Public speaking is one of the most dreaded tasks we all encounter at one point in our life. Regardless if you are in school, college or work, Public Speaking is a task we all have to undergo. Fear of speaking in public ranks second among the most common phobias (spiders is number one). To put things in perspective, people are more scared of speaking in public than death, marriage or bankruptcy. This feeling is common among most of us. Everyone shares the anxious feeling when there is a perception of being evaluated.
It's critically important to feel comfortable with the people around you, particularly when you are learning. Make sure you have a teacher who is supportive and helpful. If not, find a new one.Role playing is one of the most helpful things you can do to reduce your speaking anxiety. As I mentioned in item one, speaking a foreign language is like having to present constantly. When I have to give a presentation at work, I prepare extensively to help me feel more comfortable, including scripting and rehearsing it as many times as I can. The same steps can be applied to language. What are some common conversations that you have that you can script and rehearse?Practice is the key to all language acquisition, but you don't always have someone to practice with. Also, if you are suffering from anxiety, you may not have the nerve and motivation to practice with another person. A way to practice on your own is to narrate your activities. When you are getting dressed in the morning, try saying the steps out loud, like "I'm going to take a shower" and "I'm putting on my shirt".Sometimes identifying what triggers your anxiety can be a big step in controlling it. Try and keep a journal of when you feel anxious. Is it a certain person that makes you nervous? Is it a certain situation?What I am going to teach you here is the fact that there is a physical reason for our feeling frightened when put into a position to speak in public. That reason is our body's perception that speaking in front of others is a "threatening situation" that demands the over-creation of adrenalin. And it is the over-creation of adrenalin that gives us our symptoms of feeling frightened.
We start thinking of multiple fallacies that we need to reject by critical thinking The most common irrational thought is that everything will go wrong like forgetting the material or how people will judge you. This is known as the fallacy of catastrophe. This fallacy triggers our sympathetic nervous system, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. That is why when we are nervous we may have sweaty palms or tremble. Another irrational thought is the fallacy of approval.
Short-Term Treatments of Glossophobia.If this condition interferes in your life, it can be diagnosed as under the category of SAD. Fortunately, fear of public speaking can be managed easily. Short-term treatment includes cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and systematic desensitization. On the other hand, if you have a public speaking anxiety that causes you to experience significant distress, you need to ask a doctor for possible referrals to a psychologist. In addition to numerous traditional ,Many people feel very anxious when they are asked to speak publicly. Anxiety is a perfectly normal reaction to stressful situations, but for some, public speaking can cause more than just a fleeting anxiety attack. Learn some techniques to overcome normal and more serious feelings of anxiety.The famous author was due to deliver a short speech at a Women's Institute meeting. Now although he was very good with words when they were written down, he was not so confident with the spoken word. In fact, he was always quite anxious about making a speech.
One more thing - you do not have to take the medication I will recommend here forever. It is only necessary during the period of time that you are re-training your brain to understand that speaking in public is not a threatening situation and therefore it doesn't have to create an over-abundance of adrenaline in order to survive THEREFORE, THE MEDICATION IS REALLY A "TRAINING AID", NOT A "CRUTCH".Speaking in public is the No. 1 fear of Americans. It surpasses our fear of losing our jobs, losing our relationships and, believe it or not, people write in surveys they fear public speaking even more than death (although I suspect that given a true life and death situation, they could muster the courage to give a little speech).Because speaking in public opens the opportunity for us to be judged by others in a very personal way more so than any other activity we do in life. And it is this fear of being judged that creates anxiety that can be paralyzing at times. Simply put, many of us have a fear of looking foolish, of being laughed at, of making a mistake, of being vulnerable.
The point is, the final job will not look half as good if the preparation work is not done well.It's the same with a good speech. If you don't collect together the material about which you are going to speak, sort it all into a sensible well thought out order so that all the points you want to cover are included and then arrange that material in an understandable way, your speech will be a disaster. Without that preparation, your task on the day will be immeasurably more difficult.But with all that preparation behind you, your confidence in your own ability with regard to the accuracy of the information should be OK.Your next task, of course, is the delivery of the speech and your preparation for your delivery should be just as thorough as your preparation of the content of the speech.So, what are the ways in which you can prepare yourself for delivery of your speech?During your preparation, find time to practise the speech. Read it through several times and you'll get a feel for how it sounds. If you can, record the speech as you hope to deliver it and listen to the playback carefully. Note down anything which didn't sound quite right so that you can change it at the end.
About a week before the speech try to build up a positive image of yourself giving the speech really well. 'See' yourself standing confidently and relaxed in front of your audience. 'See' the audience listening intently to you and laughing naturally at your jokes. 'Listen' to the applause after the speech is finished. Do this several times a day for a week or so before the day of your speech.Now that you have done your preparation in the lead up to speech day, you can concentrate on helping yourself on the day.Relaxation techniques such as breathing deeply and slowly in and out as you are being introduced can be very good for putting your body at ease. Something else to try at the same time might be to tighten and slowly relax various muscle groups. Not necessarily in any order these might include; the thigh muscles, calf muscles, the muscles in your arms, shoulders and back. This should relieve any tension in your body so that you can concentrate on your delivery.
For instance, if we were in a situation where we stood embarrassed in front of our schoolmates without saying a word,--- that could be it. Even though we were not speaking in public, our brains perceived our fear just standing there in front of other people as we thought that we looked foolish and/or scared. In a nutshell - what happens to some of us during this type of incident is our brain links our intense negative feelings with merely standing in front of other people as they look at us. It almost sounds silly that deep fears that control us as adults often have such trivial moments of creation in childhood. Often they last only a minute, but it is a minute that can last a lifetime. I'm sure the people who initiated these terrible incidents in our lives so many years ago never think back to them or to us for that matter. They have no idea what they said or did during that incident had such a profound and lasting effect on us.Our fears may only be "in our head" but that's enough to make us react as we do to speaking in public and other anxiety-prone situations. I'm sure you already realize - it's pretty difficult to change what's "in our head" even if we can figure out why it's "in our head" to begin with and why we react as we do to perceived "threatening situations" such as speaking in public.
Luckily for us, understanding the true source of our fear doesn't really matter. For some reason our brains have created a connection/link between standing up in front of people and speaking with a "threatening situation" of intense vulnerability.And let me say this now - our fears are completely independent of our intelligence. In fact, I believe those with higher IQ's may actually be more susceptible to fears brought about by childhood events than those of lower intelligence.Realistically, a deep-seeded fear may not be "curable" (in the clinical sense of the word). This is because it is a result of our genetic makeup and our external & internal conditioning which is a result of one or more of those incidents I mentioned that created our feelings of anxiety in the first place. But, as I'll explain in a moment - you do not have to cure your fear; you need only to cure the symptoms of that fear in order to be able to function without fear.For those of us with a serious fear of speaking in public our minds create what I'll call a "malfunction" of our natural defense system. It is our natural defense system that identifies a "threatening situation" that may confront us and creates the "fight or flight" response in our bodies. For us, when put into a position to speak in public our body's natural "fight or flight" response initiates the over-creation of adrenaline because we perceive speaking in public as a very serious "threatening situation."Therefore, the bad news in this discussion is the fact that our minds cause our bodies to create exorbitant amounts of adrenaline completely out of our control. And it is adrenaline that creates all of the symptoms that make us look and feel frightened.This understanding that it is the over-creation of adrenaline that creates my symptoms exactly at the time when I must speak in public was the key to finding a cure to my speech anxiety. And I promise you - it is the key for you as well.
During the week leading up to the speech, try to imagine any negative thoughts you might have about giving the speech. Write down as many as you can, without thinking about anything else. Then go through your list and make a positive story to counteract each negative thought you wrote down. Add to your list as and when you think of other negative thoughts you might have.On the day of your speech, try to make sure that you counteract any negative thoughts you might have with the positive stories you made up in the week before speech day.Before going on stage, while waiting in the special room allocated to you if you have one, or maybe outside away from other people if you don't, you could try to explain away the 'butterflies' that we all have. Emphasise, for example, that they are not something emotional like being 'scared to death'. They are actually a physical reaction brought about by your brain's response to the stress that it detects. When someone is anxious the brain releases additional amounts of a chemical called adrenalin into the blood stream. This has the physical effect of making the stomach contract and interferes with digestion.
Finally, have a conversation with the audience. When presenters tend to read from visual aids or cards, they are disengaged from the audience. Remember that your speech is not about you, it is about the audience. You are giving them something, a message. Engage them with a conversation. This approach will be and feel more natural. More importantly, it will help you reduce anxiety.Public Speaking is something we all have to do at some point. The more we do it, the easier it will be for you. Remember that it won't be perfect every time, but with practice you will become much better. The goal is not to get rid of the anxiety, but to learn to control it.
It's critically important to feel comfortable with the people around you, particularly when you are learning. Make sure you have a teacher who is supportive and helpful. If not, find a new one.Role playing is one of the most helpful things you can do to reduce your speaking anxiety. As I mentioned in item one, speaking a foreign language is like having to present constantly. When I have to give a presentation at work, I prepare extensively to help me feel more comfortable, including scripting and rehearsing it as many times as I can. The same steps can be applied to language. What are some common conversations that you have that you can script and rehearse?Practice is the key to all language acquisition, but you don't always have someone to practice with. Also, if you are suffering from anxiety, you may not have the nerve and motivation to practice with another person. A way to practice on your own is to narrate your activities. When you are getting dressed in the morning, try saying the steps out loud, like "I'm going to take a shower" and "I'm putting on my shirt".Sometimes identifying what triggers your anxiety can be a big step in controlling it. Try and keep a journal of when you feel anxious. Is it a certain person that makes you nervous? Is it a certain situation?What I am going to teach you here is the fact that there is a physical reason for our feeling frightened when put into a position to speak in public. That reason is our body's perception that speaking in front of others is a "threatening situation" that demands the over-creation of adrenalin. And it is the over-creation of adrenalin that gives us our symptoms of feeling frightened.
We start thinking of multiple fallacies that we need to reject by critical thinking The most common irrational thought is that everything will go wrong like forgetting the material or how people will judge you. This is known as the fallacy of catastrophe. This fallacy triggers our sympathetic nervous system, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. That is why when we are nervous we may have sweaty palms or tremble. Another irrational thought is the fallacy of approval.
Short-Term Treatments of Glossophobia.If this condition interferes in your life, it can be diagnosed as under the category of SAD. Fortunately, fear of public speaking can be managed easily. Short-term treatment includes cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and systematic desensitization. On the other hand, if you have a public speaking anxiety that causes you to experience significant distress, you need to ask a doctor for possible referrals to a psychologist. In addition to numerous traditional ,Many people feel very anxious when they are asked to speak publicly. Anxiety is a perfectly normal reaction to stressful situations, but for some, public speaking can cause more than just a fleeting anxiety attack. Learn some techniques to overcome normal and more serious feelings of anxiety.The famous author was due to deliver a short speech at a Women's Institute meeting. Now although he was very good with words when they were written down, he was not so confident with the spoken word. In fact, he was always quite anxious about making a speech.
One more thing - you do not have to take the medication I will recommend here forever. It is only necessary during the period of time that you are re-training your brain to understand that speaking in public is not a threatening situation and therefore it doesn't have to create an over-abundance of adrenaline in order to survive THEREFORE, THE MEDICATION IS REALLY A "TRAINING AID", NOT A "CRUTCH".Speaking in public is the No. 1 fear of Americans. It surpasses our fear of losing our jobs, losing our relationships and, believe it or not, people write in surveys they fear public speaking even more than death (although I suspect that given a true life and death situation, they could muster the courage to give a little speech).Because speaking in public opens the opportunity for us to be judged by others in a very personal way more so than any other activity we do in life. And it is this fear of being judged that creates anxiety that can be paralyzing at times. Simply put, many of us have a fear of looking foolish, of being laughed at, of making a mistake, of being vulnerable.
The point is, the final job will not look half as good if the preparation work is not done well.It's the same with a good speech. If you don't collect together the material about which you are going to speak, sort it all into a sensible well thought out order so that all the points you want to cover are included and then arrange that material in an understandable way, your speech will be a disaster. Without that preparation, your task on the day will be immeasurably more difficult.But with all that preparation behind you, your confidence in your own ability with regard to the accuracy of the information should be OK.Your next task, of course, is the delivery of the speech and your preparation for your delivery should be just as thorough as your preparation of the content of the speech.So, what are the ways in which you can prepare yourself for delivery of your speech?During your preparation, find time to practise the speech. Read it through several times and you'll get a feel for how it sounds. If you can, record the speech as you hope to deliver it and listen to the playback carefully. Note down anything which didn't sound quite right so that you can change it at the end.
About a week before the speech try to build up a positive image of yourself giving the speech really well. 'See' yourself standing confidently and relaxed in front of your audience. 'See' the audience listening intently to you and laughing naturally at your jokes. 'Listen' to the applause after the speech is finished. Do this several times a day for a week or so before the day of your speech.Now that you have done your preparation in the lead up to speech day, you can concentrate on helping yourself on the day.Relaxation techniques such as breathing deeply and slowly in and out as you are being introduced can be very good for putting your body at ease. Something else to try at the same time might be to tighten and slowly relax various muscle groups. Not necessarily in any order these might include; the thigh muscles, calf muscles, the muscles in your arms, shoulders and back. This should relieve any tension in your body so that you can concentrate on your delivery.
For instance, if we were in a situation where we stood embarrassed in front of our schoolmates without saying a word,--- that could be it. Even though we were not speaking in public, our brains perceived our fear just standing there in front of other people as we thought that we looked foolish and/or scared. In a nutshell - what happens to some of us during this type of incident is our brain links our intense negative feelings with merely standing in front of other people as they look at us. It almost sounds silly that deep fears that control us as adults often have such trivial moments of creation in childhood. Often they last only a minute, but it is a minute that can last a lifetime. I'm sure the people who initiated these terrible incidents in our lives so many years ago never think back to them or to us for that matter. They have no idea what they said or did during that incident had such a profound and lasting effect on us.Our fears may only be "in our head" but that's enough to make us react as we do to speaking in public and other anxiety-prone situations. I'm sure you already realize - it's pretty difficult to change what's "in our head" even if we can figure out why it's "in our head" to begin with and why we react as we do to perceived "threatening situations" such as speaking in public.
Luckily for us, understanding the true source of our fear doesn't really matter. For some reason our brains have created a connection/link between standing up in front of people and speaking with a "threatening situation" of intense vulnerability.And let me say this now - our fears are completely independent of our intelligence. In fact, I believe those with higher IQ's may actually be more susceptible to fears brought about by childhood events than those of lower intelligence.Realistically, a deep-seeded fear may not be "curable" (in the clinical sense of the word). This is because it is a result of our genetic makeup and our external & internal conditioning which is a result of one or more of those incidents I mentioned that created our feelings of anxiety in the first place. But, as I'll explain in a moment - you do not have to cure your fear; you need only to cure the symptoms of that fear in order to be able to function without fear.For those of us with a serious fear of speaking in public our minds create what I'll call a "malfunction" of our natural defense system. It is our natural defense system that identifies a "threatening situation" that may confront us and creates the "fight or flight" response in our bodies. For us, when put into a position to speak in public our body's natural "fight or flight" response initiates the over-creation of adrenaline because we perceive speaking in public as a very serious "threatening situation."Therefore, the bad news in this discussion is the fact that our minds cause our bodies to create exorbitant amounts of adrenaline completely out of our control. And it is adrenaline that creates all of the symptoms that make us look and feel frightened.This understanding that it is the over-creation of adrenaline that creates my symptoms exactly at the time when I must speak in public was the key to finding a cure to my speech anxiety. And I promise you - it is the key for you as well.
During the week leading up to the speech, try to imagine any negative thoughts you might have about giving the speech. Write down as many as you can, without thinking about anything else. Then go through your list and make a positive story to counteract each negative thought you wrote down. Add to your list as and when you think of other negative thoughts you might have.On the day of your speech, try to make sure that you counteract any negative thoughts you might have with the positive stories you made up in the week before speech day.Before going on stage, while waiting in the special room allocated to you if you have one, or maybe outside away from other people if you don't, you could try to explain away the 'butterflies' that we all have. Emphasise, for example, that they are not something emotional like being 'scared to death'. They are actually a physical reaction brought about by your brain's response to the stress that it detects. When someone is anxious the brain releases additional amounts of a chemical called adrenalin into the blood stream. This has the physical effect of making the stomach contract and interferes with digestion.
Finally, have a conversation with the audience. When presenters tend to read from visual aids or cards, they are disengaged from the audience. Remember that your speech is not about you, it is about the audience. You are giving them something, a message. Engage them with a conversation. This approach will be and feel more natural. More importantly, it will help you reduce anxiety.Public Speaking is something we all have to do at some point. The more we do it, the easier it will be for you. Remember that it won't be perfect every time, but with practice you will become much better. The goal is not to get rid of the anxiety, but to learn to control it.
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