Public speaking anxiety is a very common anxiety disorder that most people find hard to overcome. When no initiative is taken to defeat the disorder, it wil become worst and will be a burden inside you that will last for years. Public speaking anxiety haunts everyone. Even people who make speaking as a living are not free from the disorder. This includes actors, comedians, politicians, and talk show hosts like Jay Leno.
Recent studies suggest that 20-85% of people in the United States suffer from the disorder. It has been one of the best obstacles that hinder people from performing their best. Aside from crippling people to perform well in classrooms or in the workplace, it impedes them to get in touch with their creative abilities and potentials. We are in a kind of culture that puts so much emphasis on the excellence of execution. Consequently, high standards are planted on people’s minds and when faced with they are not met, anxiety sets in.
This breeds a perfectionist culture that creates so much cultural baggage. In fact, public speaking anxiety the second most common anxiety disorder, next to fear of spiders (arachnophobia). During the onset of the disorder, people start to have anticipated fears – fear of failure, fear of not knowing what to say next, fear that people might see you as a bad speaker, etc. After that, the next bad thing going to happen is a person will start to have butterflies in the stomach, rapid hearbeat, sweating, shaking/trembling speech, and finally error in memory retrieval or memory loss.
The best thing to do is to flee away from it but to face it. Public speaking is a part of contemporary life that we must all go through. Anytime in our lives there will come a time that we need to speak in public and it would be difficult for you to handle the situation if you do not spare the time to confront it right now.
Well here’s some tips to help yourself overcome the disorder:
Be prepared emotionally and mentally. Practicing deep breathing every morning will not only help you remedy your fear of public speaking but gives you clarity of mind as well. If done regularly, it will bring good physical and emotional benefits as well.
Be familiar enough with your material. If you are confident with what you are going to say, you won’t be afraid to share it.
Practice makes perfect. Practice speaking on your own. Visualize that there are many people looking at you. One rule of thumb in speaking is when you practice more; you will get better at it. Overtime, you will be surprised of the result.
Realize that people want you to succeed. Get over from the fallacy of perfection-that we must always execute speech perfectly. Audiences are waiting to hear what you have to say so focus on the message more not on the anxiety.
Public speaking anxiety can be very detrimental. It does not allow you to grow because you are always trapped in its black box. Do not allow yourself to be defeated by this disorder because by nature, will and mind power is thousands of times stronger than any anxiety.
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