Are you a little nervous when you have to make a presentation to a group? Or perhaps scared witless? Would you rather get a root canal than stand up in front of group and talk? Speaking in public has commonly been recognized as our greatest fear—surpassing snakes, the dark, the unknown, and yes, even death. Apparently people would rather die than give a speech!

While there are many psychological and environmental factors that contribute to that number one fear, there are some specific, concrete strategies that can help you minimize and master your anxiety. First of all, let’s start with things you can do to minimize the anxiety before you even speak. I have seven key advance strategies that I call the 7 Ps:

1. Prepare. Know your main points. Organize them in an outline form. Use key words and phrases—not full sentences. Don’t try to memorize it. Use your outline as a reference and talk from it.

2. Plan to use Props or visuals. This technique is important because it gives you purpose. It gives you something to do with your hands, something to focus on besides your anxiety. Although I’m not a proponent of giving a “slide show,” a purposeful visual now and then can give you a sense of control and purpose, diminishing the helplessness that comes with anxiety.

3. Picture your success. Just as picturing the worst can be self-fulfilling, so can anticipating success. Picture your poise and confidence and the audience’s rapt attention and reception. It will be more likely to happen that way.

4. Be more than Punctual. Get to the room or location early. Give yourself plenty of time to check out the room, its layout, the equipment. It minimizes surprises, which will always notch up the anxiety.

5. Polyester-proof yourself. Wear clothing that breathes. Anxiety notches up our body temperature. Natural fabrics—cotton, linen, silk, wool—breathe better than manmade fabrics, so they will keep you more comfortable in the heat of the moment.

6. Practice, practice, practice. The more you hear the words roll off your tongue, the more comfortable you’re going to be saying them. The other key reason to practice aloud is to learn exactly how long your talk is. Odds are good that you’re going to have to edit it down to fit within the time limits you’ve been given.

7. Present often. Like any skill, you will get better and more comfortable at it the more you do it.

Then there are some remedies for mastering the anxiety when you’re actually experiencing it, which are divided into two categories:

Physical Techniques:

• Move. You have to release that nervous energy, otherwise it’ll eat a hole in your stomach. Make big purposeful gestures, project strong vocals, stride across the front of the room. The added benefit is that it will make you look more dynamic and compelling.

• Pause. This is a powerful speaking technique, vastly underutilized. The beauty of a pause is it allows you to stop and collect your thoughts when they’ve suddenly evaporated. It also makes the audience anticipate what you’re going to say next. It keeps your rate from getting too fast. It gives you the opportunity to breathe.

• Breathe. When we’re nervous, the one thing our body craves is oxygen. Yet, in our anxiety, most of us breathe too shallowly. Take deep breaths right before you speak. During your talk, if you feel on the edge of panic, pause and breathe. You’ll be amazed at what the gift of a little extra oxygen can do to mitigate the symptoms—racing heartbeat, shaking, quivering vocals, drawing a blank—of nervousness.

Mental Techniques:

• Adjust your attitude. Instead of being me-focused—Oh no, I’m so nervous. I’m going to do awful. No one will listen to me.—try to be genuinely audience focused. Think about what you can do for them, not what they’re doing to you.

• Lighten up. Finally, try not to take yourself so seriously. Have fun. Learn to laugh at yourself. So what if it’s not perfect? It’s not a life-or-death situation. Stuff happens in presentations—the projector fails, there’s no power outlet, you forget your handouts, there’s an annoying interruption… But just learn to say “So what?” That will go a long ways toward putting things into perspective. Besides, it’ll give you some great stories to tell later!