Why is Presenting so Stressful

Fear of Public Speaking

What is it that causes so much fear and trepidation when it comes to speaking in front of other people? Why do we always become so nervous and jittery when giving presentations? Essentially, we are concerned about what people will think of us. This fear has become so embedded that it was etched into Chinese culture by way of the phrase “tiu lien”, or “to lose face.”  And for speakers, the risk of performing badly, of losing face, becomes huge.

In today’s society it’s not only the CEO who delivers presentations. We all have to learn how to present effectively, even if only for self-promotion. We need to find our personal weak points and begin correcting them, and this is a gradual process, a one-step-at-a-time journey to becoming really effective getting up and talking to people, rather than at them. There are several venues to practice this transformation.  Joining Toastmasters is certainly one way, but not everyone has time for a weekly meeting and several years to make incremental progress. Here at Effective Presentations, we have created a non-threatening, interactive and fun presentation skills training class that will meet you exactly where you are and exponentially speed the process along!

Presentation Skills Classes

During our two-day presentation seminar, we involve all participants in several live presentations. In other words, they stand up and talk; we videotape them, and then provide immediate structured feedback. In nearly all cases, this is enough to cause each participant a little nervous anxiety! When our workshop attendees are given their opportunity to stand up and speak extemporaneously, some strange quirk of logic seems to happen. They tend to spend every second focusing on the content of what to say, and absolutely no time on the aspects of delivery that determine what audience is actually going to see!

So how important is what the audience sees? According to “the experts”, in a face-to-face situation body language accounts for approximately 55% of what an audience retains. The eye is drawn to 3 things; color, movement and light. Remember that your wardrobe, ie … choice of colors, tight or baggy clothes, loud jewelry, etc … influence your message tremendously! Add to that the other startling statistic from “the experts”, that your audience retains only about 7% of what you actually say, and you certainly don’t want to distract them even further with nervous habits and wardrobe malfunctions and well – you get the idea.

Learn Effective Presentation Skills

Nobody is born a “good presenter.” Those who attended some public speaking or drama classes in school may have a leg-up on the competition, but you are never too young or too old to practice and develop a more effective presentation style. Are you ready to start the journey? Whether you want to improve your individual presentation skills or are a company with a group of employees who would benefit from a customized, Business Presentation Skills workshop, we can help you reduce the stress and make your presentations more fun, engaging and effective.