Want to Exude Confidence in Your Next Presentation? Experts Says These 3 Steps Will Make You Look Like a Pro

Take a moment to think of the next time you’ll have to be in front of a crowd at work. You might already have this presentation scheduled, or just know something will come up sooner or later on your current project, product launch, or pitch.

Now that you have that event in your mind, how do you feel? Excited and energized? Or anxious and unsure? If giving a speech or presentation makes you feel anxious, you’re not alone. 74 percent of people feel the same way.

But, of course, you probably know that.

It would be great if just knowing so many felt the same way could ease our jitters. We’d all be cured. Alas, understanding public speaking anxiety is shared doesn’t change how we feel.

Often, the problem is that our fear gets in the way of successfully delivering our message. Our nerves show up in our presentation with fidgeting, verbal tics such as repeatedly saying “um,” and losing our place in the slides.

Appearing — and then eventually being — more confident in your next presentation will improve your audience’s retention and increase your chances of persuasion. But how? With so many moving pieces — content, practice, and actual delivery — and limited time, where should you invest your energy?

Content, of course, is critical. If you don’t have something interesting or relevant to say, don’t bother. Let’s assume for this exercise that you do, and that you’ve invested sufficient time in crafting your materials in advance. In fact, most of us over-prepare our slides and continue to massage the written content instead of preparing ourselves. We do this out of fear, lack of knowing what else to do, and avoidance. All of that slide polishing comes at the expense of more important forms of preparation.

To make the biggest, most positive improvement in your next presentation, do three things:

1. Before: Conduct at least one practice session in front of a live audience (or just one person if that’s all you can manage.) Speaking your content out loud at least once will identify points in your presentation that are awkward and need to be reworded or reordered. There is simply no way to find these sticky points without saying the words in front of someone else.
2. During: Control your body. Physical movements are the single biggest giveaway that someone lacks confidence in their material. This means you should plant your feet before you say a single word. You can and should move around during your presentation. However, you should do that only once you’ve established your presence and gotten into the rhythm. This typically happens for me about 5 minutes in. Minimize your gestures by staying in an imaginary box in the middle of your body.
3. After: Give yourself a pat on the back. No matter how the presentation went or how you think it went, acknowledge to yourself that you did something difficult and survived it. Let the adrenaline wear off a little, then capture any observations on your performance you want to incorporate for next time.

Public speaking anxiety is common, but knowing that doesn’t help. Instead, there are three practical steps you can take after you’ve created your content: practice in front of a live audience, control your body, and document your observations. Doing these three things will help you exude confidence and make you look like a pro — even before you feel like one.