How to Overcome Presentation Anxiety [A Practical Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Feb 24, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 2
Jonathan, one of our clients, asked us an interesting question while we were building his investor pitch deck.
He said,
“How do I not freak out before presenting this thing?”
Our Creative Director replied instantly,
“You don’t try to remove fear. You learn how to move with it.”
And he was right.
As a presentation design agency, we work on countless high-stakes decks throughout the year—pitches, keynotes, sales presentations, you name it. The one challenge we keep running into, no matter how experienced the speaker? Presentation anxiety.
Even the most seasoned professionals get shaky hands, dry mouths, or racing thoughts right before they speak. And no, this isn’t because they’re underprepared. It’s because presenting to a room full of people—even with beautiful slides and a great idea—puts you in a psychologically exposed position.
So, in this blog, we’ll talk about how to manage that discomfort practically, without pep talks or fluffy advice.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
Why Presentation Anxiety Happens (Even If You Know Your Stuff)
Let’s be honest. Presentation anxiety doesn’t care how many hours you’ve rehearsed. It doesn’t care how smart your ideas are. And it definitely doesn’t care that your slides look stunning (ours usually do).
It’s not about preparation. It’s about perception.
When you stand up to speak, your brain interprets the situation as a threat. Not because there's actual danger, but because you're exposing your ideas, your voice, and—let’s face it—a piece of your identity. You're being seen and judged, all in real time.
That vulnerability? That’s the trigger.
We’ve worked with startup founders who’ve pitched to VCs a dozen times. We’ve worked with C-suite execs prepping for global townhalls. And yes, we’ve seen knees shaking under those custom suits. Why? Because the fear isn’t always about failure. Sometimes it's about being misunderstood. Or not being taken seriously. Or worse, being boring.
Presentation anxiety thrives on three things:
Perfectionism
You believe your delivery needs to be flawless. One stutter or missed beat and it’s game over. (It’s not.)
Over-identification
You think the presentation is you. So if it flops, you flop. (You don’t.)
Overestimation of judgment
You imagine the audience is hyper-focused on your every word, expression, or stumble. (They aren’t.)
Most people think confidence is about eliminating fear. It’s not. It’s about knowing what to do when fear shows up—and it will. Every single time.
The good news? You can train your brain to respond differently. Not by faking bravado. But by doing things that actually rewire how you think and feel about presenting.
That’s what we’ll get into next.
How to Overcome Presentation Anxiety
Let’s stop pretending there’s a magic trick that erases fear. You don’t overcome presentation anxiety by repeating affirmations in the mirror or visualizing the audience in their pajamas. Those ideas sound good on paper, but they don’t stand a chance against a racing heart five minutes before your name is called.
What does work? Getting practical. Grounded. Intentional. We’ve seen this in the trenches—prepping founders for demo days, guiding CMOs for product launches, helping scientists translate research into TED-style talks.
Here’s what actually helps.
1. Prepare Beyond the Obvious
Preparation is the obvious advice. But most people interpret it as: memorize your script, practice it out loud, time yourself. Sure, do that. But that’s surface-level preparation.
Real preparation goes three layers deeper:
Know your structure, not your script.When you memorize a speech word for word, you lock yourself into a mental cage. Miss one word and panic creeps in. Instead, know your flow: opening idea, key points, transitions, ending. Think in beats, not lines.
Anticipate friction points.What part of your talk makes your voice tighten? Where do you tend to speed up or blank out? Is it the slide with the graph? The awkward joke in the middle? That’s the part you rehearse with extra attention, not just more time.
Practice like you play.Don’t just rehearse in your head. Stand up. Use a clicker. Speak at volume. Rehearse in your actual outfit if it helps. You want the dress rehearsal to resemble the real thing as closely as possible. Your body remembers conditions, not just content.
2. Accept (Not Fight) the Physical Symptoms
Presentation anxiety shows up in the body first. Your palms sweat, your throat gets tight, your chest contracts. That’s normal. The worst thing you can do is resist it.
What we tell our clients is this: Your body isn’t betraying you. It’s trying to help. That burst of adrenaline? It’s preparing you to rise to the occasion.
So here’s what to do with the symptoms:
Don’t suppress them. Redirect them. Got shaky hands? Use bigger hand gestures. Dry mouth? Take a sip of water and pause longer between points. Racing heart? Move around a little instead of freezing in place.
Name it, don’t dramatize it.Instead of “I’m panicking,” try “My body is getting ready.” That tiny shift changes how your brain interprets the signals. You’re not falling apart. You’re just warming up.
Breathe in counts. Try the 4-6-4 method: Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 6, exhale for 4. Do this before you start, and again during transitions. It tells your body it’s safe, even if your mind hasn’t caught up yet.
3. Reframe the Role of the Audience
Most people assume the audience is there to judge. They’re not. They’re there to receive. They want to understand, not critique. If you make it easy for them to follow, they’re with you.
Here’s what helps change that perception:
Think of the audience as a room of allies.If you walk in thinking they’re waiting for you to mess up, you’ve already lost. But if you imagine you’re explaining something useful to people who are on your side, your tone softens, your shoulders relax, and your energy shifts.
Don’t try to impress. Try to connect. You’re not on a stage to perform. You’re there to communicate something that matters. Whether it’s an idea, a product, or a call to action—your job is to make it land, not to make yourself look perfect.
Take back control. Ask a question. Make eye contact. Reference something someone said earlier. These small moves remind you that you're in an interaction, not an interrogation.
4. Stop Aiming for Zero Nerves
Let’s get this straight: The goal is not to eliminate nerves. It’s to keep showing up with them and still doing a good job.
We’ve coached plenty of speakers who still feel nervous before every single presentation. They just don’t make it a problem anymore.
Nerves are a sign that you care. They mean you're stretching. And any meaningful stretch will come with a bit of internal noise. That’s fine.
What you need is a shift in mindset:
Instead of “I hope I don’t mess up,” try “Let’s see how I show up today.”
Instead of “What if they don’t like it?” try “Let me give them something useful.”
Instead of “I’m not ready,” try “I’ve done the work. I’ll adjust as I go.”
That’s the difference between anxiety running the show and you running the message.
5. Use a Slide Deck That Actually Supports You
Here’s where our real-world experience as a presentation agency kicks in. The number of times we’ve seen great speakers sabotaged by clunky slides is… more than we’d like to admit.
Bad slides increase anxiety. Good slides reduce it.
Here’s how to make sure your deck works for you, not against you:
Don’t overload with text.If your slide looks like a Word doc, your brain has to split focus between speaking and remembering what’s on screen. Instead, aim for visual cues—images, keywords, diagrams—that trigger what you already know.
Design for clarity, not decoration.A clean, minimal slide design gives you breathing room. Use contrast, alignment, and whitespace to keep focus. Avoid gimmicks that distract.
Make it easy to stay on track.Well-designed slides act like signposts. They help you know where you are in the narrative. You don’t need to memorize transitions because your deck guides them.
You should feel like your slides are your partner. Not something you have to fight against or apologize for.
6. Practice in Messy, Real-Life Conditions
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.” But we’d tweak it slightly:
Practice until nothing throws you off.
What does that mean? Don’t just practice your ideal version of the talk. Practice for when things don’t go to plan. Because eventually, they won’t.
Try this:
Deliver your talk with distractions in the background (TV on, noise outside).
Practice with unexpected interruptions (get a friend to drop random questions).
Rehearse parts of the presentation out of order to see if you still feel grounded.
This kind of practice builds adaptability. And adaptability is what keeps anxiety from taking over when the projector fails or someone asks a curveball question.
7. Post-Talk Reflection > Post-Talk Regret
Most people walk off stage and instantly go into “what went wrong” mode. That’s wasted energy. If you only focus on the fumbles, you miss the parts that worked—and the cues for what to keep next time.
Here’s a quick debrief process we use with clients:
What did I do well?List three things. Be specific.
What caught me off guard?This helps you plan for next time, not beat yourself up.
What would I do differently if I delivered this again?This turns anxiety into learning. And learning takes the fear out of the future.
Anxiety doesn’t disappear overnight. But when you stack these practices consistently, your baseline shifts. You still feel nerves, but they don’t stop you. You still care, but it fuels clarity instead of panic.
Over time, presentation anxiety becomes less of a hurdle and more of a signal: that you’re doing something worth sharing, in front of people worth reaching.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.