Before your Presentation

Now that we know what stage fright is and what it's medically called, we want to see the ways in which we can over come our stage fright. First we will talk about what to do before your presentation. Speaking in front on a group will become less daunting when you allow adequate preparation, sufficient practice, and rehearsals.

The first tip to keep in mind is prepare thoroughly. One strategy you can use is to know your project thoroughly. You want to always research your topic diligently so you understand what your talking about. One thing we don't want to do is "wing it", this usually results in getting butterflies in your tummy and make your presentation a negative one.

The next step you want to take is rehearsing repeatedly. When you rehearse, you want to go over your whole presentation, not just parts of it. If you have a PowerPoint, you may want to print out your speakers notes, outlines and slide handouts which are good for practice. Making up transitional sentences four yourself will be helpful when you need to move on to your next slide. A great way to practice is to record yourself and see how you sound. Doing this will evaluate how effective you are.

You then want to time yourself and check the room. When timing yourself,  you want to make sure that you presentation is no longer then 20 minuets. When timing yourself, place a kitchen timer to see how long your talking for. For checking the room, you want to check all projectors, computers and cables are all working properly. You want to ensure that the seating arrangement in the room suits your needs.


The next thing we want to do is greet the members of the audience. Try to make contact with different members of the audience when your presenting, while you are waiting to be introduced, and when you walk to the podium. A major aspect we want to make sure of our body language. This is a key component in a good presentation. You want to make sure you give off a positive confidant stance.

The very last thing you want to do before you present in front of people is to practice stress reduction. If you are ever feeling tense while you are waiting to present, you want to do practice your slow deep breathing.  

Introduction

Stage fright, what exactly is it? In medical terms stage fright is really a performance anxiety. Being up in front of a few or even hundreds of people can be your living nightmare. Your body reacts to the situation just as it would if you were being attacked. Your bodies "flight or fight" mechanism will kick in. This is why symptoms of stage fright are similar to symptoms that occur when you are in real danger. Some of the main symptoms of anxiety can be:

• Racing pulse and rapid breathing
• Dry mouth and tight throat
• Trembling hands, knees, lips, and voice
• Sweaty and cold hands
• Nausea and an uneasy feeling in your stomach
• Vision changes

The main reason I chose this topic is because quite a few number of people claim to get stage fright without knowing exactly what it is and how you can overcome it. Everyone around the world can go through different forms of stage fright no matter the age. But we don't need to give up or lose hope because there are ways to overcome stage fright. Simply put anxiety and stress about preforming in front of people causes performance anxiety. Throughout this blog we will find out the best ways to overcome stage fright and what you should do before, during, and after you present something in front of people.

http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety