Do you experience anxiety or nerves when you have to present at an important meeting or give a talk? Why is it that public speaking creates such a strong reaction in many of us? And how do we overcome those nerves to be able to perform at our best? My guest today Olivia James is a Harley Street performance specialist and therapist. She treats professional confidence issues, public speaking anxiety and trauma.    As well as uncovering why we feel so anxious Oliva and I discuss some specific strategies you can use ahead of a presentation to go in feeling calm and how to deal with going blank or losing your train of thought during a presentation. I've taken some really fantastic ideas from our conversation and I'm sure you will too.   This is the Influence & Impact podcast for women leaders, helping you confidently navigate the ups and downs of leadership and feel less alone on your journey as a leader.   My name’s Carla Miller, I’ve been coaching leaders for the past 15 years and I’m your new leadership bestie.  And as your bestie I’m here to remind you of the value to bring to your organisation, to help believe in yourself and to share practical tools and insights from myself and my brilliant guests that will help you succeed in your career.   If speaking up in meetings in general is something you struggle with then do ask your employer to fund you to attend our March Be Bolder course. As well as helping you become more confident generally and turn down the volume on your Inner Critic, we have an entire workshop dedicated to helping you speak up confidently and get your voice heard in meetings. Go to carlamiller.co.uk/bebolder to find out more.   If you’ve enjoyed this episode please leave a review and make sure you’ve got the podcast set to ‘follow’ if you’re listening on Apple or Spotify so you don’t miss future episodes.  We’ve got some brilliant episodes coming up in February.   If you’d like to talk to me about 1:1 coaching, or the upcoming Be Bolder confidence course and Influence & Impact women’s leadership programme do book a call or connect on LinkedIn and send me a message there.