I sit in terror on one of the red plastic chairs lined up outside the Immigration Office. I relax my tight, white-knuckle grip on my documents and try to let the stress drain from my shoulders, but within a few seconds, both are back.

I know I shouldn’t worry about this so much. I’ve been living in Turkey for 20 years, and every time, my residence permit renewal application gets approved. But still, I feel like a kid called into the principal’s office. Outclassed. Helpless. Knowing that my fate is in someone else’s hands. I try to prepare emotionally for imminent deportation.

An electronic bell sounds, and I look up at the red LED display to see if my number has come up. It has, and I nervously stand and walk into the office. Will they approve my application? Will I get to stay in the country a little bit longer?

The clerk, seeing how nervous I am, thumbs through my papers and smiles at me warmly. She calmly reassures me that the additional documents she needs are no big deal, I can easily get them from the nearby bank branch.

Relaxed and reassured, I go to the bank branch, get the additional papers, walk back to the Immigration Office, turn the papers over to the clerk, and she stamps “approved” on my application.

What does this have to do with your presentations?

You are the calm clerk at the Immigration Office, and nervous me is your audience.

When your audience walks into the room, they are batsh*t crazy with fear. They are worried that what you are proposing is going to end in disaster for them.

Your job is to calm them down. So remember that humans are social animals. They do what they see other humans doing. If you are relaxed and smile at them warmly, they will relax too. That is why you practice.