The risk of developing anti-social disorder or ASD

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It is a common predicament for many of us to get nervous when giving a speech in public and perhaps there are even times when we find ourselves stuck in an embarrassing situation. When a situation becomes so extreme, Anti-social disorder can be developed and would probably be the most threatening among all of the anxiety associated with stage fright. Similar to a phobia, a person who suffers under ASD tend to experience high degree of consciousness and lower self esteem causing them to avoid situations such as dealing with the public. But is there any way for us to know whether or not we suffer from this type of disorder? According to the experts, it is quite common for a person to get nervous when doing a presentation and their body would usually function back to normal once their done giving a speech. This is just one way to confirm that they do not suffer ASD. On the other hand, if a week or so has already passed and the person still experiences unusual emotional distress, this would mean that they have developed an ASD. (Segall, J. 2015)

Working with PowerPoint and other visual aids

Capturing the audience attention is never an easy task, while others are visual learners who prefer to look at certain things in different viewpoints. This is when PowerPoint comes into play as it provides the audience with better understanding of the presenter's topic making it easier for them to remember it more than the words spoken. Another thing to keep in mind when using visual aid is to understand the culture of the whom you are presenting, for business purposes presentations this is really important especially if some members of the audience are from different cultures. It is important to be consistent when providing main idea in each slide, try to abbreviate if possible and use graph/charts to effectively convey statistics of financial information. Avoid using too many colors and try to match the them with the topic. While bright colors can be used if the lights will be off during the presentation and dark colors when discussing serious matters. I thought it would be helpful to share the following videos because it provides a step by step explanation on how to plan and structure information in PowerPoint.

 

According to David Kawasaki, a chief evangelist of Canva (a graphic design software), a successful speaker takes more than just being confident and definitely will require more practice to be competent. As a result, David came up with 10-20-30 a PowerPoint rule saying that slides should be no more than 10, a presentation should not go over 20 minutes and smallest points should be 30 font. I agree with the concept offered by Kawasaki, because as human beings, we all have different limitations in terms of our learning capacities. It may be impossible to absorb more than 10 ideas at the same time especially in business, the audience would probably care more about the solution to a problem rather than spending more time explaining the problem itself. If a presenter talks more than 20 minutes chances are people will have trouble retaining valuable concepts as new ideas replaced the old ones. A common mistake when using a PowerPoint is the use of fonts lower than 30. As soon as the audience figures out that the presenter is reading right on the slides, the audience may read ahead causing them and the speaker to be out of synch. Kawasaki, G.(2015)

For more information about the 10-20-30 rule feel free to visit Kawasaki's website at PowerPoint 10-20-30 rule

 

How to leave an impression at the end of your presentation

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The last thing to worry about is how to end a presentation in a way that would leave an impression on your audience. In other words the end of a presentation is not really the end, keeping in mind all the questions that you may be asked after your presentation and start to ask yourself about other topics that you might have missed. Once you have expressed all you thoughts and opinion about your topic, end courteously by restating the main idea of your presentation and perhaps distribute handouts to clarify complex issues that you have discussed if necessary. Encourage the audience to participate by making them engage in a discussion which you can come up with as you try to answer questions at the end. If there are not many questions, you cannot assure that the audience fully understand the topic that you have just talked about, some of them may find their questions irrelevant or a little personal to share with other audience. If this is the case, tell your audience that you will be available to answer personal questions regarding the topic of your presentation by allowing them to get in touch with you through e-mail or phone. 

If you are being evaluated by your peers or teacher, it is a good opportunity to ask about their thoughts on your presentation and ask for advice on how to enhance the audience engagement experience. Express your gratitude by thanking the audience for spending their time listening to your presentation and you will be amazed how good it feels to end the presentation with ease and confidence. If you feel that your presentation did not leave much impression on your audience, try to visualize your presentation from the beginning to end and perhaps ask yourself which areas requires more improvement and take note of areas that you consider as your strength. Remember that every presentation provides you with a new experience and knowledge which could take your presentation  skills to a higher level.

Stay calm and confident during your presentation

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By the time you get to centre of the stage, start by looking at your surroundings and greet some members of the audience to ensure that you are in a comfortable position. Once you settle down, start your presentation by delivering an introduction that you memorized in order to make yourself well prepared and it will also allow you to get a great control over the whole presentation. Each of us experiences different degree of nervousness whether shaking, stuttering, faster heartbeat or even headache could be a cause of nervousness as an individual gets so fed up when dealing with all of their anxiety while presenting on stage. Sometimes the size of the audience can be intimidating but it is important that you maintain eye contact with them in order to deliver a more persuasive speech.

Avoid talking too fast as it would only make you look nervous even more causing the organization of details to overlap. This would also make it difficult for the audience to understand your ideas making it seems like you are uncertain about what you are saying. It is important to pay attention with your vocabulary, avoid saying things like uhm, I think or they say as they can affect the purpose of your presentation and lessen the credibility of your information. If you are fidgeting, do not remain in one spot or put your hands in your pocket, but instead try to move around and perhaps interpret your visual aids for the audience. It is also common for most of us to come up with new ideas while presenting, but there is a right time to share this with the audience because they can potentially ruin the organization of information if you fail to back it up properly.

5 tips to remmember before your presentation

The worst part that could ever happen in every presentation is to forget most of the information that you are presenting and start to feel uneasy once you make your way to the stage. Although most of us are aware that the audience has nothing to do with all the anxiety that we suffer from, we cannot deny the fact that they are one of the reasons why it is not easy to overcome stage fright. Whether for school or for business purposes, we must spend adequate amount of time to set up all the materials that we will be using and ensure that they are working perfectly prior the presentation. The reason why we do this preparation is to avoid any mistakes which could eventually lead to embarrassment as we work our way to the end of the presentation. Some of us may ask others for different techniques of coping with stage fright anxiety, but unfortunately there is no guarantee that it will work the same way as it is for them. For a presentation to flow smoothly, a well conducted introduction is a good starting point that can build our confidence and visualize a successful outcome. The following outlines five of the most effective strategies that I find really helpful when preparing for a presentation.

Ø     Review your topic thoroughly – Probably one of the most important strategies for overcoming concern of making mistakes and develop a better peace of mind. Once you are confident enough about your topic, you can somehow increase the audience engagement and perhaps encourage them to participate by asking their opinions towards certain issues regarding your topic.  

Ø    Keep practicing – Rehearse one week prior to presentation either to a friend or in front of the mirror to identify any necessary corrections that will enhance the quality of your presentation. Nothing is perfect but if you put a lot of effort practising, you would feel a huge relief once your presentation is finished. 

Ø     Check all the materials – If you are in business and conducting a presentation in power point, you must go over with all the slides to ensure that they are working correctly. Also if you have a chance, have it tested in the room where you are presenting to prevent any unexpected malfunction with the equipment. 

Ø     Do not present with an empty stomach – Being hungry during a presentation could potentially lessen our ability to concentrate. When you are hungry your most likely to be distracted thinking what will you eat after the presentation causing you to be in a hurry.

Ø     Time your presentation – Most of us should keep track of time especially if the presentation is longer than 15 minutes. Time yourself during rehearsal as well as the intervals on each of the power point slides to know how much information you are explaining in each of the slides.

For more preparation tips and information about overcoming stage fright, you can visit this web site
Preparing for your presentation

Factors that contributes to tension development

Every presentation requires deep concentration which enable speakers to present the information in an organized manner. However sometimes it becomes challenging to have a clear state of mind especially if there are many factors that causes our bodies to make unusual behaviour during a presentation. Some of us may probably think of the audience presence as the biggest threat that tend to ruin our confidence, while the other factors that adds up to tension development are physical surroundings and competition.
 

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 Nothing can be scarier than to do a presentation in front of most respected and highly achieved individuals whom most of us are probably having the most difficult time dealing with. The attention that we get from them is enough to make us feel inferior and underestimated thinking that they are more knowledgeable. The stage setting also play a huge part in every presentation. In my opinion the smaller the stage is the better because standing in the center of a wide stage, make it seems like I get more attention from the audience making it a lot easier for them to focus their attention towards me. However, this may be an advantage to those who prefer to do some gestures and walk back and forth every once in a while in order to add persuasiveness to their presentation. Competition can be a form of distraction which is usually a result of having another presenter perform well and received compliments from the audience prior to presentation.
 
In order to stay away from this predicament, it would be helpful to review the organization of your presentation to spot any irrelevant points and come up with something better instead that will leave an impact to the audience. Keep in mind the purpose of every presentation is to communicate a message through verbal and non verbal. Although this may be easier said than done, there are many ways we can do to avoid unnecessary distractions and complete the presentation with ease and confidence. Does any of these distractions causes you to make mistakes while presenting? If so what do you think may be the best way to prevent it?

How scary presentation is in general

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 Imagine yourself being in a situation where in few minutes you will be on stage to do a presentation in front of many people. It is the day that you have been waiting for and to mess up will only make all the efforts you spent preparing for nothing. Also known as stage fright, is a common anxiety in which most of us tend to suffer from before doing a presentation Whether it is for school or for business purposes, it can be terrifying to any of us thinking what could happen once we stumble on stage when delivering a speech or when we get nervous enough that we start to lose control over the situation. 

Some of us have random thoughts running through our heads which contributes to more tension development as well as having doubt as to whether the presentation will be successful of not. The physical reflex which causes the energy level in our bodies to increase when dealing with an extreme situation is know as the fight or flight response. As the time of presentation come closer, your heartbeat becomes faster as well as other apprehensions that you feel when dealing with a threatening situation. It is important that we eliminate these physiological symptoms as early as possible since they can greatly affect the outcome of the presentation.


Ø  Take a deep breath - Being too nervous can sometimes cause us to talk continuously which causes our delivery of words to suffer. Focus more on breathing and create an interval between long sentences. This is also a good way to get a hold of yourself and reduce the tension due to the presence of the crowd.

Ø  Drink plenty of water - Another helpful way to prevent dryness of mouth especially if the presentation is longer than 10 minutes which will require more effective techniques on delivering words. This could also lessen the burning sensation on our bodies and promote more relaxation.

Ø  Be Positive - Believe that the presentation will be successful rather than a failure. With an objective to communicate a message instead of being criticized by the audience negative thoughts about the presentation.

Ø  Dress properly – Being comfortable with what you wear can boost up your confidence and make you feel good about yourself. This is a good way to show appreciation towards the audience effort for listening to the whole presentation

 
 Public speaking can be terrifying to some extent especially when the presenter lacks experience of dealing with all anxiety associated with stage fright. Some people even struggle to get their thoughts together which makes them more prone to making errors during presentations. Based on my experiences, the outcome of every presentation really depends on the presenter's determination. For a presentation to be well organized, it is necessary to be familiar the topic and spend adequate amount of time rehearsing. You just have to think that the crowd is on your side. How about your stage fright experience? Does any of these anxiety happen to you while on stage doing a presentation? The following link outlines helpful tips and tricks for conducting presentations. Presentation tips and tricks. Feel free to share your thoughts about overcoming stage fright on the comment section below.