I am a hypnotherapist as well as a trainer and one of the main reasons people come to me is for presenting nerves.
Something you can do on your own (after having thought of things that can go wrong and having found solutions) is to go through the process in your mind experiencing yourself carrying it off really well, coping with interruptions, staying calm and confident when things don't go according to plan. Do this in as much detail as you can, as often as you can, 'seeing' it in your mind, hearing your own confident tone of voice, and getting a sense of confidence in your body. Before you start doing this, get in the positive mood by thinking of something you do well, probably quite unrelated but something where you feel confident. Just by accessing this in your mind you begin to access some of the confident feelings. If you do this for two or three minutes every night before you go to sleep before presenting you will find it makes a big difference to your performance.
Some people say that they can't visualise things; it doesn't matter, just run through it in your mind in your own way. Make sure you do it positively.
When I see people I give them recordings of what we do in the session so they can listen at home to reinforce the positive feelings they discovered in the session. I also sell published CDs that specifically deal with this problem.
Did you know that fear of speaking to groups was discovered to be one of the major fears that people experience? According to a survey done a few years ago in the US, it comes higher up the fears table than fear of death or financial ruin!
In my consulting room I see managing directors who can't bear going to meetings in case they have to speak, I see trainers who present for a living, I even see barristers who shake when speaking in court; it makes me wonder why they ever took up law as a career but it is true. So, presenters, you are not alone but simple techniques such as the visualisation outlined above or listening to the right hypnotherapy CD can make a massive difference to your emotional state. Try it and see.
Lynda Hudson
