In This Article
You turn on the webcam or get ready to open the door, and… What happens? Don't let fear control you—here are 6 ways to prepare for your next meeting!
Preparing for meetings can be bone-crushingly difficult—especially if you have glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. It’s estimated that 77% of the population fears public speaking.
But fear not! In this guide, you’ll find expert tips from Vance Van Petten, author of Ten Minutes to the Speech and former Executive Director of the Producers Guild of America.
Smeathing
Smeathing is when you smile while breathing. It naturally relaxes your esophagus and chest. Smeathing is a great anti-anxiety technique because it’s much more difficult to breathe rapidly and shallowly while we’re taking deep breaths. Putting a smile on your face also activates mirror neurons associated with happiness.
Smile + Breathing = Smeathing
In addition, smeathing makes us naturally execute what’s known as a “savor smile.”
A savor smile is a naturally occurring smile that takes a half a second or longer to blossom on one’s face.
Savor smiles are the type of smile that might occur when you’re relaxing on the beach or enjoying a warm gingerbread cookie next to a campfire.
Action Step: Try smeathing! Take in a deep breath and smile as you exhale. It might be a good idea to smeathe right before you meet a group of people, have an important meeting, or are about to give a presentation.
Craft Your Impressions
First impressions are critical. In fact, research shows that most people form their first impressions of others within 7 seconds.
So if you’re not making a killer impression, you might want to consider brushing up on your skills. You can even think of your first impression like an elevator pitch—and practice it until it’s perfected!
Learn to nail your elevator pitch and make an unforgettable first impression.
Finalize The Agenda
Before a meeting or pitch, who’s the one person going over the agenda? If it’s you, you’ll want to make sure you include proper introductions for each person. For example, take a look at how Tom Bilyeu introduces his guests. Each introduction is thorough and highlights the person’s most important accomplishments.
A good agenda has times, people, and goals. Don’t be afraid to add details!
Sample Agenda:
- 10 a.m., Joe: Introductions, introduce new people
- 1010:–10h) (ish) a.m., Melissa: Goal overview and priorities for the year ahead
- 10h) (ish) a.m., Vishen: Data analytics review and question time
- 12 p.m., Carol: Wrap-up and next steps
Create Your Lineup
You might also want to make sure speakers are in a good speaking order. For example, during remote video calls, you might have heard this question being thrown around: “Who wants to go next?”
Not only can this lead to an awkward silence, but it’s likely nobody wants to be the first person to take the bait. Instead, order your list of speakers and have the lead agenda person guide the speaking turns.
Pro Tip: If you’re leading a big meeting, you might want to save some of your best speakers for last, or they may overshadow your weaker ones.
Reframe Your Nerves as Excitement
Here’s the most useful, best-tested trick for pre-meeting jitters—and it’s almost the opposite of “just calm down.”
Harvard researcher Alison Wood Brooks ran a series of experiments where people had to sing, give a speech, or do hard math under pressure. Right before, some were told to say “I am calm,” and others to say “I am excited.” The result? The “I’m excited” group consistently performed better and felt more confident (Brooks, 2014, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General).
Why does it work? Anxiety and excitement are nearly the same physiological state—racing heart, alert body. Trying to force yourself from high-arousal anxiety all the way down to calm is a big leap; relabeling that same energy as excitement is a much smaller, more believable shift. So before your meeting, don’t fight the adrenaline—rename it: “I’m not nervous, I’m fired up.”
Use a Visualization Technique
If you’re afraid of public speaking, it doesn’t mean you can’t become great at it. Plenty of accomplished people have wrestled with it—the British Council notes that figures like Abraham Lincoln and Nicole Kidman reportedly dealt with speaking nerves too.
Some speakers also lean on quick visualization tricks. You’ve probably heard the classic bit of folklore—often attributed to Winston Churchill—about picturing the audience undressed, or Dale Carnegie’s habit of imagining the room owed him money. Take these as fun confidence hacks rather than evidence-based methods (the “naked audience” tip in particular is apocryphal and not actually a researched technique). If a harmless mental image relaxes you, great—but the reframe above and solid preparation will do more.
Speak Like a Friend
A great way to connect to a large audience is to not try to address everyone, but address one specific person like they’re your friend. You’ll make a much deeper connection with them, and others will pick up on this too.
For example, here’s an iconic moment in the 1992 United States presidential debates between George Bush and Bill Clinton. Notice how close and personal Clinton gets to his audience member:
Talk about building rapport! In video calls, you can try looking directly into the webcam to take advantage of eye contact.
Pro Tip: Speak to your nodders. During your speech, keep an eye on those people who are nodding. These people are receptive and are usually better targets to build a connection with.
Want more public speaking tips? Read on:
- 15 Science-Based Public Speaking Tips To Be a Master Speaker
- 17 Body Language Presentation Cues to Use in Your Next Speech
- How to Start a Speech: The Best (and Worst) Speech Openers
Now on to you! A huge part of getting over public speaking is truly understanding people—how they feel, how they think, and how they use their body language. In fact, reading body language is somewhat of a “superpower” because you can gain deeper insights into what people are truly saying with their bodies.
Check out this ultimate guide on body language to sharpen your skills: The Ultimate Guide to Body Language.
