Presentation panic

[dinorh]

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum. I have a stressful job working for a big American multi-national with a facility in the UK. I supervise a team of engineers and, like many of my peers, often need to make or lead presentations and teleconferences. Does the experience I'm about to describe sound like you? If so I'd be really interested to know if/how you resolved the problem.

I can give stand-up presentations, not my absolute forte, but I can give them. A bit nervous at first but this soon subsides. Often though we use the style of presentation in which we sit around the table and I talk through a hand-out; it's less formal and needs no equipment. Strange thing is that I find this terrifying! It goes something like this: we chat informally first as people arrive and this is no problem. Then, when it's my turn to lead off and the room goes quiet, I get this surge in my heart-beat, my throat closes up and my voice becomes erratic as I struggle to breathe and not swallow. It's a mild form of panic which I become extremely self-conscious of which then feeds back to feeling even worse until I either just get through it or a distraction such as someone asking a question triggers a gradual calming and then I'm absolutely fine thereafter. Last week I actually had to leave the room on the pretext of a full bladder because I couldn't think of any way in which I could control the situation. It was all the more ridiculous because the meeting was very safe - I knew all the people round the table well. Anyway, the same thing happened today and now I am acutely conscious that people are beginning to think I can't handle simple presentations. Yes I drink coffee and things right now are a bit more stressful generally and I have also had marital issues but I need to sort this demon out and break out of this cycle.

I have been taking propanolol 40mg when I know I have a biggie e.g. senior management presentation and it works fine because it stops the heart racing and psychologically I also know that I have taken my special remedy. I don't want to rely on it because you can't always take it discreetly, it takes 30 minutes to kick in and you sometimes don't get 30 minutes notice.

My next step is to consider hypnotherapy because I think there are other issues such as low self-esteem, child-hood factors and so on that might be a major influence on this condition. The ridiculous thing is that I am very experienced in what I do, am well respected and so have no obvious reason to have this problem.

Any thoughts out there?

[EebyJeeby]

Hi dinorh,

I know the feeling well. It's interesting that you find the less formal approach more difficult - do you think that is because it is less structured, or because you aren't stood up with the projector controls etc to fiddle with? (Both the standing posture and the fact you have equipment to play with creates a separation between you and the others)

I have found that there are many factors which affect how confident I am when presenting. If I know the subject well, I'm usually ok. If I don't know the subject well, then that's probably not my fault anyway (more likely due to a last minute request), so I can't be expected to do it perfectly!

To avoid the big pause at the beginning, you could always start the session by throwing some questions out and creating an initial discussion where everyone joins in. That way, by the time you start going through the handout, the ice has been broken and everyone is more relaxed anyway.

As with all anticipatory anxiety, it's all about the "what ifs". These days I just think "well so what!". There are more important things than work. That view usually takes the fear out of the situation and the presentation goes fine anyway!

Take some of the pressure off yourself and by all means do seek some help for any underlying issues - it all helps!

Eeb x

[Karen]

Hi Dinorh

Welcome to the forum. I too wonder whether it is the less formal setting which is causing you more anxiety. With formal presentations you have props, like projectors etc and the presentation can be rehearsed beforehand.

In the second situation you describe there is more of a social element mixed in with business and I wonder whether that is the part you are finding difficult.

Hypnotherapy can certainly help with this kind of anxiety. I suffer from social phobia and have had great benefit from seeing a hypnotherapist as well as using hypnosis downloads.

You might like to consider the Confidence in Meetings (http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/downloads/personal_development/meetings-confidence.html?1388) and/or Public Speaking Confidence (http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/downloads/personal_development/public_speaking.html?1388) hypnosis downloads. There are many to choose from, including self esteem if you feel this is also an area you would like to work on.

Learning breathing techniques like 7/11 breathing, where you slow your breathing down making sure the out breath is longer than the in breath. This helps calm anxiety and the more you practise it the easier it becomes.

You might also like to read the First Steps (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/default.asp?t=cms&c=firststeps) information on this site.

I hope some of this proves helpful for you.



Karen


Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Dont they know its the end of the world?
It ended when you said goodbye

[BeckiG]

Hi Dinorh,

I've just posted a very similar topic (should have read yours first) I too work for a US multinational based in the UK (might be the same one :-)). And have to travel to the US to conduct a major presentation next week.

All the symptoms you described I get as well, once it was so embarrassing I was stood at the front of the auditorium and had a sudden surge of panic, my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest and I couldn't breath let alone speak, I was also aware that I had gone bright red. I just stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to do whether to stay and try and calm down or run out the room (which I nearly did). Fortunately I managed to get some sounds to come out of my mouth and gradually it passed and I returned to normal.

But this experience sticks in my mind and every time I have to do a presentation I start panicking and thinking oh my god what if that happens again.

This time I'm going to take my propananol, practice breathing while my colleague is doing their pitch first and hope that, that helps. I've also prepared and practised my pitch over and over again, but I'm still dreading it. I think maybe it's one of those things that only improve the more you do it although the thought of that is not good!!

You are not alone :-)

Becki

[dinorh]

Becki,
So how did it go? I've been off-line for a while - my password wouldn't work - so just catching up. The above responses helped me, I am just about to listen to my hypnosis download again. This was relaxing and gave me a new perspective on myself - key theme is to imagine yourself giving a successful presentation as if watching from an out of body experience. From this perspective, I can see how it could boost confidence over time. Still need the propanolol comfort teddy for now but my aim is to ween myself off this. I'm worried that too much dependence on the drug will lead to problems.

Dino