{"id":35217,"date":"2016-12-02T08:58:29","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T15:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/seven-ways-to-boost-confidence-before-presentations\/"},"modified":"2016-12-02T08:58:29","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T15:58:29","slug":"seven-ways-to-boost-confidence-before-presentations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/seven-ways-to-boost-confidence-before-presentations\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Ways to Boost Confidence Before Presentations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0Elana Goodwin<\/a>\u00a0on November 27, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

This article<\/a> is brought to you by Uloop and Kaplan. \u00a0Search Uloop<\/a> for student housing, college roommates, sublets, part-time jobs, internships, tutors, and campus news.<\/em><\/p>\n

No matter if it\u2019s your first presentation or your hundredth, it\u2019s natural to have some nerves and anxiety before you stand up and make a presentation<\/a>. In college, you\u2019re bound to have to give some presentations for various classes, so it\u2019s good to have some tips and tricks tucked away that you can call on to make your presentation experience the best it can be \u2014 and it all starts with confidence.<\/p>\n

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Here are seven ways to boost your confidence before presentations.<\/p>\n

Psych yourself up.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before starting your presentation, tell yourself \u201cyou\u2019ve got this.\u201d Think about all your accomplishments until this moment, this one presentation, and reflect on how small this presentation is in the scheme of things.<\/p>\n

Compliment yourself with positive adjectives and tell yourself this is going to go well \u2014 thinking that will help you live out sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy as your confidence is increased.<\/p>\n

If you work better on a rewards system, promise yourself a prize if you do well \u2014 that can mean treating yourself to dinner, letting yourself binge-watch a new series on Netflix<\/a>, etc. Dangling that carrot at the end of your presentation stick will incentivize you to do your best on your presentation.<\/p>\n

Breathe.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re anxious, you may find that your chest or throat muscles seem tighter or tense \u2014 which can make presenting hard. Before you begin your presentation, take some deep breaths, really focusing on just your inhaling and exhaling. Picture the breath coming in and out of your body and concentrate on holding your inhalation for more than 10 seconds before exhaling deeply.<\/p>\n

Your focus on your breathing<\/a> will help quell your nerves, lower your body\u2019s adrenaline rush that it may be experiencing as you prepare to stand in front of the entire class, and force your mind to quiet and relax. Having your breathing under control and taking a few moments pre-presentation to concentrate on breathing deeply will help boost your confidence<\/a> going into the presentation.<\/p>\n

Drink water. <\/strong><\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re nervous, you\u2019ll often feel like your mouth is dry and sometimes it may seem as though your hands and\/or knees are shaking. To help you calm yourself and give you something else to focus on, bring a water bottle with you the day of your presentation. Between breathing and taking sips of water before you stand up and present, your mind will relax and you\u2019ll feel more confident.<\/p>\n

Accept your anxiety.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t gloss over your nervousness \u2014 lots of people feel anxious before a presentation and accepting that is important to instilling confidence. Trying to hide your anxiety can actually increase those nerves, and therefore also up your heart rate.<\/p>\n

Instead, try to convince yourself that your nerves and elevated heart rate are actually due to excitement and tell yourself you\u2019re excited about your presentation. Being more positive about your presentation experience will boost your confidence and lower your anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reassure yourself.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before your presentation, boost your confidence by reassuring yourself with some important facts. Firstly, you know your material, you\u2019ve done your research, and your presentation is what it is.<\/p>\n

Secondly, even if you make a mistake or say something out of order, nobody will know \u2014 so don\u2019t let slip-ups discourage you or interrupt your presentation. Lastly, your peers and teacher want you to do well and are not rooting for you to fail \u2014 so use their belief in you to boost your confidence in yourself and your presentation.<\/p>\n

Go over your presentation.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the biggest ways to increase your confidence before a presentation is to simply be prepared \u2014 and that means going over your presentation. If you know your presentation backwards and forwards and know both what you may be saying and what\u2019ll be on your poster or slideshow, you\u2019ll feel that much better going into the presentation.<\/p>\n

Practice in front of a mirror to get used to presenting and if possible, also present to your friends or a roommate so they can tell you whether you\u2019re going too fast or should make some changes, and can just give you a live-person review of your presentation style and content.<\/p>\n

Be positive.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sometimes faking confidence and happiness can help you feel more confident and happy before a presentation. So think positive thoughts and smile \u2014 it\u2019ll help release endorphins in your body, which will help decrease your anxiety and make you feel ready to take on your presentation. Additionally, smiling makes you seem confident and like you know what you\u2019re talking about, have faith in your abilities, and be engaged in whatever you\u2019re presenting about.<\/p>\n

Before your next big presentation, review these tips and tricks and implement them into your pre-presentation routine. They\u2019ll help you feel that much more confident and prepared to take on your presentation \u2014 whatever it may be for or about \u2014 and excel.<\/p>\n

For more college news, and to search for off-campus housing, tutors near campus, and jobs for college students, go to\u00a0Uloop.com.<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Seven Ways to Boost Confidence Before Presentations<\/a> appeared first on Business School Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Elana Goodwin\u00a0on November 27, 2016 This article is brought to you by Uloop and Kaplan. \u00a0Search Uloop for student housing, college roommates, sublets, part-time jobs, internships, tutors, and campus news.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,940],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-gmat-prep-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35217\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}