Sometimes managing information overload is about the way you deliver it to other people. Worrying about this can lead to performance anxiety, whether contributing to meetings with colleagues, speaking on a stage in front of strangers or sitting an exam. The symptoms include clouded vision, blurred thinking, weak knees and excessive perspiration.

Whatever your symptoms, try to take a step back, breathe and relax. Do not think about yourself – your audience doesn’t care about you. What they want is your message.

Tips for preparing a presentation:
Prepare your message.
Find out as much as you can about your audience.
Keep your notes limited.
Plan and do all the administration well in advance, so you can forget about it while you are performing.
Do a dress rehearsal.

And some things you might want to avoid:

Jokes. Don’t include them unless you know your audience and have the confidence to deliver the punchline effectively.

Being tied down by notes. Audiences dislike looking at the top of speakers’ heads as they read their essays out loud. Use a spider graph.

Getting your audience to join in too early. Most audiences are lazy. They want to hear what you have to say and for you to create a good atmosphere in which they will happily participate.

Apologising at the beginning. If you want sympathy, go to someone who cares.

All this seems easy, however, compared with having to give an impromptu speech. One of two things may fill your mind when you are asked to speak with no notice. First, nothing at all – your mind goes blank. Secondly, mental overdrive. To prevent the first, try some relaxation techniques. For the second, use the following strategy, which should take about seven minutes, to create a structure around which to form a clear and balanced speech.

Step 1 (30 seconds) Calm down, breathe and focus your mind on the topic.
Step 2 (30 seconds) Write down the title of your speech in one clear sentence.
Step 3 (1 minute) Write between three and six main topics that you want to cover during your speech.
Step 4 (1 minute) Write two sub-points for each of the main topics.
Step 5 (2 minutes) Briefly develop each point.
Step 6 (1 minute) Write a conclusion.
Step 7 (1 minute) Write an introduction.

This is an edited extract from Instant Manager: Overcoming Information Overload, by Tina Konstant and Morris Taylor. Order this and other books in the Chartered Management Institute’s Instant Manager series, published with Hodder Education, for £6.99 with free postage and packing (RRP: £8.99) at pressoffers.co.uk/thetimes

Next week: how to remember what you need to remember

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