Once bitten twice shy, 5 ways to overcome your fear of public speaking.
One may not think so, but glossophobia – the fear of public speaking – is a very common phobia and is estimated to affect up to 77% [1] of the world's population. Who would have thought? For some, it may express itself as a slight nervousness at the prospect of public speaking, while others experience full-on panic attacks and intense fear.
While only a very small handful of individuals experience a crippling state of glossophobia such as severe anxiety or terror, even mild episodes of glossophobia can have detrimental effects on a person's self-image and future behaviour. Specifically, a fear of public speaking can lead to risk-averse behaviour which may prevent a person from taking risks like sharing ideas or speaking up in meetings, or skillfully offering solutions to problems. This can adversely affect how much a person develops personally and professionally. Without any positive public speaking experience, any negative public speaking experiences will contribute to doing even less speaking in public in the future. As they say, once bitten twice shy.
Why are we afraid of public speaking?
Glossophobia is not so much associated with the quality of the speech a person may give, although it is understandable how someone may think that. But rather, it is formed by the way a person perceives themself when confronted with the prospect to speak in public. Here's how it works: the emotional states of fear or stress trigger the autonomic nervous system to spring into action. Neurochemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline flood the nervous system to prepare a response to a potentially threatening situation, such as feeling exposed and vulnerable in front of others.
When confronted with such a sensation of threat, the unconscious mind prepares for battle, also called amygdala hijacking [2], and this hyperarousal leads to the experience of heightened awareness and anxiety. It detracts from our ability to effectively think and process sensory information, and so thwarts a person's ability to perform comfortably in front of audiences. Eventually, it might even prevent someone from pursuing opportunities for public speaking altogether, which can affect their career progression negatively.
With so many reasons why people are afraid of having to speak in public, I'd like to share 5 of the most common – and then share how anyone can change these today!
Take charge and change your attitude to public speaking, start here.
The 5 most common fears of public speaking
Lack of experience. As with anything in life, experience brings familiarity and confidence. When someone does not have a lot of speaking experience under their belt, they are more likely to experience some form of glossophobia simply because it feels unfamiliar and foreign.
Degree of expectation. When there is an expectation in the room, or in the mind of the speaker, the experience of stress and tension is more intense and the fear is more predominant. If a person is speaking in front of a group of people who they wish to impress or don't want to disappoint, they may feel more anxious since the person is emotionally investment in this presentation.
Untested ideas. If someone is wanting to share a new idea with others, maybe in a pivotal meeting, their attention may orbit more around how people will receive the idea. When presenting something new, it is normal to feel partially uncomfortable voicing a new position, possibly needing to address difficult questions from the participants, or dealing with those audience members who try to poke holes. This emotion of hesitancy can weigh heavy and jeopardise a person's confidence.
Tough crowds. A person might be used to speaking up in meetings in their area of expertise. However, their confidence may become shaky in front of an unfamiliar audience – especially one that might respond very differently from the crowd they usually speak to. This can cause fear and tension to surface.
Conditions and circumstances. Even the best speakers in the world can feel challenged. Certain situations have the potential to make someone who is seemingly confident and in control of themselves feel uncomfortable when presenting in an unfamiliar or challenging environment.
Change your circumstance for the better and speak up with confidence.
The antidote that will help to manage the fear of public speaking
While there is no quick fix to remedy a fear of public speaking, here are five ways to improve confidence and regulate the emotions of anxiety and tension.
Thoughts and beliefs. A critical element is people’s beliefs about public speaking and themselves as speakers or presenters. The fear often arises when people overrate the stakes of communicating their ideas in front of others, viewing speaking up as a potential threat to their credibility, status or self-image. Negative self-talk such as "I am not good at speaking in front of groups," "I can't speak in public," "I am boring" and "I don't want to disappoint" will raise anxiety levels by predominantly focusing on negative outcomes. This creates a loop of imagined and probably unlikely worst-case scenarios. The way to cure this is to be mindful of the internal chatter and change the focus to the outcome.
Focused choices. Mindful communication points to making a distinction and creating a choice between a performance orientation and a communication orientation. When a person is performance orientated, they may view speaking as something that requires special skills, and see the audience as judges who assess their presentation skills – and maybe even their worthiness. By contrast, when a person is communication orientated, their primary focus is on communicating ideas, delivering information, or sharing an impactful story. For people with a communication orientation, the focus is predominantly on relating and communicating to their audience – the same way they relate and communicate information to people during daily conversations. Choosing to view public speaking as a communication activity rather than a performance will help calm the nerves by having an outcome in mind, not an assessment.
Preparation is key! Thoroughly knowing the content inside-out and practising for potential curly questions that may be raised will create a sense of self-confidence and security. The more prepared and familiar someone is with their content, the less anxiety they will experience. The easy fix to getting prepared is to rehearse in front of a mirror or record the presentation on video or audio, or get someone to ask training questions. This will help to get more comfortable with the content by knowing how it comes across and how it feels. Some people might cringe when hearing their voice in the playback, but don't let this hold you back from being better prepared for a presentation.
Make public speaking a routine part of your life. It might sound unnerving at first, but confidence comes with experience. A well-known and effective technique for conquering fears is simple hands-on exposure therapy. We even have a dedicated program for this – click here. Here's a tip: join a local Toastmasters club or volunteer to speak at a small event, like a birthday party, where the outcome of the speech is relatively trivial. This will help make public speaking seem less of a scary endeavour, which builds speaking confidence along the way.
Practice daily mindfulness. Integrating mindfulness and brief moments of being present every day will build new neuro networks and strengthen the habit of presenting with calm and confidence over time. Different breathing techniques and becoming aware of the body's automatic responses will produce a feeling of connectedness and confidence. No one should expect mindfulness to be a one-time cure. Rather, it needs to sink into the fabric of the daily routine of bringing the focus out of the mind, and back into the present moment.
Mindfulness is an integral part of our programs and courses, click here to get a headstart.
Summary
There are many benefits of sharing your thoughts and ideas in public. Don't let the fear of having to speak in front of others hold you back. Choosing the right focus orientation and making mindfulness and speaking up part of the daily routine is all it takes to gain confidence and influence in an individual's personal and professional life. The next logical question is: When will you start to speak up?