• Michael Brown
• Presentation Skills

Written by Michael Brown

'Turn up' for your presentation

It's a sporting cliche: more than one happy captain has told the media "The boys turned up for the game." Meaning, of course, that the players' minds turned up along with their bodies. And that leads to an excellent bit of advice for nervous presenters. Let me explain.

When nervousness stops you 'turning up'

Very nervous presenters are not fully present. Too much of their mind is disengaged (not conveying message to audience), away in a dungeon of thoughts like:

and so on.

It gets worse: that word 'present' also means present in time. But nervous presenters don't occupy the present, they're wallowing in the past and the future, second guessing themselves:

and so on.

When we allow our thoughts into that destructive closet we disengage from real and present contact with the audience. We make our worst opinions of our own abilities into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What it means to turn up as a presenter

So, here's that tip again, expanded for presenters:

Turn up, mentally. Choose to focus your thoughts on engaging the audience. Be with them in every instant.

Make your audience happy, and yourself.

Michael

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