told us you only get nervous because you haven’t prepared enough or you don’t believe in yourself. He was totally right. Preparing thoroughly can really help to ease any nerves. Professional actors do it all the time for their theatrical performances, why can’t you do it when you need to present your designs? Make yourself notecards with bullet points of what you want to cover (or include this in your speaker notes on your PowerPoint presentation) and go over it until you have a natural sounding flow. I promise you, it is easier than it sounds. Like any skill, it gets easier with repetition.
2. Avoid ‘scripting’ yourself
One common pitfall of poor public speakers (and something people can pick up on immediately) is when something feels ‘scripted’ or ‘too-rehearsed.’ “But Emily!” you might be saying, “You just said that rehearsing will help me!” Absolutely rehearsing will help you, but you also have to strike a balance between sounding too ‘rehearsed’ and sounding very natural and fluid. If there is time, taking a basic acting or improv class can help a lot. If there isn’t time, there is always YouTube University!
3. Interact with people
Odds are good that the people you will be presenting to will be your colleagues and people you see every day, possibly even your friends. Even if the group to whom you are presenting is not full of familiar faces and instead is full of stakeholders, that should not dissuade you from trying to connect with people as people. Again, taking an acting class can help immensely with this. Stand up comedians do it very naturally with their audiences and it is absolutely a learnable skill.
4. Reduce Stress
Relaxation techniques before your presentation can help quiet your mind and focus your thoughts. The practice of box-breathing is one effective method of reducing anxiety. You begin the practice by inhaling for four seconds, holding your breath for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds and holding for four seconds. This forces your system to slow down and trick your body into leaving the ‘fight-or-flight’ mode that we often go to right before any performance or public speaking engagement. Try different methods and see which one works the best for you!
There are countless articles on how to overcome your fear of public speaking. This skill is especially important for designers since we will be expected to present our findings from user testing or our mockups/high-fidelity prototypes to core members of our team and possibly even stakeholders and people in charge of the company. It is a very important skill that will benefit you in multiple areas of life and thankfully, it is VERY learnable! Have no fear and happy public speaking!