Managing Presentation Nerves – a case study

I recently coached an executive who has been presenting for years and it has never bothered him. He knows his stuff, he has been fine with asserting his views and is happy driving conversations with groups of people. But in the last couple of years, without any discernible trigger, he has been getting a ‘flight’ reaction; “as soon as there is a specific focus on me I am starting to panic regardless of the size of the audience.” Strangely, he is confident going in to the presentation, he is not dreading it, there is no trigger and then it just hits him to the point of being “debilitating.”

Where to begin to help with this problem? Managing nerves when presenting is not a one size fits all approach and various strategies need to be explored to find what works for the individual. Exploring pain points is a key starting point, as are questions around individual preferences and approach, including before/during/after presenting actions and feelings. The aim here is to delve into potential triggers or concerns and also strengths that when utilised give the person more confidence. With confidence comes less focus on self and therefore more presence in the room.

In this case, some of the things that came out were a desire to win/fear of failure, an inner critic and yet a strong belief that he is good at what he does. There was also a preference for a conversational, interactive approach and to challenge people. He has a higher level of comfort talking rather than having to read and follow notes, which in fact makes him more nervous. However, his nerves can take him off topic, so he needs to be able to ensure his key points come across. He has strong physicality and a sense of fun. So, how to take this and apply to his presentations, particularly the management of nerves.

With an upcoming strategy day presentation coming up, the opportunity was there to apply some actions and techniques. While the mental side was important, what really seemed to work was the physical stuff. We worked on tense and release to shake off the excess adrenaline and release tension from his body. From here, he could access the diaphragmatic breath and bring his heart rate down. We worked on his stance and posture and he even tried some Amy Cuddy power poses. Now that he physically owns the space, the next step was to start strongly to give him a sense of confidence and to capture the audience attention. What really worked here was to start with a question, to involve the audience from the outset which fed into his preference for an interactive style, challenging the audience and showcasing his knowledge. From here, using key points or a ‘fishbone’ helped him keep the presentation on track and to ensure he followed a central theme or throughline. It also helped him ‘let go’ so he could let his personality and sense of fun shine through. I said to him, “don’t present the way you think others want you to. Enjoy having the discussion and debate. And ask for feedback afterwards”.

So, how did he go? Better. Not perfect, not ‘cured’ but importantly he feels like he is back on the right track now, going in the right way again and he is keen to jump in right now and do more presentations, to “make sure it’s not a fluke”. He felt calmer, he got good feedback and despite some nerves, the feedback was that the message came across well and no nerves were noticed. He gives himself a 7 out of 10. What’s needed to get the extra 3 points? A strong close and wrap up. The so what factor. The summary, the impact of inertia and the call to action, or as he puts it, “the ask.” Further focus on the audience rather than himself and more of a sense of fun, which is possible now that he is back on the right trajectory. A bit of coaching and tweaking, using his ability to talk off the cuff, and we came up with a killer close. Pausing and further vocal impact will help balance his relaxed style with audience engagement and emphasis on key points.

Where to from here; find opportunities to use this stuff, continue the physical techniques, prepare the structure, message and close, pause for impact. And importantly build on the confidence he is starting to feel, to prove to himself he can do it again, with more ‘fight’ than ‘flight’.

Glen Hancox is the director of Actreal, drawing upon acting practices to coach people develop sustainable personal and professional presence, to present and be present. Key to his approach is guiding people to communicate within The Inter-Personal Space, TIPS©.