Hands
A couple of hours ago, my assistantship program had a seminar on presentation techniques, particularly with respect to academic interviews. The professor leading the session, whose research focuses on storytelling, provided a really insightful analysis of the communicative aspect of presenting. The details were lovely—in fact, I’ll probably take a class from him if I get the chance—but I want to focus on one topic which came up in the Q&A afterward: nerves.
As is inevitable in any practical discussion of presenting, someone asked what to do about nerves. It wasn’t intended to be a focal point. Still, we talked about it for a good 15 minutes.
Interestingly, not all of us shared this particular difficulty. At least 3 people who were in the room, including me, don’t actually feel that nervous when talking to groups, whether 5 or 500. One mentioned that, as far as class presentations are concerned, she doesn’t put that much stock in school: it’s important, but not so much so that she worries about it. Another was a middle school teacher.
I, on the other hand, find myself somewhat in between. Just before taking the spotlight, I tend to become downright panicky, but as soon as my foot hits the stage, my nerves disappear. I suppose I am capable of reasoning my amygdala into putting on a good show.
However, one effect does not fade no matter how comfortable I am: I tremble, specifically in my hands. It’s actually a remarkably bizarre feeling, feeling one’s own body react to something when one’s mind is perfectly at ease. It’s not nerves or fear or stage fright. I can be absolutely relaxed in the center of attention. My hands simply agree to disagree.
Over time, I’ve learned to channel that energy pretty well: big gestures, deep breaths, extruding that pent-up energy into intensity of speech. If you ever have the (potential mis)fortune to watch me present, you’ll notice that I become a distinctly different person physically than in a one-on-one conversation.
Gross motion tends to drown out fine motor disfluencies, I suppose.
