I'm so nervous during presentations and meetings, how can I improve my public speaking?

From my own experience I can say that it helps to feign confidence. The more you give a presentation, the easier it will be over time. "Fake it til you make it!"

Don't try to focus on how many people there are, and if you make a mistake smile and keep going. :)

Practice with someone or in front of a mirror. Most importantly know you are going to rock it!!!!!!!

Be confident in yourself. You were invited into the room/to speak for a reason. The more secure you feel in the material you are covering, the more confident you can be in the information you deliver. Try techniques to practice your information beforehand such as talking to a pet, mirror, or family member/friend.

Do it more! Public speaking makes even the best speakers nervous. The only way to get past it is to do it more. Join a toastmasters club or something of the like. Just understand that the people you're presenting to want you to suceed!

Good question! First, do it a lot in good company, such as by trying improv or other low-stakes non-professionally. Second, recognize that everyone is nervous. When I was working on my anxiety in giving research talks, I would take a note of anyone I see giving an amazing research talk, and I would ask them later about it: it turned out every one of them was nervous and prepared a great deal beforehand. I found this to be a little disconcerting - so, there is no point at which the anxiety goes away :( ? - but I try to use it instead to remind myself that this is a very common experience, and that others can extend a considerable amount of empathy.

Maybe you could practice when you're alone in front of a mirror it'll help you see your actions or you could practice it in front of a few friends and ask them their opinion.

Practice! I use to be extremely nervous during speeches. Then, I started to record myself before my presentations. I would do it multiple times--I would find the spot that made me nervous and worked on those. Eventually, I started to pretend that I was an actress in a play--my speech was my monologue. Before my speech, I would get into character and enter the stage with my lines on point.

Being nervous is your body's natural defense against the unknown. Being an unskilled public speaker can certainly feel very unnerving and unknown. Learn to use this heightened sense of awareness to your advantage. Having a feeling of nervousness can increase your and maximize your performance in stressful situations. Just remember, than even the most accomplished public speakers are nervous at some point.

I empathize wholly with those afraid of public speaking. To be frank, there are always three things I tell myself before going in front of a crowd: 1) Each of the people that are going to be looking at me today have, at some point in their lives, pooped. Someone out there may need to go right now! 2) Everyone in the crowd is dealing with some sort of personal issue. For some, just getting out the door to come to this briefing, may have been a challenge. If they could get here, I can speak. 3) Not one person in the crowd is any better or any worse than I am. We all have to eat and sleep. We all fret about life. But I'm the one standing in front of them. That must count for something.