How to Calm Your Nerves Before a Presentation

Even professional speakers get nervous before keynotes or presentations. To what degree depends on what’s at stake: Who’s in the audience? A competitor? A special loved one? Will their career take a big nosedive if they fail? Do they stand a chance of winning a huge contract if they succeed spectacularly?

Success comes not in the absence of fear, but in making fear work for, not against you. The goal is to control your nerves so that fear shoots just enough adrenalin into your system to dr...