Part of the anxiety we experience when faced with something new is that we simply don’t know what to expect. It really is about a fear of the unknown.

We have no reference points for the experience and so we let our imagination fill in the gaps. Often this leads to a distorted perception. Also, the way we describe things has a big impact on our perceptions.

Let’s start with the idea that it has to be a ‘fantastic all singing, all dancing presentation’. Who says so? Is that how it was described to you? I’ll bet it was just described as ‘a presentation’.

I want you to imagine you’re faced with a baby whose about to begin to walk and you’re encouraging it. Do you say “C’mon! Just one step. You can do it” or “Just three laps round the sofa and leap over the coffee table!”

My point is that you just have to deliver a competent presentation to your colleagues. Low key presentations can engage just as much as all singing and dancing ones, as I’m sure you already know.

Does the prospect of delivering a ‘competent’ presentation feel different to you? Is it more or less attainable?

Learn the basics

If you’ve never done a presentation before it is good to learn the basics and form a solid basis on which to build. Are there any role models at work you can learn from?

What do they do that grabs your attention and keeps it? What to they do that puts you off? Glance around the room and see how others are affected.

Be careful not to copy what other people do, but adapt things to suit your own style and personality. With more practice you will develop your own individual style. You then become a role model for others.

It’s also worth looking out for books covering presentation basics. Presentation in a Week (Malcolm Peel and Jon Lamb, published by Hodder Arnold, £5.99 at Amazon) is less than a hundred pages long and offers seven easy steps for you to build on.

If you’re using Microsoft PowerPoint for your presentation, check out the wizard for pointers on basic structure.

You’ll find that the common factor to all of the stuff written about presentations is that you should find out about your audience and seek to engage them. You can do this easily enough by asking simple questions and offering anecdotes.

While this may sound scary, you do this in everyday conversations. Introducing yourself to a stranger is a presentation in itself.

Successful presentations just engage people and deliver a message that they can take away. The all singing and all dancing bit at best is the icing on the cake and sometimes can be a distraction.