- Public Speaking Fear

Public Speaking Fear

Fear of public speaking is one of the most common phobias. A phobia is a irrational fear that can cause severe emotional and physical distress to the person experiencing it. Over time, phobias can grow into panic disorder; a condition in which the sufferer experiences intense, unpredictable spasms of fear accompanies by physical symptoms such as:

• Rapid heartbeat or racing pulse.
• Chest tightness or chest pain.
• Dizziness and/or fainting.
• Trouble breathing and trouble catching one’s breath.
• Abdominal and intestinal distress.
• Stomachache and headache.
• Tingling and/or numbness in the hands, feet, legs, arms, and face.

Phobias usually start out as an understandable response to a traumatic event or stimulus, but over time the fear turns into an unwanted response that interferes with normal functioning. Public speaking fear is somewhat different in that usually public speaking in and of itself is not traumatic or dangerous in any way, but many people fear looking or sounding foolish, or forgetting what they might have wanted to say.

Fear of looking foolish or of being ridiculed in public is not that unusual. Even people who must speak in public on a regular basis, such as teachers, college instructors, fund raisers, businessmen, sales persons, and politicians can have predictably negative reactions just before a speech. Many people actually lose their voices or become so hoarse right before a public speaking engagement that they become convinced they will not be able to go through with it.

Public speaking fear can be alleviated with self-help strategies. Some of the most common strategies employed include:

• Good preparation. Write out your speech or put it on note cards and think through every possible contingency. Make sure you understand the topic and the most common questions an audience might have. Be prepared with a gracious response if you don’t know the answer to a question.

• Practice until it feels natural. The old saying, “Practice makes perfect,” applies here. Record your speech over and over again and listen for spots that could use improvement. Give the speech to family or friends so you can get used to speaking to someone.

• Have a back-up plan. Have an alternate speech or alternate plan in case something goes wrong. Can you show some slides? Reschedule? Give a different talk? Having a back-up plan will keep you from obsessing about unexpected problems and allow you to focus your energy on your speech.

• Reduce your fear of the audience. Speakers do this in many different ways. One common approach is to find a friendly face or two and talk to those people, ignoring the others. Some speakers like to focus just over the heads of the audience so as to avoid eye contact yet still look like they are making eye contact.

• Relax before you give your speech. The tendency most people have is to obsessively prepare up until the last minute, but you will come off as more confident if you spend the 15-minutes or so right before the speech winding down and doing some deep breathing.

Another good idea if you know you will have to speak in public on a regular basis is to take a public speaking class, or join a public speaking club and/or support group like Toastmasters. Gather some supportive public speakers around you and get together with them on a regular basis.

You may just find, after a period of adjustment and learning, that you actually enjoy public speaking.