#1 Tip to Conquer Your Speaking Nerves

Here’s my number one tip for controlling speaking nerves: Arrive at the venue the night before. 

It’s usually not practical, but that’s my preferred time frame.

Forty-five minutes is the minimum. Doing so gives you more control over circumstances that can send even very experienced speakers into elevated stress mode.

When I arrived at a rented workshop venue in Winnipeg recently, the room was perfectly arranged – for a 1950s high school classroom. So I reorganized the furniture, transforming the neat rows facing forward into a u-shaped configuration that allowed all participants to see each other as well as me.

In corporate boardrooms, I’ve discovered the screen set up at the opposite end of the table to the computer control system. I don’t know who decided this was a good idea, but I work to reconfigure it so I can see my laptop, and the audience can see me AND the slides, not one or the other.

Also, because I am 5’ 3” tall, the chances of me disappearing behind the average-sized lectern is high.

But if I arrive at the hotel ballroom early enough, I can usually enlist someone’s help in finding me a small riser. This gives me the extra six inches required for my actual face to be seen by those in the front row.

Plus, it’s always a smart move to make friends with the tech crew. I learn their names, shake their hands, and express appreciation for their superior adapter that will guarantee my laptop speaks to their system.