Putting it All Together: Giving Your Presentation

If you have completed all sections in this workbook so far, you have developed and put together nearly all you need for an effective presentation.  You will have chosen a topic, gathered ideas, and developed those ideas into main points and sub-points.  You will have written an introduction, a thesis, a preview, transitions, and a summary and conclusion.  You will have selected and prepared visual aids.  And you will have done all of this while keeping the audience, purpose and time limits in mind.  You will also have prepared a formal outline following the template shown on page 28, and you will have prepared note cards similar to those on pages 30 and 31.  You are ready to begin rehearsing your presentation.

However, now comes what may be the most challenging part of the presentation: the reality of speaking in front of others.  For some, you will just start rehearsing and get yourself prepared. But for many others, the nervousness and the “what if” thinking may start to creep in.  So, before we go any further, we will explore how to identify and constructively deal with nervousness. Start by completing Activity 3 Part 1 below.

Understanding and Managing Nervousness

As noted earlier, the thought of giving a presentation causes some degree of nervous feelings for nearly everyone, whether a first-time speaker or a professional. We talk and listen all day long and have been doing so for years.  But presentations take place in a unique communication context as described earlier : the speaker is at the center of the situation, and, because a presentation happens in real time, there is no “rewind” or “delete” key if a mistake occurs.  No wonder a degree of nervousness is normal. Nervousness, sometimes referred to as anxiety or apprehension, is what we feel when we are scared and think something bad could to happen.  We experience nervousness in three parts: thoughts, body sensations and actions. Even professional singers, actors, and television personalities experience a degree of nervousness before any performance.  In fact, many of them are concerned that if they feel too relaxed, they are not as likely to perform well.  Super-star Beyonce has stated “I get nervous when I don’t get nervous.  If I’m nervous, I know I’m going to have a good show.” The challenge with nervousness is to manage it comfortably and have it work for you, rather than try to eliminate or avoid it.

The key to managing nervousness effectively is to understand where nervousness comes from, what you can do to have nervousness work to your advantage, and what actions you can take to be prepared and confident on the day of your presentation.

Understand why nervousness occurs.  When we encounter a potential threat, as when something unexpected happens, we experience one of three responses: fight, flight, or freeze.  When this occurs, the body prepares to react quickly by increasing heart rate, pumping more adrenaline into the body, increasing body temperature, and reacting with other physical responses to help protect itself from harm.

Similar reactions can happen when you are about to give a presentation.  While there is no threat to your physical well-being, you may perceive a threat to your self-esteem and psychological well-being.  We all like to perceive ourselves as capable, likeable and in control, particularly in front of our peers.  However, because of our common tendency to think of what might go wrong, this positive view of ourselves can seem threatened when we are about to give a presentation.  When this occurs, we experience similar physical reactions, such as “butterflies”, shaking, increased heart rate, sweaty palms and so on, just as we might when we perceive a physical threat: we prepare to fight (“just do it”), flee (“I feel sick”), or freeze (“My mind has gone blank; I can’t remember anything”).

There are numerous reasons why students often experience nervousness, anxiety, or apprehension about speaking in public, ranging from fear of failure and fear of being the center of attention to general shyness and cultural differences. (Richmond, Wrench and McCroskey, 2018, and Gamble, 2018). In a study by Raja (2017), he found the main cause for anxiety for students in public speaking is lack of confidence, a lack of self-assurance about and belief in their abilities.

Perhaps the most significant reason many students experience nervousness is simply because they are being asked to do something for which they have received little or no appropriate training and experience. Students are frequently required in high school and college courses to give oral reports and presentations, yet they often receive incomplete or ineffective information about how to prepare and present effectively, and little or no information about how to navigate the typical nervousness. Consequently, students’ past experiences with presentations may bring up negative images and increased reluctance to go through the experience again.  Fortunately, all of that will change for the better with the work you have done so far in this course, and by applying the following information.

Turn nervousness into excitement. Now that you know what nervousness is and why it occurs, we will examine research that shows how to make it work to your advantage.

When we sense that we are experiencing nervousness, most of us want the sensations to simply go away, or we imagine that there is something “inadequate” about us because of physical sensations that create discomfort and thoughts that dwell on what can go wrong.  We may tell ourselves to “calm down” or well-meaning friends and family may give a similar message to “just relax”.  However, a study by Brooks (2014) shows that reappraising the nervousness as excitement, rather than calmness, is more likely to have a positive impact on what you are experiencing. This is because “anxiety and excitement are both aroused emotions” whereas anxiety and calmness are at opposite ends of the emotion-arousal spectrum.  In other words, “it is easier to convince yourself to be excited than calm when you’re anxious.” (Khazan 2016)

In her study, Brooks asked participants to perform three typically anxiety-producing activities, one of which was to give a two-minute speech on camera.  One of the groups, prior to the speech, were told to say “I am calm” and the other group was told to say “I am excited” prior to giving the speech.  The participants that said they were excited prior to speaking “spoke longer and were seen as more persuasive, confident and persistent”. (Brooks 2014) Similar studies by Bigman et al (2016) and Barrett (2017) also confirm that “reappraising”, or renaming anxiety or nervousness as excitement, is more likely to produce positive performance outcomes. Barrett studied the impact of students changing their predictions of what they expected to happen from anxious to excitement, and she found that “when students learn to make this kind of energized determination instead of anxiety, they perform better…”.

To begin “reappraising” your expectations and predictions about giving a presentation, complete Activity 3 Part 2 below.

Another way to shift your expectations and predictions is to redesign the questions you ask of yourself.  Instead of “what if…” or other questions that may trigger negative expectations, using questions based on Appreciative Inquiry (AI) will continue to help you reappraise your thoughts about giving a presentation.  AI “is based on the simple assumption that every organization has something that works well, and these strengths can be the starting point for creating positive change.” (Cooperrider 2005) The same principles can be applied to students. Each of you have strengths and skills right now that are working well and that can be the starting point of becoming a successful presenter. The work of Cooperrider (2005), Whitney and Trosten-Bloom (2003), and Watkins and Mohr (2001) all confirm that positive imagery leads to positive action, and positive imagery begins with positive questions. Based on the design used by AI, answer the following questions. Once you have completed your answers, share and discuss your responses with others in your class.

There are several actions you can now take to be prepared and confident. Now that you have begun to turn nervousness into excitement, take that approach with actions that will ensure you are prepared on the day of your presentation:

• Prepare your presentation thoroughly. This will help keep nervousness in its place.  Preparation takes away the “fear of the unknown” because the more you prepare, the more the information becomes familiar to you.  Complete your outline as described in the workbook. Prepare your note cards. Do not try to memorize every word; in fact, as explained earlier, memorization will work against you. The most successful way to prepare is by following and using each part of the process explained in this workbook.
• Practice, practice, and more practice. Preparation alone is not enough.  You must rehearse your presentation, out loud, several times to become comfortable with it before the actual presentation.  The following section provides guidelines for rehearsing effectively.
• Most importantly, as explained earlier, shift your focus. Typically, when we think about the “what ifs” of a presentation, we have thoughts such as “What if I make a mistake?”, “What if I forget?” and so on.  Notice the focus is on “I”, on ourselves. Here is the most important mental shift in order to make to manage nervousness:  It’s not about you; it’s about the audience.   If you think about the many “what ifs” that may come to mind, then you are putting the focus on yourself rather than the audience.  When you remember that what you have to say matters, that you are speaking about something interesting to you, and that you are thinking more about the audience than yourself, then you give nervousness a productive use.  The more you place your attention on how you can help the audience understand and become engaged in the topic, the more your nervousness will shift to excitement.

Rehearsing: The Key to a Successful Presentation

Now it is time to put everything together and rehearse.  Rehearsing well reduces nervousness and builds confidence for when you actually make your presentation.  The following information will help you rehearse productively and become comfortable with the extemporaneous style:

1. Practice your material several times out loud. Saying your presentation out loud is much better preparation than just “rehearsing” in your head.
2. Over-enunciate final consonant sounds. The English language has hard consonant sounds at the end of many words; for example, consider the final d and t in “hard consonant sounds”. When you intentionally and distinctly make these sounds during rehearsal – even if it feels strange at first – your speaking will come across more clearly and distinctly to the audience. This is a skill that both native and non-native speakers of English must develop. (If you want further information about the importance of this, watch this clip with actor Morgan Freeman.
3. Walk around as you rehearse out loud.
4. Use natural gestures as you speak.
5. Use note cards. Do not write out your presentation word for word.  Your note cards are there to prompt your thinking and help keep you on track with key sentences and phrases.  And each time you rehearse out loud, try saying your ideas with less use of your note cards.
6. Practice hands-on with your visual aids. No matter how well-prepared your visual aids might be, it is a very different experience to “talk and do” at the same time.  Also, by practicing hands-on you can discover what might go wrong before your actual presentation and fix it ahead of time.
7. Practice in front of others, preferably with your presentation partners or others doing this assignment with you. They will have a better understanding of the type of feedback that will be most useful to you.  They will also know what is expected in the assignment.  Meet with a group of three or four to take turns giving your presentations to one another.  Time one another to make sure that your presentations are all within the time limits set for the assignment.  Give feedback to each other using the feedback guidelines on pages 47 – 48.  If you are unable to meet with others, put pillows in a variety of locations in a room, and speak to each one to practice making eye contact. Setting up stuffed animals works well, too! You can also rehearse by yourself in front of a mirror. No matter where you rehearse, remember to rehearse out loud, with movement, use your gestures, and practice with visual aids.
8. Record yourself on your cell phone or tablet or Zoom or have someone else do it for you. Play it back so you can give feedback to yourself, based on the criteria for the assignment given you by your instructor and on your understanding of your audience and their interests and needs.
9. Rehearse the ending first. Typically, when students rehearse their presentations, they start at the beginning, speak until they make a mistake, and then return to the beginning and start over. Consequently, the earlier part of the presentation often gets more practice than the ending.  Instead, practice the summary and conclusion first. Then add the last point, summary, and conclusion, and so on. When you give your presentation, you may be surprised how much more confident you feel with the solid familiarity of the latter part of the speech.

Choose Appropriate Words and Examples. When rehearsing an extemporaneous presentation, give thought to expressing your ideas in clear, natural wording and proper grammar.  In addition

1. Avoid slang or profanity.
2. Avoid “vocal fillers” such as “uh,” “OK,” like” or “you know.” These make your presentation sound choppy and make you sound nervous. Instead of filling the space with unnecessary nervous fillers, simply pause.
3. Use language that is appropriate for the topic, for the purpose, for you, and most of all, for your audience.
4. Avoid clichés and buzzwords. Examples are easy to find online, as this is a common concern with writing as well as speaking. (Bowe)
5. Avoid stating the obvious, particularly when identifying the thesis, main points, or other structural aspects of the presentation. Do not use phrases such as “Today I am going to talk about”, “my first point is,” “my second point is,” “my third point is,” “in summary,” and “in conclusion”; these are all overused and state the obvious.  If your presentation is structured correctly and delivered well, your audience will know when each of these parts of the presentation occurs without needing to label them.
6. Briefly define any acronyms or technical terms the first time you say it. For example, say “ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is…”. or “Calculating your BFI, your body fat index, can be done…”. After explaining it the first time, you can use the acronym on its own.
7. Use precise, direct words. Choose language that is clear and to the point. Say “use” instead of “utilize” or say “Because” rather than “Due to the fact…”. (The article, “Good Writing Part II…” in Resources provides additional guidelines.)
8. Use humor sparingly, and only if humor is a natural part of expressing yourself. Nothing is more awkward than a joke that fails or a situation where the audience feels obligated to laugh.  If you do use humor and it fails, laugh anyway.  When in doubt, skip it.
9. Use examples, illustrations and details that support your topic and that the audience can relate to. Continue to keep in mind the general characteristics and interests of the audience that you identified earlier.

It’s Presentation Day: Ways to Stay Grounded, Poised, and Do Your Best

By now you should be ready to give your presentation.  You have prepared your note cards, your visual aids are ready, you have rehearsed several times, and yet, for some reason, the nervousness comes floating back.  Here are some actions you can take to ensure you deliver your presentation with poise and confidence:

1. Delivery begins as soon as you leave your seat to approach the front of the room. Walk with good posture and avoid making excuses or jokes before you speak.  Your credibility as a speaker begins before you actually start to speak.
2. Take a couple of minutes to “set your stage”. Arrange or move any tables or chairs to suit your needs.  Get slides loaded and the projector on in advance.  Set out your visual aids so you can get to them smoothly and easily.  Make sure that your note cards are numbered and in order.  Do this silently and with poise.  This helps you psychologically “own” the speaking area and will help you calm yourself and build confidence.
3. Pause a moment after you have set your stage and before you begin the presentation. Remind yourself: “I am excited!” Breathe in slowly, exhale, then look at your audience and begin.
4. Make eye contact throughout the presentation, particularly during the introduction and conclusion. Instead of making eye contact with “the audience”, make eye contact with one person at a time around the room.
5. Breathe slowly and evenly during your presentation. Many of us tend to take quick, shallow breaths when nervous.  Slow, deep breathing is a natural, easy way to keep yourself calm and to help your voice sound confident.  Picture your breath coming from your abdomen rather than your chest.
6. Use notes as little as possible. When you do use them, hold them in your hand so that you can easily glance at them without lowering your head.  Do not try to read them while they are on a table or at a distance from you.  If you do, the notes will be difficult to read and your audience will be distracted.
7. Stand with your feet flat on the floor, with one foot slightly in front of the other and your knees bent slightly. Do not cross your ankles or shift from side to side.  Use natural posture throughout your presentation so that you can move around comfortably.
8. Use gestures naturally and expressively. Use gestures that clarify and support the information you are providing and that are natural for you as a speaker. Avoid putting your hands in your pockets, crossing your arms, or letting your arms hang limply at your sides.  At the other extreme, eliminate nervous gestures such as fidgeting with clothing or overly animated gestures that draw attention to themselves and away from the information.
9. Keep your hands free so you can easily use your note cards and visual aids. Do not fidget with a pen or roll your note cards.  Keep your hands out of your pockets and avoid crossing your arms.
10. Speak in a natural, clear voice with varying pitch and phrasing. Project your voice to the back wall, so that the farthest person in the room can hear you clearly.  Keep your chin parallel to the floor; this will help with both your projection and your breathing.
11. Pronounce words clearly and correctly. Whether English is your first language or not, clear, precise speaking is essential during your presentation. As you rehearse, put particular emphasis on the final consonant sounds at the ends of words.  These are the sounds that get dropped most often, yet they are essential for helping the audience understand what you are saying.  The more you enunciate the final sounds of words during rehearsal, the more you will remember to enunciate during the actual presentation.  If English is not your first language, speak as distinctly as you can.  Before giving your presentation, check on the pronunciation of any words that are unfamiliar to you.
12. Speak at a moderate pace. Speaking too quickly will make you more nervous and make it difficult for the audience to hear you clearly.  Speaking too slowly with lots of unnecessary pauses will make your presentation sound boring or choppy.
13. Wear clothing that helps you feel confident. Some students find that wearing clothes that would be appropriate for a job interview adds to their confidence.  Do not wear a hat or noisy jewelry unless it pertains directly to the presentation or is part of a personal faith practice.  Arrange your hair away from your eyes and in such a way that it will stay in place throughout your presentation.
14. Most importantly: Never apologize before, during or after your presentation! Small mistakes sometimes happen no matter how much preparation you put into your presentation. You may jump ahead in your slides, you may stumble over a word, or your note cards may get mixed up.  No matter what, never apologize! Instead, do these three things: pause, correct the mistake, and continue.  When the audience sees you respond calmly when a mistake occurs (even if you feel shaky on the inside) you will strengthen your credibility and your confidence.