How to Keep Presentation Fears From Holding You Back at Work

“Why does the Wi-Fi have to stall now?”…”Yikes, what was I going to say?”…”Gurgle—of all the days I skip breakfast!”

Presentations at work are nightmares for many employees. Even presenting to a small room can provoke anxieties about your lack of storytelling or technical skills, your rumbling stomach, wardrobe malfunctions or your ability to answer tough questions.

You’re not alone. These surveys spotlight the prevalence of presentation fears among workers:

• A 2003 survey by learndirect revealed that making an unexpected presentation ranked among participants’ top eight nightmares about work.
• Among top presentation fears like stage fright, a survey earlier this year by BoldPoint Now revealed a lack of audience engagement was respondents’ biggest presentation fear.
• According to The Chapman Survey on American Fears, public speaking still ranks among Americans’ top five overall fears, alongside walking alone at night.

Worse, presentation fears don’t just create uncomfortable moments. They wreak havoc on your career.

What Presentations Mean To Your Career

About 70 percent of respondents in a new Prezi survey say presentation skills are essential to career success.

If you’re a manager, presentations provide a platform for team camaraderie and building trust. And if you’re not a supervisor, they’re an opportunity for you to display leadership and gain visibility in front of decision-makers.

For enterprise leadership, employee engagement and motivation are at stake in big presentations. Presentations can even make or break funding for a startup company.

Without presentations, great ideas may never come to life, which stifles your success and the entire growth of your company. So much rides on your ability to speak up and to do so with confidence.

21 Ways to Overcome Presentation Fears

Presentations may make you want to call in sick, but it doesn’t have to be this way. PGi’s 21 powerful presentation tricks supply you with tactics to captivate and walk away from presentations with poise.

In The Little Black Book of Presentation Ideas, you’ll learn:

• Best practices for using presentation slides.
• New approaches for tired presentations like the one-idea, one-slide, 10-minute meeting.
• When it’s OK to bend the rules.
• How to use colors and smells to your advantage.
• And more unique, easy presentation ideas that will help you make smart career moves and avoid horror presentations.

Survive your presentation nightmares. Download PGi’s free eBook, The Little Black Book of Presentation Ideas, today.

And tell us what your biggest presentation nightmare is to win a personal cartoon of you. Take PGi’s quick poll now!