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that everyone gets them, but the winners use them to their advantage, while the
losers get beaten by them.

The basic idea is to get your attention off yourself. It is very tempting to focus on
your feelings, especially if they are unpleasant. You´ll concentrate on every bead
of sweat on your body, dry mouth, shaking hands. Don’t do that, it only worsens
the situation. To make your nerves work for you, you need to focus on anything
else than yourself. You must distract yourself.

How to do it?

Before the presentation: imagine the room, audience, and you giving the
presentation. Mentally go over what you are going to do from the moment you
start to the very end of the presentation.

What can help you is to check over the conditions under which you´ll speak. If
you can, go up to the lectern before the start of the session to check things over
and see whether they work. Check out the equipment and compatibility of your
document/software with it. This should relax you and give you more confidence
when it´s your turn to speak.
During the presentation: When you are finally introduced to speak, take a breath
to settle you down before you get up of your chair. When you have come to the
lectern in front of the audience, thank the person who introduced you and then
wait for several seconds before you start speaking. This will allow the audience to
get settled and ready to listen to you. It´s also a way how to show that you are
now in control. It´s not easy to do because you have to look at the audience
and you can panic. But if you´ve made all the preparations, you can be sure of

yourself and be in control of the situation. It´ll give you self-confidence.
If, in the middle of your presentation you feel your mouth is dry or you have some
other negative feelings, take a moment to yourself by having a drink of water,
take a deep breath, concentrate on relaxing the tensest part of your body, and

then return to the presentation self-confident.

When you are in front of the audience, pay attention to the people in front of
you. You can notice how they are dressed, who is wearing a strange piece of
clothing or bright colours. There are a lot of things you can pay attention and this
way to trick your mind, so that it doesn´t deal with what is happening with you.
The less you concentrate on your feelings and more on other things, the more
“normal” you´ll be.

So, don´t get rid of anxiety and tension, but send the energy into concentration.
You should know that anxiety and tension is your feeling. The audience may not

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From the beginner to the mentor (Supporting strategies of education of teachers in Zlin region)
Fund of Educational Policy project, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports