Presentations Nerves – The Real Solution

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David Williams, Growth Whisperers personally enables you to double your income, influence and energy by releasing your hidden handbrakes in your personal and business life.

Do you know that sensation of your heart beating as you wait to give your presentation?

Does your mind start fast forwarding to the moment when you go blank and can’t remember what to say next?

And what about the butterflies in the stomach and the pulsing around your temples?

If you get nervous giving presentations to groups, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. Its no fun and it can be really frustrating. Why? Because except for your nerves, you’re perfectly capable of giving that presentation, right?

Now I know what those nerves are like. For years I got told things like, ‘Practice make perfect’, ‘Just take three deep breaths’, and I love this one, ‘The audience are your friends’. Now lets be honest, did any of these well intended suggestions really solve your nerves? Not for me at least. And that’s the way it was until I had this blinding flash of the obvious insight. Whenever we’re incomplete, we get stressed. Let me explain what I mean.

Will All of You Please Stand Up?

So many times when I watch people presenting, I see more than one person is up there on the stage. There’s the person who wants to be all confident and professional, and then there’s other person whose being push into the background, whose concerned about making a mistake and not being liked by the audience. When we push an uncomfortable part of ourselves away, we make ourselves personally incomplete, and that’s at the core of what makes us nervous.

Now you could say that all I’m saying is for you to ‘Be Yourself’. But that’s another one of those helpful hints that in my experience doesn’t actually tell you how to do it. How do you be yourself? Well the solution lies in what I call ‘the moment of resistance’. In the moment of resistance, you experience some type of discomfort. Its resisting that tiny moment of discomfort that makes you personally incomplete, which makes you nervous and which stops you from being yourself when you present. Let me give you an example.

Naming and Accepting makes it Fun

Say you have a part of you that’s feels you can do a good job at this presentation, and that you have this other part of you that remembers stuffing up and is concerned it could happen again. Now most of us are aware of how nervous we are outwards towards giving the presentation, but there a more powerful inward emotion that’s already there and which you instantaneously resist. In the moment of getting nervous for a presentation, what are feeling towards yourself? Are you actually feeling out of control of how the audience will react, inadequate to answer their questions, or maybe even vulnerable to showing your emotions in public. Its being willing to experience these uncomfortable emotions that is the key to making yourself complete and gaining the calm clarity that you probably want. Because think about the professional speakers that you’ve seen. They often tell stories about their mistakes. Its a little known secret that to tell those stories, those presenters have had to actively accept any uncomfortable emotions surrounding the event when they stuffed up. They laugh at themselves and we laugh with them. And it will be the same for you. When you name the specific uncomfortable inward emotion that you experience as you start to get nervous, make a decision to actively welcome experiencing that uncomfortable feeling. As you do this, you’ll see your nerves subside and your presentations will transform from frustration to fun.

Its The Same For Leaders

Of course the same can be said of any leader having a converssation with their team. Australians in particular can detect a mile away a leader whose pretending to be something more than they really are. Why do you think we call them ‘Tall Poppies’? Equally, staff lose respect when you as a leader don’t respect a part of you that you’re uncomfortable with. Your self doubts create doubts in others, be it your audience or employees.

Now what I’ve explained above is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. There’s a whole other area about a unique process that we use to make being more calm and complete in front of groups a fact that lasts a lifetime.

So come to my live event where I’ll show you how three business leaders harnessed the power of these insights and techniques to literally make millions and enjoy great lifestyles. We’d love to have you there, CLICK HERE to register.

Double Your Profits, Partnerships and Productivity Preview Meeting

Tuesday 9 April

5.30pm for 6-8pm

Amora Hotel

11 Jamison Street, Sydney (near Wynyard)

Cost: Zero – Finger food and refreshments provided

CLICK HERE
to register.

In the meantime, please let me know what you found useful and the difference this article makes in your personal and business life. I’d love to hear from you. Warmly,

David Williams ,Growth Whisperers www.growthwhisperers.com