By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

Superbowl Sunday was over two weeks ago and although I’m not a sports fan, I know for certain what happened before the kick-off took place: Both teams warmed-up in order to play their best game.

I believe that giving a presentation is no different from a sporting event because it’s a physical event. You don’t just communicate with your mouth – you use your whole body and presence. So what can you do to warm-up before a presentation?

Stretch and Bend. To avoid muscle stiffness and locked knees it’s a good idea to do some side bends, calf stretches…anything that you might do before other sports to get the blood flowing. I often start at the top of the body with neck rolls and shoulder circles and arm stretches. Your gestures will be much more relaxed and you will feel more comfortable gesturing with your arms away from your body than if you are tight in the pecs and upper body.

Face Off.  Nothing like a blank, expressionless face at the front of the room delivering good news on the 4^th quarter sales results to inspire the troops. Facial relaxation exercises are important because sitting in front of a computer all day doesn’t encourage eyebrow, mouth and cheek movement. Say “Bee-Boh” slowly over and over while exaggerating your facial movements –make a wide smile on “Bee” and a long fish face on “Boh.” Do not do this in front of your audience.

Untie Your Tongue. My favorite tongue exercises are as follows: Count from 1-10, recite the days of the week and the months of the year while holding the following positions: biting the tip of your tongue so that only the back of your tongue can move, placing your tongue over your lower teeth and behind your lower lip as if you had a poppyseed stuck in your teeth, and hanging your tongue out of your mouth like Gene Simmons from KISS. (Have I just dated myself?) Doing these exercises will help relax and limber up your tongue so that if you have an early morning conference call you won’t sound slushy.

Just Breathe. Take in 3 or 4 slow breaths while sitting in crash position in a chair. You’ll feel your belt dig into your stomach. You’ll feel your ribs expand. Now sit up slowly and take 3 breaths while sitting up. This should calm you down.

Now get out there and win!