The Best Way to Calm Your Nerves Before a Presentation

Even after years of leading trainings and delivering presentations, I still get nervous before speaking.

In this week's Two-Minute Tip, I share the simple reminder I use to calm my nerves before presentations.

The best part? It doesn’t just for presentations. This same reminder has helped me before job interviews, difficult feedback conversations, sales calls, leadership meetings, and other high-stakes conversations.

If you struggle with presentation anxiety or want to feel more confident before an important conversation, this is one reminder worth writing on a Post-it note and sticking on your desk or mirror.

What helps calm your nerves before a big presentation or important conversation? I’d love to hear your tips in the comments below!

• Read the video transcript

  Want to know the thing I tell myself to calm my nerves before a big presentation? Well, before I share it, let's just back up and acknowledge that no matter how many presentations I give, no matter how many keynotes, trainings delivered, I still get very nervous each time. And just recently, I was preparing to deliver a pretty large training to a large, intimidating audience, and the nerves were building.

  And then I reminded myself,

  "It's not about you, it's about them."

  The nerves grow when we focus on ourselves, but when we think about the audience, we think about how do I want to serve them? How do I want them to feel through this? What do I want them to walk away with? When we stop focusing on ourselves and how we look, and instead we focus on serving, it shifts the way we feel about it completely.

  This doesn't just apply to presentations. It applies to one-on-ones with your employees. It applies to boardrooms. It applies to delivering difficult feedback. It applies to job interviews. It applies to sales calls.

  So the next time you're preparing for a big, important conversation and you start to feel the anxiety grow,

  I want you to pause and remind yourself:

  It's not about you. It's about them.

  Let's stop trying to impress people, and instead focus on serving them.