Presenting

Ready to stand up in front of hundreds of people and perform a presentation! Scary-stuff. Or walk up to that amazing women and ask her out!

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm", Winston Churchill

These are difficult because they could cause you to lose status (in other words, make you look silly). The irony is the thing that often causes us to fail is our own nerves. Stand in front of a mirror and you'll find the presentation goes a lot better.

People are often unaware of the emotional stream of information being continually assessed as you talk with people. You are aware of their mood. You are gauging their level of interest. And all of this information goes into making subsequent subconscious decisions as you continue the discussion.

But present in front of a large group, probably about seven or more people, and you will feel a peculiar sensation. Both people withhold their emotions; at least at the beginning of any group session and the group is too large for you to gauge the emotions of anyone in particular.

This prevents you receiving any "emotional information". And can feel a little discomforting. The "rhythm" that allows you to hold a sensible conversation with an individual or small group has gone. The best way of overcoming this sensation is practise. As with any new experience; you need to become accustomed to thinking clearly deprived of the emotional stimulate you've probably taken for granted.

You can practise this by presenting in front of someone but try not to look at them. Deprive yourself of this emotional rhythm; and see if you can cover your topic.