Former FBI agent's three-step exercise to beat anxiety

In most of our experiences, the problem with feeling stressed during an important presentation is twofold. One, we typically deal with some combination of sweaty palms, shaky legs and heart palpitations. Two, we try to conceal all that from the audience, feigning the calmness of a Buddhist monk. In other words, we have got anxiety about the presentation and then meta-anxiety about masking our feelings.

Joe Navarro, a former FBI agent and the author of What Every BODY is Saying says don't control those behaviours that are giveaways of how anxious you are. "The first thing I tell people is, if you're nervous, there's a good reason for it," he says. Maybe you're meeting people for the first time or going on a job interview or giving that dreaded presentation. Navarro says acknowledging that you're nervous and being okay with it can help alleviate some of your anxiety.

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"Stress is a natural event and you can drive yourself crazy trying to control it, when sometimes it's just easier to admit, 'I am nervous and I should let others know about it'." Navarro's philosophy on anxiety and conquering it boils down to a three-step strategy:

1. Declare to yourself that you're anxious.

2. Declare to your audience that you're anxious.

3. Adapt your nervous behaviours.

Research suggests that in stressful situations, people's general impulse is to try to calm down. Admitting that you're anxious means making yourself vulnerable. The irony is, your audience may be more understanding of your anxiety than you are.

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Step two involves telling your listeners that you're nervous — a simple statement like, "Boy, it's tough talking to a big group" should suffice. The third step allows you to tweak your nervous tics — without eliminating them entirely — so that you don't look frazzled. You can redirect the behaviours to a less visible part of your body, like instead of continually touching your face, you can tap your leg under the table where no one can see it.