Things people don’t talk about!

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Sometimes you think you know a lot of things about people you see every day but that is not the case. I was talking to colleagues about delivering a presentation; as part of the interview, delivering lectures, or workshops. We talked about how your nerves might get better of you and how to manage it. One of them practices Kung Fu (martial art) in his office before giving a presentation. The other one said she is taking Prozac. It helps her with mood disorder (which I didn't know she had) and managing her nerves. One of the described conducting a workshop as going to a war and the other one said she feels as nervous as the first time she did a presentation.

Comments

radius said…
I would recommend to think of something pleasant, that remains its value independent if you perform good or bad in the presentation. It helps a lot to mentally relax if you know, that life offers nice moments outside the job. Thats probably what your colleague tried to get with the Kung-Fu excercise: feeling that you can achieve something that does not depend on others people judgements. Any success at the job, of course, depends to a large extent on others people judegments (board of directors, supervisors, peer reviewers, grant reviewers, customers). This is important, of course, for the success of an entire company or department. But as an individual, I think, there should be sufficient other fields where to get the feeling of success. And perhaps Prozac or other psycho-active substances (alcohol for instance or drugs) are working in a similar way: increasing your selfesteem, making you think that you are great, independent on your performance at work. And since this let you relax mentally, it reduces the nervousness and anxiety. But perhaps you can get the same if you think that you will draw a nice picture tonight, or play a wunderful piece of music, a go out with your wunderful kids or do a special kind of sports. I think it is always good to have the feeling that you have some additional skills that are not so common.
best regards, Michael

PS: Sometimes I am quite surprised how the "nervous costume" changes during such a presentation. Sometimes I have sort of "stage fever" before a talk, but after the first few minutes, I become very convident. Sometimes it is the other way around: I think I am quite well prepared for every occasion, but during the talk got more and more nervous. Also a lot depends on the response of the audience.
April 24, 2013
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