The best way to instill self-confidence is to know more about your subject than your audience does. That is usually pretty easy because people would not come to listen to you if they thought they already knew everything about the topic. To avoid overconfidence in your thesis, make sure you look at your sources with some degree of skepticism. Read books and articles with opposing viewpoints and anticipate questions challenging the conclusions you present. But while you are researching, only make notes on the important points — do not get lost in studying too much trivia that will clutter your mind.

It should go without saying that you need to spend as much time as possible working on the logical organization of your remarks. Before you agree to speak, determine how much free time you will have before the date, then how long you believe you will need to research and write your talk (and remember to pad the estimate to include worst-case scenarios, such as illness or a deadline at work that is moved up). If you discipline yourself to get this done well in advance, you will be less likely to be nervous.