Secrets to Success

There's plenty you can do to lay a stress-free foundation for your speech, presentation or performance. The more things you can calmly take care of in advance, the less you'll be worrying about at the last minute.

Get enough sleep. Assess how much sleep you need to be in peak form, and then make sure you get it. "All of us can think back to when we got our best performance," psychologist Linda Hamilton says. "That's what you want to duplicate."

Get there early. Take into account traffic and anything else that could go wrong. Then add 10 minutes. The worst thing to do is arrive at your location without time to set up or settle down.

Know your material and know your audience. If you've done your homework, regardless of the nature of your performance, you won't be worried about being "found out." "If you know the material, you're not so afraid of being judged on it," says Carol Goldberg, a New York-based clinical psychologist and host of the TV program "Dr. Carol Goldberg and Company." It's also good to meet a few members of the audience beforehand so you have familiar faces to address.

Do something that relaxes you before you're on the hot seat. Listen to music right before you go onstage. Or play golf earlier in the day. Watch clips of Bob Ross painting on YouTube the night before. Whatever works.

Last-Minute Checklist

You're about to be introduced. The microphone beckons you like an overzealous dance partner. Here's a few things to consider before you tango with a crowd:

Breathe deeply. Slow yourself down. Remind yourself: You're not in danger. "Physically, the one thing I learned is to breathe, because when we're nervous we naturally start taking more shallow breaths," says Todd McDermott, anchor for the 6 and 11 p.m. news on WUSA (Channel 9). "It sounds so simple, but if you remember to do it, not only does it keep oxygen flowing to your brain, it keeps you from rushing."

Know the first two lines of what you're going to say, says Peter Pober, coach of the George Mason University forensics team. "You can absolutely nearly eliminate stage fright if you memorize the first two lines you want to come out of your month," Pober says. "Know the exact wording, and you'll start off with confidence." But remember: Memorizing a whole speech word for word is a bad thing.

Direct your first line to the center of the crowd, Pober adds. That way, you'll be hooking the most people right off the bat.

Control the start and the finish yourself. The words don't have to rush out right when you reach the microphone, and you don't have to rush off as soon as you're done. "Before you start, take a deep breath and make sure the audience is with you," Pober says. "Then finish the last word, take a beat or count to three, and leave them with an impact."

Damage Control

The panic is starting to snowball. You can feel your face flush. Before the catecholamines start racing, try these things:

Just pause. Take a minute to collect yourself instead of trying to stumble out of the awkwardness. Chances are the pause won't even register with the audience as a mistake . . .