Controlling Your Nerves When Presenting a Webinar
Public speaking is one of the most fearful things a person can partake in. Even the more-experienced public speaker will have some degree of nervousness before addressing their audience. It would be easy to assume that public speaking is made easier when the speaker and audience are situated in separate locations, but the fact remains that the speaker still has to address a number of people simultaneously. Whether your presentation relates to webinar training or webinar coaching, the same tactics can be used to ensure your presentation is delivered successfully.
In order to control our nerves, we first have to understand what causes them in the first place. A person gets nervous as they are feeling fear, which in turn is an anticipation of pain. So while they won’t have pain inflicted on them directly, there is the worry that that something could go wrong in front of a lot of people. For example, you could forget what you’re saying in the middle of your presentation, there is also the worry that you could forget some important information therefore making the speech itself irrelevant. Feeling nervous is a natural human instinct, and while there is no miracle cure to stop anyone ever feeling nervous, there are some steps you can take to ensure you take control of your nerves, and even use them to your advantage.
The first step to take is to ensure you are prepared. And preparation relates to every part of your presentation. So for example, have you proofread your presentation? Have you ensured that it is not only informative, but also easy-to-follow? Knowing that your presentation is correct and finished will give you a much needed boost of confidence that helps keep your nerves at bay. Of course, there is a lot more to consider than the presentation itself. You should also ensure that any tools being used as part of the presentation are also in working order. Things to check should include your web conferencing software, as well as any audio and visual aids required to deliver your presentation.
Once you have everything in place and you have checked your presentation and become familiar with it, you should have a contingency plan in place should any mishaps arise. For example, if you make a mistake when delivering your presentation, try not to stumble or freeze on the spot. A quick recovery will not only show you have the tenacity to carry on, but it will also present you as a normal person who makes mistakes and simply deals with them rather than cover them up. You could even inject some humor into what happened. This will ensure that people are concentrating on what you have to say, instead of losing confidence.
Once you have established that everything is in working order and that your presentation is faultless, you will have more time to compose the most important asset of the presentation, you. Go through your presentation a couple of times before delivering it to a crowd of people. This will allow you to become familiar with the content of the webinar, and will also help with the delivery of the content. You may find after a couple of run-throughs that some aspects of the presentation need to be changed for a clearer delivery. Once you have made such amendments, carry out further dry runs of the presentation until you are 100% happy with both the delivery and content of the presentation. By the time you deliver your presentation you will find that you’re nervous, but confident. This will ensure that you are giving the best webinar presentation possible.