Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

Coping with online presentations 153 
You can also use your arms to gesture. Often, people get stuck 
staring at the camera, not moving their arms. However, moving 
your arms and gesturing, combined with the movement of your 
legs, will help keep that adrenaline level low, thereby reducing 
your sense of nervousness. People tend to think they need to keep 
still when facing a camera and so they do not move. However, 
take a look at those relaxed TV presenters you see, such as news-
readers. Tey do not sit perfectly still; they move their body. It 
seems natural to us. However, when we go in front of a camera 
in an online presentation, we tend to think we need to keep per-
fectly still. In a study of what students preferred in terms of online 
presentations, one point made was about a desire for presenters 
to move (Olsen, 2021). Indeed, when I ask students whether they 
prefer people on screen who move and gesture or people who sit 
perfectly still, they always plump for the individual who moves 
about. So, don’t fall into the trap of sitting still when you present 
online. Move as it will make the people watching more engaged 
with what you are saying. Plus, your nervousness and anxiety will 
go down due to reduced adrenalin levels. 
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Other ways Of reducing 
presentatiOn anxiety 
Tere is a wide variety of advice on getting rid of presentation ner-
vousness. Tis ranges from “imagine your audience is naked” to 
hypnosis. Te imagine people naked idea is, frankly, bonkers. It has 
no impact on your state of anxiety. Indeed, it can make things worse 
as you become embarrassed at about the thought of people in the 
room with no clothes on. Te last thing a student wants to consid-
er is their elderly professor naked. Hypnotherapy certainly works 
for people with extreme fear of public speaking, a condition called 
“glossophobia”. However, regular hypnotherapy sessions cost mon-
ey, so with limited student funds available, it is probably better not 
to consider hypnosis unless your presentation anxiety is extreme. 
Te anxiety you sufer is a primary biological response, so it is 
better to choose biological methods to deal with nervousness. 

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