How to overcome stage fear during presentation? : Well it’s very much easier if you follow the best ways to overcome stage fear discussed here in this article. We all human being go through one or another fear. Some fears are common among people but some of them are rare. Common fear include fear from insects, stage, heights, etc. while rare fear include fear from books, moustache etc. Talking about the stage fear for this moment, let us understand what is stage fear and when does it occur.
Saying in layman’s term, stage fear is the anxiety or group of butterflies in stomach that occurs while speaking among a group of people, crowd etc. It is called as glossophobia in scientific terms. This fear occurs because speaker thinks that he will be judged on his speaking skills and he can go wrong. Even a strong speaker faces a little stage fright while speaking among a large group of audience.
10 Best Ways to overcome stage fear during presentation
This stage fright may become more worse and speaker might sweat heavily, pulse and heartbeat may increase, trembling may start etc. There are some best ways to overcome stage fear during presentation. Some of the methods are:
1. Relax your mind
It is very important for us to relax our mind before we are going to speak in front of people. For relaxing your mind, we can do meditation, listen to some soft music etc before going before the crowd. Relaxing your mind leads your thought to be defined and sorted. We should try to focus our mind to a definite point. The mind should be at perfect peace when going in front of group of people. Some people forget this step and their thoughts are all scattered which in turn leads to fumbling before the crowd.
2. Prepare your body
This is another very important step a speaker should take before going in front of crowd. This step mainly includes preparing the body for facing the crowd. Drink water and eat something solid which will help you in a great way. A little workout will act as a bonus for your presentation as blood will be circulating all over the body and make you feel energetic. You can wash your face to feel fresh before the presentation.
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3. Rehearse your part
Try to rehearse your lines properly. As the quotes go, practice makes a man perfect. Practice a lot before doing show, which will help you to gain confidence too. Confidence builds your personality. To practice, mirror can be useful prop. Just present what you are going to say in front of mirror and you will automatically know the mistakes you are making and solve it. Instead of mirror, a person like colleague or friend can also point out the mistakes you are making while giving presentation. Be confident and give your best shot.
4. Accept shortcomings
It is very necessary for every human being to accept his shortcomings and fears. There shouldn’t be any shame in admitting it. When a person admits about his failure, he can start working to improve it. Same goes with stage fear. Most of us don’t admit that we have stage fear and then start to fumble in front of audience. Instead of this, we shall accept that we have to practice a lot and gain confidence before going up to stage for any sort of presentation. As it is said that Self-realization is the biggest form of realization.
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5. Interact with audience
This is the very part most of speakers fail to cover while presenting. It is necessary for speaker to address its audience. It is okay to tell the audience that you have stage fear and can be messy while presenting. Some speakers start their presentation by interacting with audience which makes them more comfortable and gives them motivation. Confidence and motivation are only things for giving presentation which is gained by interacting with audience. This type of chats will make you realize that people listening you are also ordinary people like you boosting up your confidence.
6. Interactive Presentation
There is difference between interacting with audience and making presentation interactive. The success of your presentation lies in the point that how much interesting your presentation is. People will be impressed if your presentation is good enough to hold them to their seats even if your delivering part is bad due to stage fear. We face stage fright because we worry about people will it as a boring presentation. Even if the topic to present is boring, we can always make the presentation to interactive so that people are involved with you. To make it interactive, speaker may ask small questions in between or ask for tips and opinions. To make it more interesting, we can make audience laugh with small sarcastic comments etc. This will relax the audience.
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7. Change Positions
We should change our position regularly if possible while presentation. Moving back and forth while delivering will help you to reduce some nervousness. While moving we can move talk to audience or do some gestures which will help you to gain some positive energy used for overcoming your stage fright. Too much movement also makes the audience uncomfortable so make sure to keep that in mind. Unnecessary hand actions, face expressions etc will also show that you are not confident enough decreasing the impact of the presentation.
8. Inherit the character
This is very important for any speaker to overcome his stage fright. You should be in habit to listen to own voice, work on your actions and thoughts. The more you get into your character, the more likely you will be to fumble in the stage while presenting something. To inherit character, we should take some steps. Firstly, the earlier method of speaking in front of mirror will help you to improve your actions and gestures. Secondly, video recording yourself while presenting in practice will tell you the insights of your presentation skill. It is always better to learn from previous mistakes and become better.
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9. Take tips from speakers
If you are presenting for first time or presented earlier but failed due stage fear, it is always advisable to get some help. It will be highly recommended that you should take tips and tricks from any speaker who has a proper experience to speak in front of audience smoothly. Ask him about his first presentation and what all point he followed to become such a good speaker.
10. Close your eyes virtually
As soon as you are going to present, you should stop looking at audience for once and pretend that no one is present there. Just focus on what you have prepared with facial expressions and gestures. Give your best shot while presenting and enjoy your performance. Also assume that no one is judging at that point and deliver small portions as monologue but also try to slow down to avoid fumbling.
These were few tips many of speaker follow before going to present or perform to avoid stage fear. You may also follow some of the tips to make your performance outstanding.
