Dr Carter’s book, The Art of Giving Presentations, What does Dr Carter say about nervousness?

Woman: Welcome to ’Mid Afternoon,’ Dr Carter. Now, I imagine you’re here in Birmingham to promote your recently published book ’The Art of Giving Presentations’, Is that right?
Man: Well, not really, no! In fact the book isn’t really recent at all - it came out at the beginning of last year, I’m actually here this week to give a series of talks outlining some ideas I’ve had since then.
Woman: So are these ideas the basis for your next book?
Man: Well, it’s really too early to talk about that!
Woman: I see, Now tell me, how did you become involved in this particular area of communication skills?
Man: Well, many years ago, as a young sales executive, I had to give presentations, but I felt I wasn’t doing them very well. My boss never actually criticised me, and my colleagues weren’t doing any better than me, but the point was that I didn’t feel satisfied with my performance. You see, if I’m doing something, I have to do it well.
Woman: So you decided to do something about improving your performance.
Man: That’s right. I tried to find some books to help me but there weren’t really any available in those days... so I eventually decided on a totally practical approach: I tried to find out what my problem was by studying the way the best speakers gave presentations, by talking to them, even watching them prepare. Then I compared their performance with mine.
Woman: And what was your main problem? Nervousness? I know that’s mine.
Man: Well I had always thought it was nervousness, and it’s true that at the time I had no techniques for dealing with that. But I think audiences accept the fact that speakers get nervous, and it really doesn’t matter. No, I discovered that my No. I problem was preparation. Nobody had ever told me anything about how to prepare, and I didn’t really know how to do it properly.
Woman: And when you realised that, what did you change?
Man: Well, before, I used to go through the whole presentation in an empty room on my own. The first change in my approach came when I realised it’s much more realistic and much more useful to do it in front of two or three colleagues. That way you get some feedback. Otherwise you have no idea whether or not your presentation is effective, or which parts might need further attention.
Woman: Is that the method you recommend now?
Man: Well, not quite. What I would advise is to make a video of your practice presentation...
Woman: Instead of using colleagues?
Man: No, a recording of your presentation to them. Then it’s easier for all of you to go back and see what’s wrong and how it can be improved, It’s actually much better than recording other people doing real presentations, however good they are.
Woman: So that’s the preparation, but are there any factors which make the presentation itself difficult, even if you are prepared?
Man: Well obviously, yes. Some speakers imagine, quite wrongly, that every audience is unfriendly, at least at the beginning. And this affects their performance. And then there may be a few people who worry about their lack of experience of public speaking. But really what bothers most speakers is things like the OHP and the microphone - are they going to work, and so on,
Woman: Are there any techniques that are effective for overcoming feelings of anxiety?
Man: Well, first I have to say that some people never manage to reduce their anxiety levels. What they can do is learn to relax their face muscles while they speak, so that they look relaxed, even though they feel just as anxious as before. In order to really reduce anxiety, some experts recommend concentrating on something that you enjoyed recently - but I find this is hopeless... I just forget what I was about to say! For me though, what has worked is some simple breathing exercises, breathing in deeply and slowly while making a pause. This definitely slows down the heart rate. That’s what I would try first of all.
Woman: Something we can all try - Dr Carter, thank you very much indeed.