How to overcome the fear of speaking in public? Fear of public speaking: reasons and how to get rid of it

Public speech – common reason trembling in the knees and horror. People are sure that anxiety before such a performance visits shy individuals. But in reality, everyone goes through such feelings. Even experienced speakers get nervous when they have to give a presentation new topic and an unfamiliar audience.

As strange as it may sound, such fear is the most popular phobia on the planet. Everyone felt anxiety when giving a report, toast, speech, or even a poem at a creative evening. Depending on the audience, the importance of the event, the alarm has varying degrees. At these moments, the heartbeat quickens, trembling, hoarseness occurs, and the body breaks out in red spots.

Reasons for fear of public speaking

The fear of speaking in public is caused by the unknown. This scares people most often, especially those who have no experience. It causes anxiety even among experienced speakers.

In addition, education is the basis of fear. Parents do not allow children to speak loudly in public. This is justified by the fact that people look, it’s not beautiful, etc. As a result, when the baby grows up, the adult person begins to feel shy in public.

The main thing is to understand that you are not alone; 9 out of 10 speakers face such a phobia. But excitement visits all people before the performance itself. Those who are terrified of speaking are called glossophobes.

Getting rid of fear. Main methods

The effective way is practice. To avoid anxiety, you must constantly overcome it. Regular performances reduce such public fear. Take every chance to get practice.

The next point is preparation. The best method reducing anxiety is good preparation. For a successful presentation, it is important to have a good understanding of the topic. You can rehearse the performance in advance and think about all the nuances. The stronger your confidence in your knowledge, the less fear there is that you will find yourself in a ridiculous position.

Don't think about always being perfect. Many of us are afraid of the public due to the fear of making mistakes in front of everyone. This only increases the likelihood. But mistakes do not cause a death sentence; nothing terrible will happen.

Think it over appearance. It's important to look good when performing. There is such a psychological moment at work here. For example, a girl has a line on her tights, she is worried about it, but even though 90% of people won’t notice it, she will still worry. Such thoughts steal confidence. Think through all the nuances so that there is no discomfort.

How to get rid of fear before speaking

So, let’s figure out how you can get rid of fears specifically before a performance:

rehearse and prepare;

It is very important to carefully analyze the audience. Stage fright is often a combination of several. Bad influence brings fear of the unknown. To get rid of this, it is important to find out where, how and in front of which listeners you are. If possible, analyze how many people there will be, their interests and views. Removing fears is about your knowledge and awareness.

Once you know who your audience will be, start preparing diligently. The report must be structured based on the average intelligence of the listeners. You should not make complex logical chains, use narrowly targeted terms, etc. Don't use words whose meaning you don't fully understand. If there is a short report coming up, preparation cannot be ignored. It is important to study the topic thoroughly.

After writing your speech, you should think about questions from your audience. Be sure to train in advance, imagine a state that is comfortable for you. Practice speaking in front of one of your friends or acquaintances.

calm down;

If you don't understand how to relax and get rid of fear, then some exercises will help. Meditation is distinguished by a technique called conscious breathing. Its essence is focusing on exhalation and inhalation. It is necessary to hold the air on a count from 1 to 5. This gives a chance to reduce tension and anxiety. Another option: tense all the muscles of your body for a couple of seconds. Then relax completely and repeat again.

find support;

If there are friends or relatives among the public, then ask them for support. Any contact will be beneficial. Before starting your speech, find someone you know among the audience.

think about the non-verbal part.

It is important to evaluate the need for the nonverbal part of the report. It is interesting that 60% of the data each person receives from this source. If phrases sometimes give an erroneous idea, then gestures are read correctly by the subconscious.

How to get rid of fear while speaking

Even if you manage to completely calm yourself before speaking in public, fear arises again when you go on stage. There are methods that make it possible to get rid of fear directly during the performance.

A popular method for relieving stress is affirmations with text that encourages and encourages you. It is important to choose positive phrases, such as “I love everyone present, and they love me”, “Everyone is waiting for my interesting report”, “I know how to be a good speaker”, etc.

Another way is to accept fears. Give yourself permission to worry, because you are a living person. After accepting this fact, it becomes noticeably easier. But remember that it is important to set yourself up for a good outcome. Don't waste energy on negative memories.

Experts say it's important for overly anxious people to publicly acknowledge their fears. This removes responsibility if you suddenly forget information or go off topic. But you can’t use this method often, because the audience will react negatively to the statement next time. Frankness is suitable for the first speech. Use this method only if others do not help.

For speakers without experience, impromptu The best decision. Few of us have the skills to extricate ourselves from difficulties. For this reason, it is better not to put yourself in a difficult situation. If you have to give answers to questions, then it is more correct to pronounce platitudes that are suitable for the situation.

There are others interesting tips, how to overcome your stage fright. Imagine that the audience is not serious figures, but kittens or rabbits. Positive thoughts will bring positive thoughts. But these tips are given by experienced speakers, and they work on those who do not have panic fear.

For glossophobes, any of the options listed above are suitable to relieve anxiety and tension. If you don't neglect practice, you will see progress very soon.

Experience is the main key to achieving success in the art of public speaking. Start small - make toasts in the company of friends. Then practice speaking loudly in public places. It helps fight fear negative reaction of people. You will see that the tone will become more impressive, more patronizing.

Once you have gained some confidence, take action at work. Ask questions of other speakers. This way you will reduce your fear of being the center of other people's attention and notice your desire to perform.

• Calm down
• Find support

Representatives of many professions often have to speak publicly as part of their job. This mainly applies to artists, top managers, lawyers and other specialists whose activities involve continuous contact with the audience. However, almost every person in life has situations when there is a need to speak publicly. This is why being able to overcome the fear of speaking in front of an audience is important for almost any person.

Reasons for fear of public speaking

Why list possible causes of fear? public speaking, if we can jump straight to tips on how to overcome the fear of speaking in public? Understanding and being aware of these reasons is the first step to combating this phobia!

Education in most cases is the basis of why a person is afraid to speak in front of other people. Parents often prohibit their children from talking or shouting loudly in public places. Moms and dads shut their children's mouths, arguing that everyone is looking at the child and that it is ugly. As a result, when a growing or already mature person has to speak in public, the voice disappears somewhere, everything inside shrinks, and streams of sweat pour from the forehead. Very often, negative childhood experiences are reinforced at school or college, when a person is criticized by teachers or other students.

Many psychologists associate fear of public speaking with the orders that existed in the primitive community, when a person was an integral part of the tribe (exile was tantamount to death) and all his actions passed through the filter of social encouragement. Very often, the fear of failure or hearing negative feedback about one’s actions not only makes a person give up an idea, but also causes a fear of speaking in front of an audience.

For some, public speaking may be a bit of a challenge due to lack of experience. Someone may have had far from best contact With large audience. Some people have deliberately avoided public speaking, which makes it difficult for them to make it a part of their daily lives.

First of all, a person needs to understand that he is not at all alone in his phobia. According to statistics, 9 out of 10 speakers experience so-called stage fright. At the same time, almost everyone is nervous before performances. Those who are terrified of saying anything in public are called glossophobes in psychology.

Scientists have confirmed that large number people in the process of public speaking release an amount of adrenaline comparable to that released during a parachute jump. Surprisingly, fear of public speaking ranks second in the classification of phobias after fear of death. It is amazing that for some individuals, fear of the audience comes to the fore.

How to overcome fear of speaking

Prepare and rehearse

First of all, you need to carefully analyze your listeners. Fear of performing is often a tandem of several phobias. Has a lot on a person Negative influence fear of the unknown. To get rid of it, you should find out in advance where and in front of which audience you will demonstrate your oratory. Analyze, as much as possible, how many people will listen to you, what interests and life positions they have, what they expect from the speaker, and what kind of reaction you want to get from them. It must be remembered that overcoming the fear of public speaking is inextricably linked with your awareness. Understanding who will listen to you will negate the unknown factor.

Once you know who your audience will be, you should begin carefully preparing for the speech. You should construct your speech based on average intelligence indicators. There is no point in forming complex logical chains, using professional jargon and complex terms. You should only choose such a speech if you have to speak in front of professionals. In addition, you should avoid using words whose meaning you do not fully understand.

Even if you have a short speech to give, you should not ignore the need to at least the slightest preparation. Study as thoroughly as possible the topic you plan to talk about. The main principle to keep in mind is that the more afraid you are to perform, the better you should prepare.

After writing the text of the speech and preparing other additional materials Think about what questions your listeners might ask you. If you plan to present data in the form of graphs and charts, it makes sense to check the relevance and correctness of each figure. Think about how to match any of your thesis with a compelling argument.

Be sure to practice at home, imagining a state in which you feel most comfortable. If there have been times in your life when you verbally managed to solve a difficult issue or get out of a difficult situation, use that state to increase your confidence. Don’t forget to also model this state in your head before the performance itself.

It will not be superfluous to speak in front of one listener. This should be a friend of yours who is well versed in this particular topic. It is this kind of listener who will be able to identify shortcomings in your speech and also ask questions. If you answer them poorly, it’s worth taking a deeper look at the material. Otherwise, you can be sure that the introduction will go as well as possible.

Be sure to inspect the room where you plan to perform. Think about a place where you will feel comfortable establishing contact with the audience. Assess where the lighting is located, and also check whether it is possible to use a projector. When you master the territory using this method, you make the upcoming performance much easier for yourself.

Calm down

If you have no idea how to overcome fear of public speaking and relax, you can use the following exercises to help relieve tension.

• Meditation techniques include famous trick which is called conscious breathing. The essence of the method is to focus your attention on inhalation and exhalation. In this case, you should breathe deeply, holding your breath for several seconds. As you exhale, you need to count to yourself from 1 to 5. This method helps relieve tension and relax. The exercise should be performed for at least five minutes.
• Tighten every muscle in your body and stay in this state for five seconds. Then relax and repeat this procedure a few more times. If conditions allow, walk quickly indoors or outdoors, squat several times or do push-ups.

It is believed that stimulants or tranquilizers help cope with the fear of performing. In fact, such drugs are absolutely useless, and in some cases they can even ruin your performance, especially if you do not calculate the dose. This can result in inhibition. This is why you should not use such drugs.

Find support

If there are your acquaintances or friends among the listeners, ask them to support you in every possible way. Any tactile contact will benefit you, no matter how surprising it may be. It could be friendly handshake, a pat on the shoulder or even a warm hug.

Before you begin your speech, look for a familiar face among those present. If there are no close people in the ranks of the listeners, find a person with an approving expression on his face. A smile and positivity addressed to you will help you cope with uncertainty.

Think over the non-verbal part of the speech

Don't underestimate the importance of the non-verbal part of your speech. Interestingly, each of us consumes about 60% of information from non-verbal sources. If words can mislead someone, then your gestures on a subconscious level will be read correctly by the audience. The appearance of the speaker, the distance to him, the timbre of the voice, the manner of narration, facial expressions and intonation are non-verbal.

When thinking about your appearance before a performance, it is worth considering that any resemblance to the average listener plays into your hands, as it increases your influence on the audience. This applies to clothing, hairstyle, jewelry and manners. If people perceive you as one of their own, then your words will be more valuable. In this case, the articulation and diction of speech should be worked out by you before the speech.

How to overcome fear during public speaking

Even if you are completely calm before the performance, the feeling of fear may return the moment you go on stage. There are several tips to help deal with this problem.

A very popular way to help overcome tension is to say affirmations with an encouraging context. You need to choose positive phrases, such as “I love the audience, and they love me”, “Everyone is waiting for my speech”, “I know how to interest listeners”, etc.

The second way is to accept your fear. Allow yourself the right to worry, because you are human. If you accept this fact, you will immediately feel much easier. However, do not forget to set yourself up to achieve positive result. There is no need to waste energy replaying your negative experiences in your head.

Experts also advise particularly anxious individuals to publicly admit their fear. Thus, you relieve yourself of some responsibility if you suddenly forget to say something or get confused. However, you should not use this method often, since the next time listeners may react to such a statement without much enthusiasm. You can only be honest during your first speech. Use this method only if other ways to overcome fear have not been effective.

If you are an inexperienced speaker, you should not practice impromptu speaking. Few people have the innate ability to extricate themselves from difficult situations. Therefore, it is better not to get into a difficult situation. If you need to answer questions, then it is better to pronounce platitudes that are appropriate in this particular situation. Against the general background, this will be unnoticeable, and you will remain a forgettable speaker until the moment you yourself want to attract the attention of others.

There are many tips that answer the question, how to overcome the fear of public speaking. You can imagine that the people in the audience are not businessmen, but fluffy bunnies. It is also very effective to think about something good. However, such advice is given mainly by experienced speakers, which will be effective only for those who do not experience much fear. Those people who are terrified of public speaking can use any of the methods mentioned in this article to cope with stress. If you practice a lot, you will soon notice serious progress.

P.S. Experience is the main key to becoming a good speaker. Start by making toasts in familiar company. After this, practice speaking loudly in public places. This will help you overcome your fear negative reaction those around you. Then you will notice that your tone will become more imposing and patronizing. Once you have some confidence, start taking action at work. Try to ask questions to the speakers. This will help you overcome your fear of being the center of attention. As a result, you will develop a craving for independent performances. Having found out everything means of speech expression And getting rid of a phobia, you will undoubtedly become a wonderful speaker.

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Speaking in front of an audience is an art. But what to do if you not only don’t know how to speak in front of an audience, but are also afraid of it? Glosophobia, or fear of public speaking (stage fright) is in second place in popularity after the fear of death. Its causes can have a variety of roots: from childhood. But it is possible to overcome glossophobia. And this was proven by such famous people like Jim Carrey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Megan Fox. Yes, yes, they also had stage fright. And they are far from the only ones.

The most popular reason is. If you've never spoken publicly before, fear is understandable. It’s just that this is unfamiliar to you, it still lies outside the boundaries of yours. There is no other option but to try, force yourself to speak publicly, expand your comfort zone. Always challenge yourself, ask for public speaking yourself, once you decide that you need to learn how to do it. The more often you perform, the easier it will be. You will gain experience. As a result, the fear will go away, only pleasant excitement and emotional uplift will remain.

Another one possible reason- unsuccessful performance and, as a result, psychological trauma. This is more difficult to deal with, but try to analyze your previous experience. What exactly caused the failure? What exactly happened? Compare your old self with your old self. I think these people are clearly different. Perhaps the new you has all the tools to prevent the previous experience from repeating itself.

Thus, the cause of fear of speaking may be:

• focusing on your experiences, on your fear;
• unsuccessful previous experience, memories of it;
• poor preparation for the performance;
• lack of experience.

Well, the picture is complemented by self-doubt, timidity, shyness, and much more. What are the ingredients in your glossophobia cocktail?

How to speak in front of an audience

First of all, change your attitude towards fear. Stop seeing it as an obstacle and start seeing it as an opportunity. The fact is that fear and excitement force our body to work at full capacity at the psychophysiological level. We become faster, stronger, smarter and more agile. Realize that excitement accelerates blood throughout the body, due to which you can analyze information faster, speak faster, choose words faster and more accurately. You can be exponentially more productive if you allow your anxiety to help you, rather than approaching it with more fear.

The speaker who does not hide behind the podium and does not read from a piece of paper always looks more pleasant. But this is the height of art and, of course, as long as the fear of performing is alive, this will not be achieved.

Exercises to overcome fear

Preparation is the main way to get rid of fear. But it’s nice to supplement it with some more techniques.

To normalize your neurohormonal state, it is useful to exercise yourself physically. Do push-ups, squats, run, wave your arms. It’s good for the body, and it will produce “anti-fear”, in other words, endorphins - hormones of anti-stress and happiness. But don’t do this just before the performance, your breathing should normalize and your appearance should be neat.

Visualization

Imagine and play out your upcoming performance in front of an audience in your head. Feel it with each of your basic senses. Visualize every detail, the more precise the better. Imagine the attentive glances of the listeners, the exchange of energy. Imagine only successful and pleasant things. Imagine the most successful scenario: how you joke, how positively the audience reacts to it, how skillfully you answer unexpected and difficult, or even tricky, questions.

Self-hypnosis

Before going on stage (performing), say a few phrases:

• I'm glad I'm here.
• I'm glad you're here.
• I am confident in my knowledge.
• I know and understand what I want to talk about.
• I like you.
• Do you like me.

There is only one way to overcome fear - training. And, of course, you need to remember that 90% of the success of a performance depends on preparation. with people, learn to understand them, learn to control yourself. Work on your confidence and Break down your fear into sub-points and solve them.