Mastering Presence Under Pressure on a BBC Film Set

Fresh from filming his guest appearance in one of the BBC's primetime dramas, Punch Presentations founder Nicholas Atkinson shares how the same techniques actors use to overcome anxiety can transform executive presence and business communication skills.

Walking Onto the BBC Set: Lessons in First Impressions

What was it like walking onto the set of one of the BBC's most beloved shows for the first time?

Nick: It's quite nerve-wracking because I'm walking onto the set of a show that's been running for 15 years. Most of the actors had been from the beginning, if not then at least 10 or so years. So they knew everything about that world, and I didn't.

The first thing I did was actively go and introduce myself to the rest of the cast. The Englishness in me is to wait to be introduced, but that only adds to the anxiety of the moment. So I made a real effort to approach people and introduce myself. What that did was it allowed me to feel confident in doing that. And, as expected, all the actors and crew were incredibly warm and welcoming, which helped me be present in the moment and further relax around them, which put all that nervous energy to bed.

That sounds exactly like walking into a high-stakes business meeting.

Nick: Absolutely. Whether you're meeting an important client or a senior executive, the principle remains the same. It can be intimidating to walk up to someone well-known for what they do, particularly if they can potentially have some bearing on your career.

There's research that basically identifies three different ego states, known as Transactional Analysis. Adult to adult, parent to child, or child to parent.

When you're nervous, what you're doing is coming in as a ‘child’ and treating them as a ‘parent’. You have given away all your power and reduced your status.

Whereas the straightforward act of simply entering with a confident handshake, looking the other person in the eye, and standing confidently and firmly gives you positive energy, and you come across as confident to them.

So when you engage on an adult-to-adult level, what’s happening is you are humanising them, and that helps you feel relaxed and confident.

So you've introduced yourself confidently. Then what happened?

Nick: (laughs) The first day I arrived was actually the first day of the whole shoot in Hong Kong. I had just walked into the trailer, introduced myself confidently, and then one of the other actors said, "Should we run the lines?" This was the first time anybody was going to hear me do anything… and the pressure was on, and I had to nail the scene straight out of the blocks.

So I jumped right in with the lines and we ran the scene. Then that same actor, whom I was quite nervous of meeting, let alone acting with, because I had watched them on screen since I was a child, said to me, "That was very good. Well done, but actually I have the first line in the scene, not you."

Idiot!

I messed up, but, in a way, it was quite good.

How is making a mistake "quite good"?

Nick: By getting something wrong, I felt slightly vulnerable as everybody laughed. But the world hadn’t ended, and I was not getting kicked out of the room. So I was able to let it go quickly and focus on what was really important, which is the job at hand.

It was a reminder that if you're focused on not making a mistake, you will make a mistake. If you're focused on what the objective of your character is or what the main goal of your speech is, you will achieve that.

And more importantly, if you are going to make a mistake, do it when the camera is not rolling!

The Preparation Paradox

What was your biggest fear about appearing on the show?

Nick: My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be prepared enough and that I would get the tone wrong.

It’s very hard for anyone to, in any profession, join an established group or team, and even harder when you have a camera on you and you are having to pretend to be someone else!

For actors, we need to know the text so well that we can repeat any part of it at any given time, while remaining natural and authentic.

When I walked onto set, I had to get into the mindset where I could trust that I knew my lines, trust that I'd been cast for a reason and deliver an authentic performance true to the character I was playing.

Does that happen in business presentations?

Nick: I think the situation is the same, yes. You have to give a presentation, the pressure is on for you to perform, and all eyes are on you; you inevitably feel very self-conscious and judged. 

I think the difference is in the approach to the preparation. We see time and time again that people spend most of their preparation time writing the speech and making sure the slides are beautiful and perfect. They do very little to no actual rehearsing on their feet, as it were.

Being Present: The "Safety Take" Secret

How do you help executives move from ‘rehearsal’ to being present?

Nick: If you’ve not practised delivering your speech, when it comes to the actual performance, it’s essentially a ‘rehearsal’ because it's the first time you've ever really performed it.

As business presentation coaches, we advise executives to spend as much time practising the delivery as they do writing the speech.

The best way to do that is to start ‘writing’ the speech by saying out loud what you want to say. Record it, listen back and then edit what you said. Put it all out there and then distil it.

So that when you come to deliver your ‘performance’, you have been physically presenting the speech from the start, and it feels much more natural.

Whenever I'm directing executives doing internal videos, almost every time we record it a couple of times. Then I'll say, "Right, we've got everything we need. Just one more for safety, but don't worry about how you're coming across or don't worry about X, Y, and Z."

Every single time, that ‘safety take’ will be the take we use.

Why does the 'safety take' work?

Nick: Because suddenly they're relaxed. They're not so focused on themselves anymore. The pressure's off. They're no longer thinking about their preparation. They're just present, sharing their message. Their authentic executive presence emerges.

Really confident executives, you can see when they're on a panel or something like that, they don't waste any time. They're very pleasant, but they get straight to the point.

The best presentations, in acting or in business, come when you stop being self-conscious, trying to impress and start trying to communicate.

Recovery Techniques

What about when things go wrong? Like technical disasters?

Nick: This actually happened on the set. We had a technical issue, and the result was that we had four minutes to get the final shot of the whole production before we ticked into overtime and blew the whole budget. We are talking A LOT of money!

So the stakes were high - but the crew were calm, they had been here before, and they knew the drill.

It’s a great parallel between what can happen in the business world - the tech meltdown!

You turn up and suddenly the adapter's wrong, or your laptop doesn't fit with their AV system, or the clicker's not working anymore, and the clock is ticking.

At the end of the day, it’s about remaining calm under fire and focusing on the goal and cancelling out the noise. If your message is strong and your presence solid, technical glitches disappear.

Bringing It All Together: The Actor’s Approach Method

How does this experience validate what you teach?

Nick: The Actor’s Approach model is, in order, the mind, text, voice, body, and performance.

In short, it means to get yourself into the right mindset.

1.     Know what you're going to say.

2.     Warm up your voice and body.

3.     And apply your presentation skills techniques to stay as relaxed as possible.

4.     Trust in yourself.

For the executive, it’s a reminder that you are there to do a job. The job is typically to convey a specific piece of information or to persuade someone of an idea or a course of action.

The key is to the job, not on yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions About Executive Presence and Presentation Skills

Q: How do CEOs and Business leaders overcome presentation anxiety before board meetings?

A: Use the actor technique of physical warm-ups and the "safety take" mindset. Remind yourself you're there to do a job, not to be liked. Focus on your message, not your nerves.

Q: What's the biggest presentation mistake business leaders make?

A: Spending all their time on slides and none on rehearsal. The performance becomes their first rehearsal. Actor techniques teach us to spend equal time preparing content and practising delivery.

Q: How do I recover from technical failures during presentations?

A: Technical issues disappear when your message and presence remain strong. Your audience remembers your content, not the malfunction of your clicker.

Q: Where does Punch Presentations offer executive presence training?

A: We provide presentation skills training in Hong Kong and London, plus virtual corporate training globally.

Transform Your Executive Presence Today

Nicholas Atkinson is the founder of Punch Presentations, delivering presentation coaching to executives across Hong Kong and London. A graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he brings elite theatre techniques to corporate communication. His clients across Asia and Europe include Thomson Reuters, Morgan Stanley, and Clifford Chance.

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