When most of us get up to speak, we experience some kind of bodily reaction to our nerves. Some people shake. Others blank out. And some of us sweat. While public speaking nerves are natural, we can still strategize to hide our nerves from our audience.
If you are someone who worries about sweating when you get nervous, use these tips to look cool under pressure.
Prevention
Do you normally sweat under pressure? Or do you anticipate presenting in a hot environment? If so, consider preventative measures. First, you’ll want to make sure to use a good antiperspirant. If you are only using a deodorant, that won’t help with sweat, only odor. Antiperspirants use aluminum as the active ingredient to block your body’s sweat. If you are hesitant to use products containing aluminum, you might find it interesting to note that research from the American Cancer Society among other sources shows no clear link between antiperspirant use and breast cancer. And only 0.0012% of the aluminum in antiperspirants is absorbed by your body.
But if you’d still prefer to avoid antiperspirants, try a more natural approach with a sweat absorbing undershirt. Thompson Tees offers many selections for men and for women with absorbent underarm pads.
Fabric Choice
Another part of dressing to hide sweat comes in the material you choose to wear. On presentation day, you’ll want to opt for natural fabrics rather than synthetic ones. Online retailer and fashion guru StitchFix reminds us that cotton is a great choice for staying cool. They say, “This natural fiber allows air to circulate and move freely through the fabric, which makes heat more bearable.” Another choice by StitchFix is linen. This is another natural fiber which is made from the fibers of the flax plant. They say, “Linen textiles are some of the oldest in the world—people have been wearing it for centuries, and for good reason. The natural fiber and light weave allow for maximum breathability.”
However, you might be thinking that cotton and linen aren’t exactly the best choices for looking professional during your presentation. In some cases, you might have to choose a synthetic material. If you do, just look for ones with moisture-wicking properties. This means any perspiration will evaporate more rapidly rather than creating embarrassing pools of moisture.
Camouflage
Finally, you can strategize against the sweat by camouflaging it. Choose to wear very light or very dark colors so that sweat doesn’t show as much. Black, navy, or white are great choices. You’ll want to steer clear of gray and other medium hues. If you aren’t sure whether your fabric choice will show sweat, test it out at home. Dab a wet washcloth on the fabric to see how the color changes.
You can also camouflage sweat by dressing in patterns. Patterns disrupt the continuity of the fabric, so sweat is not as obvious as it would be on a solid fabric. And you can also bring a third layer, like a suit jacket or cardigan, with you if all of your other preventative measures don’t work. That way, you have something you can throw on if you are still battling sweat.
You may never fully overcome your sweaty reaction to pressure-filled situations like public speaking. But you can hide it from the audience through prevention, fabric choices, and camouflage. That way you can confidently deliver a great presentation.
Ethos3 has resources to help you with presentation delivery and design. Get in touch with us now to learn more.
