ive never really got nervous at doing presentations.

i can understand why it would be nerve wracking but it's just something that's never effected me and just about every presentation ive did in 5 years has been regarded amongst the best in the class.

fwiw i personally find a well presented confident performance with no stuttering or stammering with not as strong content much easier to listen to than a great presentation where the person giving it is useless.

i hate nothing more than sitting through someone reading verbatim an essay theyve printed out. it's not natural, it doesn't sound natural and it's boring.

adrian a couple of rules i try to stick to:

speak slowly and clearly. talking really fast or into your chest = the actions of a nervous person and it's very noticeable and hard to follow.

go with in with as little material to read as possible. if all youve got is a few cards with bulletpoints you cant read it verbatim like an essay or pages and pages of notes and it means that you have to learn the subject so if and when you get asked something at the end, you can answer because bullshitting is so easy to suss out in presentations imo.

make a point of looking at the room, using your hands, facial expression and voice to engage with the room and make it interesting. as i said, there's nothing i or examiners hate more than someone with their eyes glued to a 3000 word easy reading in a monotone for 5 minutes.

don't be scared to crack jokes. putting a joke if possible in the 1st few paragraphs lightens the mood, gets people on your side and generally makes your performance more memorable than a dead pan one. im pretty sure the other presentations for my post graduate interview will be very serious and i'm going to be the last one giving it so i'm going to introduce the topic etc... then show them a bunch of stuff ive collected about the berlin wall and say: if you're wondering, it is a genuine part of the wall but don't ask why i've got it because i'm too pretty for jail.

within the 1st minute hopefully ill have gained an advantage on the other applicants there that day by having a bunch of cool stuff for the people to look at and examine while im doing my presentation plus hopefully i'll have made them laugh and relieved a little of the monotony of 20 identical presentations.


one last point i'll say: if you get to a presentation and you're still feeling nervous. when it's your turn, hold your breath, count to 3 then stand up and start it as calmly as possible and by the time you're getting into the swing of it everything should be going ok so you don't need to worry.

and remember, no one actually wants to see you mess up a speech or look stupid (unless you happen to be the president of a fairly powerful nation) so remember that they're on your side.