Britain’s biggest fears are fear of flying, fear of spiders and fear of giving presentations. What is it about giving presentations that is so scary? You are not going to die if it goes all wrong! You do not get bitten and have to spend weeks in hospital. The worst thing that can happen is that you will look back on it in future years and smile.

Most people would say that it is not so much the presenting that is the problem, but that it is the thought of presenting that is the problem.

So, if it is only the thought, then what is the problem? We have power over our thoughts, don’t we?

Presenting with NLPLet’s say that you were about to present to a couple of your best friends, you were presenting on your favourite subject, you had been practicing with them for days and everything had gone perfectly on previous run throughs. Would you be afraid? No, you wouldn’t, you would just go and have fun, wouldn’t you?

In that case then, can we not just imagine that we are going to chat with two best friends, we are confident in our subject, we have practiced perfectly, and nothing can go wrong? Yes we can!

Fear of presenting is just a state of mind. Our mind creates the fear as it incorrectly assumes that there is something to be fearful of. There isn’t. As long as you are prepared and you know your subject then nothing can go wrong that you cannot handle.

The way to overcome the fear is to change your state of mind. Give your mind new instructions to replace the ‘being fearful’ state.

Stand somewhere quiet and imagine that in front of you on the floor there is a luminous blue circle. The circle is a metre wide.

Now, remember a time when you were really happy. Really, really happy. As you remember that time go back to that time and see what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel the feelings of being really happy. When you have that thought step into the circle. Stay in the circle for 10 seconds and then step back out of it.

Now, remember a time when you were really relaxed. Really, really relaxed. As you remember that time go back to that time and see what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel the feelings of being really relaxed. When you have that thought step into the circle. Stay in the circle for 10 seconds and then step back out of it.

Good. Now, remember a time when you were really confident. Really, really confident. As you remember that time go back to that time and see what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel the feelings of being really confident. When you have that thought step into the circle. Stay in the circle for 10 seconds and then step back out of it.

Now, remember a time when you were really motivated. Really, really motivated. As you remember that time go back to that time and see what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel the feelings of being really motivated. When you have that thought step into the circle. Stay in the circle for 10 seconds and then step back out of it.

Imagine now that the circle can moved. What I would like you to do is shrink it down really small and lift it up and put it on your finger.

Ok, this circle is there for you when you need it now. Next time you are about to go into a presentation or a difficult meeting you can whip it off your finger, put it on the floor, make it a metre wide and step right into it, and feel great about yourself and feel great about doing your presentation!

This is a technique called anchoring and is from the NLP Practitioner Training series. NLP has many many business uses and can help you fulfil your potential. Train in NLP for your future excellence.

We provide live NLP training courses and we also certify NLP Practitioners and NLP Master Practitioners through our NLP Training Online.