Five Tips for Effortless Presenting

“I do not like your attitude” my high school teacher yelled as I was kicked out of class and demanded to report to the principal. He completely scolded me and I vowed from then on to improve my attitude towards school.

Having the right attitude or the right state of mind is essential for anyone speaking or coaching in public. Here are six tips on how to do it.

Eliminate all worries

Remove all worries from your head. We all have baggage of some kind in our head. A prolonged argument with your partner, a big mistake you made yesterday, or the loss of a deal can affect your mood. The trick is to become mindful and clear your head so that you can focus on the now.

Dandy Warhol’s favorite number from the early 2000s talks about having a trap door in the back of my head. I use this metaphor to empty all the thoughts that depress me before performing on stage. Works.

music anchors

On the subject of Dandy Warhols, let’s get into music and the effect it can have on your mood. As I write this, I’m listening to my State Changer playlist on my phone. This playlist consists of a series of songs, melodies and tracks from my collection that control and influence my mood. I’m 33,000 feet above the Himalayas after performing in Bangladesh and I was craving an energy boost so I’m listening to my playlist.

Music is an anchor. Listening can bring back a state of mind that you experienced when you heard the track or that you embedded into the melody at a later date. Anchors do this. Anchors can be any sense: hearing something, seeing an image in your head, a physical touch on your body, a smell, or a taste. They all revive a mood for you.

Collect anchors for each and every state you need. I use my playlist as it has an instant status change capability and I love my songs. Right now I’m listening “I am the Resurrection” by Stone Roses voted number 10 guitar tune by Q Magazine. It speeds me up so I can go out into the audience and “give them a lot.”

In my playlist I have:

• The Raven by the Stranglers for extra energy
• good morning great britain by Aztec Camera to inspire you
• a day like this by Elbow for concentration
• nothing in my way by Keane for perseverance
• Days of glory Pulp for stimulation

You may see it differently.

physical comfort

In 2016 I attended a private doctor as I was applying for additional health insurance. The doctor was good, very good, and half told me without emotion or prejudice, “Lose a stone.”

I lost 25 pounds that year, I still went to the gym but started lifting weights and got a little toned up. Boy, did it make a difference in how I felt about presenting. It meant that all my clothes were much looser and I felt much more comfortable.

Being physically comfortable is essential, loose clothing helps but learn to be on your feet. I call it the assertive posture. Make sure your body is perfectly balanced, not leaning on either leg, legs the same width as your shoulders, slightly apart. The girls get rid of their finishing school poses. Balanced, upright posture, shoulders back, just like your mother told you before you went to school.

breathing

Encouragement to thrive, not just survive, was a phrase I heard at the Professional Speech Association’s annual convention. Breathing is more than just surviving; it can affect your mood. Let me continue my private doctor story from earlier.

He asked me to lie down on the couch and moved forward to measure my blood pressure. I have to confess that he was a bit nervous at the time, you see I’m a big baby at heart. After the first measurement from him he motioned for me to calm down as he said there was no way he could send that blood pressure to the insurance company they would deny my request.

I thought how can I relax? Breathing I remembered. Inhale deeply and exhale very slowly, very slowly. I did this for a minute and he checked my blood pressure again. “This is better, much more normal”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

So if you’re a little nervous and your blood pressure is rising, do the breathing technique before you go on stage for a couple of minutes and it will calm you down, slow your heart rate, and put you in a more relaxed state of mind. – to the current state.

take in the room

The goal here is to become one with the group. You’ll do this as your talk progresses, but to get the state right early on, adapt a peripheral vision. Many presenters will use their foveal vision and focus on a particular point; this has no value in becoming one with the room. Instead, pick a spot but deliberately enhance your peripheral ability by concentrating on everything around you. This trains your brain to use peripheral vision when you start your talk, thus taking in the entire audience.

Usually someone introduces me on stage; this takes about 20 seconds. I usually stand to the side behind the presenter, ready to pounce, but when she introduces me, I focus on her, but let my peripheral vision work its magic on the entire room and as many audience members as I can. .

When I start my talk, my brain is in peripheral mode and this allows me to become one with them. I then relax the peripheral and go into the foveal position, making sure to give eye contact to as many people as I can. The eyes are the windows to the soul, let’s never forget that.

By the way, a little trade secret for you. Focusing your attention on peripheral vision frees you from nerves. Not many people know that.

Gain control of the room

The larger the audience, the more applause you’ll get after the presentation, and the more effort you’ll want to exert to gain control. That’s how:

1. Peripheral to foveal eye contact around the room

2. Breathe and adopt the assertive posture, stay balanced and relaxed.

3. The public will now also relax.

4. Here

A clip around the director’s ear soon cured my attitude all those years ago. Hey, you can’t do that anymore, right? Or the cane, which I endured twice, which left ugly bruises for a long time. Hasn’t the world changed, but performing in front of an audience will always require you to be in the right state of mind?