Looking for some easy ways to relieve the stress of presenting to a group of people you don’t know? Check out the following tips to see if they can help you breathe a bit easier.
Know How to Salvage Corrupt Documents
PowerPoint, at some time in your career, will fail you. Technology is simply imperfect and as long as we know that, we need to prepare for it. The larger the file or presentation, the more common this is. So if you have a 30 slide PowerPoint, it's important to have some kind of backup. If for some reason you don't have a backup, or that's corrupt too, it's important to know how to recover a corrupt Microsoft Suite file. Doing a little bit of research about the topic will yield numerous results. Choose some that you think will help you the most - preferably official ones from Microsoft - and memorize the steps in recovering a document. Keep a printed copy as well so you will always be prepared for the worst (like a brain hiccup because you're nervous about your presentation not working). You never know when a four page article snuggled in between your computer and your notebook will save the day.
Don't Just Be on Time - Be Early
You already know you should be early to most things, like trips out of the state and interviews. You should plan on arriving early to everything, including other appointments, events, and meetings. Instead of just sitting around for something to happen, use your time wisely. Map out activities, draft those reports due tomorrow, practice your speech in your head or answer e-mails you didn't tend to that morning. If you're always under stress and trying to get things done as fast as possible, this technique can help you slow down a little and bring some more organization into your life. Living in chaos and constant disorganization is absolutely exhausting, so it's important to be prepared. The more prepared you are, the more likely your presentation will go smoothly.
