This document discusses effective presentations and reducing speech anxiety. It notes that presentation skills are important for departmental briefings, conferences, meetings, teaching, interviews and extracurricular activities. Good ideas will not be recognized unless effectively communicated. Stage fright is a common fear for public speaking due to fears of being judged, lack of preparation, unfamiliar audiences or environments, and past negative experiences. Most nervousness during presentations is not visible to audiences. Preparation is key to reducing speech anxiety through rehearsing. Effective presentations include knowing your audience, practicing in similar environments, using visual aids, not expecting perfection, and following a structure of telling the audience what will be presented, presenting the information, and summarizing what was presented.
