>>Meeting Anxiety Head-On: [What do you do if you are faced with an upcoming business meeting and you feel intimidated, nervous, or plain old scared out of your wits? ]

by Peter Morris

First thing, when you are up there, giving your speech or presentation or pitch, the best thing you can do is to work off of a piece of paper or notecard that has bullet points and buzzwords or key phrases, rather than a pre-typed or pre-written speech. Pre-written presentations can make you feel insecure or nervous about missing a word or skipping a line, and you’ll be nervous about sounding as if you’re simply reading a script (YOU ARE!). It is extremely difficult to read and speak at the same time, without sounding like you are reading aloud. It’s much better to work off of concepts, even if you have to pause for a moment to figure out the best way to phrase something. It will sound more sincere and will be easier to listen to.

The second piece of advice I have is to find a friendly face in the audience. Sometimes it could be a friend or colleague with whom you’ve already discussed your plan. And when you’re up there talking, make eye contact with that reassuring face. Don’t do it to the point that you forget to look around the rest of the room, but when you are feeling insecure or need a dose of reassurance, you can look at that person and smile. And you’ll feel instantly more comfortable and your voice and facial expressions will reflect that too. For that moment of eye contact, simply imagine yourself having a conversation with that friendly face. This is a technique that I often use and that others often find quite helpful in a number of different situations, from giving a toast at a large dinner to presenting new ideas at a company meeting.

And of course, my last piece of advice is to try and speak out whenever you can. Volunteer to lead a group presentation or lead a meeting or even be a speaker at a “Career Day” at your local high school. The more you practice your public speaking and presentation skills, the more naturally they’ll come and the more comfortable you’ll feel with time.