“I’m frightened about making presentations” or worse, “I get stage fright”.
No you don’t.
Well, okay, you /might/ get stage fright, but Stage Fright is a very specific thing. The term’s been bastardised and watered down by people who should know better doing fear-based-marketing. What far more people experience is a normal, healthy dose of presentation-related-anxiety (PRA).
And that’s different, very different.
I’m simplifying hugely, but stage fright is a phobia, and it’s related to the process of presenting. On the other hand, PRA is as much related to the outcome than the process.
Brace for a couple of home truths…
One of the reasons we get anxious about our presentations isn’t the thing itself. I’d go so far as to suggest the research trend is that the gig itself is a relatively minor source of anxiety, compared to what we’re *actually* anxious about… specifically the consequences of the presentation.
After all, if you give a presentation with no audience you’re not particularly nervous, are you! Nerves only kick in when there’s an audience and we feel like we might be judged etc.
I’m a far better musician in rehearsal than in performance. I’m a better rock climber two metres from the ground than 20. The technical things haven’t changed, just the consequences.
The trick here is to differentiate between giving the presentation – the gig – and the consequences of the presentation. Your job as you present is to forget about the latter and “just” *do the presentation*. Any worrying about the consequences should have been done as part of your rehearsal process, not at the delivery stage!
It’s a bit ‘easier said than done’, I know but it’s soooo worth trying!
