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Guides · 6 min read · updated November 4, 2026

Speaking in public without the nerves

How to present work, pitch ideas and answer interview questions out loud when your heart is racing.

Key points

What is actually happening in your body

Before you speak, your heart rate goes up, your hands get cold, your breathing gets shallow. Most of us read that as "I am afraid, so this will go badly." A study by Alison Wood Brooks at Harvard Business School tested a different reading. Participants who said out loud "I am excited" before a speech or a karaoke song felt more excited and were rated as more persuasive, competent and confident than people who tried to calm down. Anxiety and excitement share the same racing pulse, so switching the label is easier than switching off the body.

Try it literally. Before you go in, say it quietly: "I'm excited to show this." It sounds silly. It is also the cheapest tool in this guide.

Fix the start, and the rest follows

Most people panic in the first minute, then settle. So do not memorise a whole script. Memorise the opening two sentences and the closing sentence. In between, work from three or four keywords.

A pitch opener that works for freelancers:

"I'm Dana, I design packaging for small food brands. I looked at your last two product launches, and I think the shelf presence is where you're losing sales. Here's what I'd change."

It states who you are, proves you did homework, and hands the listener a reason to keep listening. Compare it to "So, um, I'm a designer and I do lots of things."

Rehearse out loud, on your feet

Reading your slides silently in your head does not count as practice. Your mouth needs to say the words.

  1. Stand up. Say the whole thing at speaking speed, to a wall.
  2. Record it on your phone. Watch it once, only for three things: pace, filler words, where you looked.
  3. Do it once for a friend, even over a video call, and ask for one thing to cut and one thing to keep.
  4. Time it. Then cut 10 percent. Almost everyone runs long.

If you present on camera, put the lens at eye level (a stack of books works) and look at the lens when you make your key point, not at your own face.

Calm your body, quickly

You do not need a ten minute routine. Two things have decent evidence behind them:

A word on "power poses": the claim that standing like a superhero changes your hormones did not hold up when a larger study tried to repeat it. People did report feeling a bit more powerful, though. Stand tall if it helps you feel steady. Do not count on it.

Build the safety net

Most disasters are small and fixable if you planned for them.

Get reps where it is cheap

Confidence comes from volume. Ask a question at a meetup. Present your own work to two friends. Record a 60 second voice note explaining a project and send it to yourself. Offer to walk a teammate through your process. Do one small thing every week and the big moments shrink.

If English is not your first language, say so once, lightly, and slow down. Short sentences beat long clever ones. Accent is not a problem; speed is. Practise the three or four names and terms you will say most often.

Do this today

  1. Write your opening two sentences and your closing sentence. Say them out loud five times.
  2. Record a 60 second answer to "Tell me about yourself" and watch it once.
  3. Learn cyclic sighing: practise three rounds now so it is familiar when you need it.
  4. Save your portfolio or deck as a PDF on your phone and one other place.
  5. Book one low-stakes speaking rep this week: a call with a friend, a meetup question, a voice note.

Further reading

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