Your heart is racing. Your hands are shaking and sweaty. You take a gulp of water because your mouth is dry. You wipe your forehead with your forearm and pace back and forth with clenched fists. Sound familiar?
These are common reactions before speaking in front of an audience. For some, the audience might be five people; for others, it could be a thousand. Regardless of the number, the intense feelings are real—though they might show up in different ways.
That used to be me a few years ago. Whether I was presenting to five team members or fifty, my body would react the same—tense and anxious. It didn’t matter how much I prepared beforehand. What mattered, or at least what felt overwhelming, was being the center of attention. All eyes and ears were on me. I put so much pressure on myself that I secretly hoped meetings would be canceled. That way, I might avoid presenting altogether. If the meeting was rescheduled, maybe I could make an excuse and say I was unavailable. Voilà—no more presentation!
But why did I want to escape the presentation in the first place? It wasn’t because I was unprepared or didn’t understand the topic. It was my thought pattern. My mind would spiral into worst-case scenarios, many of them irrational:
“What if my pants fall down?”
“What if I have a panic attack?”
Other thoughts were more realistic but still anxiety-inducing:
“What if I pronounce a word incorrectly and people laugh?”
“What if I trip walking to the podium?”
Instead of focusing on preparing myself and my content, I obsessed over these fears. Eventually, I realized that if any of those mishaps did happen, I could choose to lean into them. Laugh at myself. Embrace the moment. Nobody’s perfect. And more often than not, the audience respects you more for owning your mistakes than trying to hide them. That mindset helped—but the anxiety still lingered.
I got tired of feeling anxious. Even though I wasn’t presenting often, I wanted to change how I felt about public speaking. I came to a key realization: the reason I felt so nervous was that I wasn’t exposed to it enough. If I wanted to grow in my career, I needed to be comfortable speaking in public. And to do that, I needed more practice—not just in formal presentations, but in everyday moments. I needed to start being comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Simply introducing myself in meetings was a good start. At work, formal presentation opportunities were limited, so I created my own. I started presenting updates about my projects to my team. I volunteered to organize workplace events, which gave me the chance to meet new people—and even introduce some of the guests. Just the act of speaking with unfamiliar faces helped build my confidence. It was like training in small steps.
This extended into my personal life as well. I began volunteering to help with my kids’ soccer practices. That meant being around people I didn’t know and occasionally stepping into the spotlight. Each of these experiences helped reduce the fear and replaced it with something new: comfort.
Now, I feel much more at ease when presenting. I even experiment with different delivery styles to see what works best. The overwhelming anxiety is gone. What remains is a sense of excitement—and just a small sliver of nervous energy. But I welcome that. It means I care about what I’m saying.
My next step is to keep refining the craft. Things like:
- How long should the presentation be?
- What content is most relevant for the audience?
- When should I pause?
- How do I transition smoothly between ideas?
- Where should I look?
- What’s the best body language?
- How do I open and close strong?
There’s a lot to learn, but I’m taking it one step at a time. And that’s what makes it fun—it’s a journey of continuous improvement.
So go out there and give yourself a chance to grow. Say yes to that presentation. Take the opportunity, even if it scares you. You might regret it the night before, but if you’re prepared and approach it as a learning experience, you’ll have nothing to fear. And once it’s over, you’ll be proud you did it.
Go get it.
Take care.