How to overcome the fear of speaking in public: psychology tips

A phobia in a nutshell

Public speaking is a major fear for many people. They begin to worry that they might forget something important, or that they won’t open their mouth at all at a crucial moment, or that they won’t be able to cope with their own emotions.

Some people think that such fear occurs only in shy and timid people. In fact, such a phobia is observed in almost every person. Even people with experience in public speaking experience great anxiety when they have to present a new topic or speak in front of a new audience. This fear ranks one of the first among all known phobias in people.

Depending on how serious the speech is and what kind of people you need to speak to, a person may experience anxiety to varying degrees. There will definitely be tachycardia, trembling in the limbs, possible hoarseness, numbness of the tongue, and the neck and face may be covered with red spots.

Causes

Fear of public speaking can begin in childhood with an unsuccessful performance at a matinee.
Fear of speaking in public can develop due to various factors. We will look at the main ones.

Fear comes from childhood. Perhaps the child did not cope with the poem at the children's matinee, which caused laughter and condemnation from others.
Features of education. Parents can instill in their offspring that they should not expose themselves.
Fear of being criticized. It is difficult for proud people to decide to perform.
A person may have problems with diction, which will form complexes and develop fears.
Strong modesty and shyness do not allow people to communicate normally even among friends, let alone speak in public.
Strong self-consciousness about one’s appearance and figure does not allow a person to go to the podium.
The presence of neurotic diseases also contributes to the development of fear of an important event.

Causes of glossophobia

The most popular reason is fear of the unknown. If you've never spoken publicly before, fear is understandable. It’s just that this is unfamiliar to you, it’s still outside your comfort zone. 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 possible reason is an unsuccessful performance and, as a consequence, 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 completed by self-doubt, timidity, shyness, suspiciousness and much more. What are the ingredients in your glossophobia cocktail?

Possible manifestations

People who have a pathological fear of going on stage give themselves away by their behavior.

Nervous gestures. The person gestures too much inappropriately.
Feverish condition. Everything begins to fall out of hand, and hysterics may develop.
The presence of nervous laughter or excessive fun is a manifestation of strong fear.
Pale skin and redness of the face may also indicate severe panic.

How to overcome fear of public: exercises

To overcome fear of public, there are also special exercises. They can be roughly divided into three groups: muscle relaxation, breathing work and a little meditation. You can perform them in a row, you can choose one method of calming down before going on stage, which is most suitable for you.

Neuromuscular relaxation

If there are five minutes left before the presentation, there is almost no point in repeating the material. You can’t get your appearance in order either, but your nerves can. Try to arrange a relaxation session for yourself. To do this, you first need to tense all the muscles of your body for a few seconds and then relax.

Progressive neuromuscular relaxation according to Jacobson - instructions for mastering

This must be repeated several times. This will help relieve anxiety physically. Your body will become freer, it will become easier for you to control it.

Calming Breath

Breathing exercises are also great for coping with nervous tension. Inhale for four counts, hold your breath for another four counts, and now exhale for four counts. Repeat this in a circle until the anxiety completely passes. For some, just a few cycles of this type of breathing are enough to calm down.

It will be extremely useful to learn how to breathe with your stomach - diaphragmatic breathing. Once you develop this skill, you can use it everywhere for calm and relaxation. Belly breathing has a very beneficial effect on the nervous system, helps to collect thoughts and concentrate in moments of great excitement and stress.

Brief Meditation

There are also quick meditation options that will help you prepare for the exit. Remember a moment in your life where everything was fine. Maybe you were admired or loved very much. Try to recreate it in your head as if it were happening to you right now. Feel those pleasant feelings that visited you. When they fill your body and mind, with such a feeling of joy and freedom, go out and broadcast it to others.

Actions before the performance

Before the actual performance, you need to calm down, using all possible methods

If a person experiences fear of performing, and he needs to go on stage in literally an hour, or even less, he needs to know methods that will help him overcome his fear of going directly to the audience.

You can move your jaw back and forth to help relax your facial muscles.
You need to stretch your palms, move your hands, move your fingers. Exercises will help stimulate the speech apparatus, increase reaction speed and relieve the paralyzing effect.
You can walk back and forth. Physical activity will help reduce nervous tension.
Try stretching by raising your arms up without lifting your heels off the floor.
If you are concerned about where to place your hands on stage, you can place them behind your back or on the podium. But you shouldn’t cross them, clench your hand into a fist, or hide them in your pocket. Sometimes having a small object in your hand helps relieve stress.
If during the performance the excitement goes through the roof, then you need to start moving around the stage and making some movements.

What to do before going on stage

Rate your nervousness on a scale of 1 to 10. Where 1 means you're completely confident and not nervous, and 10 means I'll die if I go on stage. The very fact of assessing fear will help you pull yourself together. Even if you chose 10. Try this several times: in the dressing room or right before going out. Gradually things will get better, you will rate lower and lower. Breathe. Deep and slow breathing is something you have complete control over (unlike the adrenaline rush). Regular and deep breathing will help calm your heartbeat and relax. 5 minutes before going on stage, take a few slow breaths. This will relieve some of the tension. Assume the Wonder Woman Pose There is a theory that standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, your arms at your sides, your shoulders back and your gaze straight can increase your testosterone levels and lower your cortisol levels. These hormones are responsible for confidence or lack thereof. Over time, this theory was refuted, they say, it is not as effective as it seems. But placebos also work. Why not try, maybe you will succeed? Have a snack and drink (a little) Adrenaline reduces appetite. But before the performance you need to eat a little, because hunger also makes you nervous. But be careful with coffee: caffeine stimulates the production of adrenaline (and after it you want to go to the toilet). Therefore, do not overdose on coffee, tea and other drinks. If you are thirsty, drink water. Unlike coffee and tea, it does not dry out your mouth. By the way, you can take a bottle of water with you to the stage and drink small sips during the performance.

Fighting methods

To overcome your fear you need to become more confident in yourself. Changing your image will help with this. Be sure to rehearse before your performance

To make it easier for a person to cope with upcoming performances, especially if, due to work or study, he has to speak in front of people more than once, it is necessary to choose a method that will help cope with panic and pull himself together.

Meditation. The person should relax with maximum force, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Before the actual performance, it is recommended to carry out such breathing exercises for about five minutes.
Autotraining or self-hypnosis. A person can convince himself with his own thoughts that he can cope with the upcoming performance. And if he makes a mistake, then there will be nothing terrible about it.
To avoid insane fear, the speaker must know the topic of his speech perfectly. A person who has a good command of his material is difficult to confuse with a sidelong glance or an unexpected question.
Self-discipline. Before an upcoming performance, don't even think about drinking alcohol or caffeinated drinks. Also, do not eat heavy food the day before.
Creating the right image helps increase your self-esteem. A person will believe in the correctness of his words and actions
Elimination of stress. Before a performance, you need to rest, get enough sleep, gain strength, and stock up on energy.
The day before, it is important to surround yourself only with positive emotions and not think about anything bad, to believe that everything will go like clockwork.
If serious difficulties arise, you need to seek help from a psychologist.

I, like many of you, always felt extremely nervous when I had to perform in front of an audience. My throat became dry, my hands and sometimes my knees began to tremble, my heart beat faster, and my breath caught in my throat. Once before going out I had to take a sedative to get myself under control. However, it caused drowsiness and lethargy. Scientific presentations were especially difficult for me; I was always worried that a question would be asked to which I did not know the answer. Therefore, I studied all aspects of the upcoming report very carefully. This helped me. Today I don’t have a phobia as such, but I do have the usual human anxiety before an important performance.

How not to worry before public speaking on stage: exercises at home

There are several effective ways to reduce fear when preparing for a report at home.

Exercise stress

To regulate the neuro-hormonal state, you need to work with the body. Do some exercises, jump, do squats. Sport promotes the production of endorphins - anti-stress hormones. But you shouldn’t do this right before going out to the audience: breathing should be restored, and your appearance should be neat.

Visualization

Try to reproduce the upcoming event in detail in your head. Pay attention to how the audience perceives you, joke and answer their questions with ease. Create the most positive picture of what is happening.

Ask a question

Self-hypnosis

Before speaking, repeat the following out loud:

I'm happy to be here.
I'm glad to see you all.
I am confident in my expertise.
I clearly understand what will be discussed.
I like you.
I inspire you.

Adviсe

You need to believe in the success of your performance and not be afraid of possible mistakes.

If a person is afraid of going on stage, including schoolchildren’s fear of public speaking, then you need to heed the following advice.

There is no need to be afraid that some mistake will be made in the spoken speech. It is important to realize that even professional speakers are not immune to awkwardness. It’s better to play it safe and figure out how, if something happens, you can get out of the situation if a mistake is made. Treat possible mistakes as an incentive to improve your skills.
Don’t be lazy to rehearse once again, imagining yourself speaking in front of an audience. At the same time, imagine that the performance ends in success. A person must understand that any negative thoughts that appear in his head immediately before going out to the public will cause even more unrest.
It's a good idea to have notes ready that you can refer to if you forget what you wanted to say. There is no need to pronounce what you do not understand.
There is no need to remember your failed performances, live in the present. It is important to understand that the existing failure allowed you to become the best and gave you the opportunity to learn from your own mistakes.
Do not think that the listeners will be negatively disposed, will begin to behave too pickily, wanting to humiliate the speaker. This will only make you nervous. You need to prepare yourself for the fact that the speech will be received correctly and people will react well to it.
Before the upcoming performance, you need to get enough sleep, it is advisable to avoid stress. Before going to bed, you can drink milk, listen to good music or read a book. There is no need to schedule important meetings the day before.
Remember that you need to control your body and emotions. So pull yourself together, take a deep breath and exhale.
To make performing less scary, when you go on stage, focus your gaze on smiling faces, on people who look with approval.
During the performance, you need to smile, showing positive emotions towards the audience. But you shouldn’t do this if the report is related to something tragic or sad.
If this happens and you are asked a question to which you don’t know the answer, you don’t need to panic right away. It is better to try to forward it to all listeners or colleagues at the conference. In such a situation, the report will turn into a scientific debate, and no one will be disgraced.
If the excitement is strong, and you see that you are unable to cope with it, you can directly tell the public about it. People will treat you with understanding, since it is likely that they themselves have found themselves in a similar situation more than once.

Now you know how to overcome the fear of speaking. Remember that you do not need to live with your phobias, believing that they do not complicate your existence. If a person knows that he has a serious fear of something, then he should not carry it inside himself; appropriate measures must be taken. If you can’t cope on your own, do not hesitate to seek help from a qualified specialist.

How to overcome the fear of public speaking?

Determine the nature of fear

Look fear in the face and understand where it comes from. Figure out what you are really afraid of. Are you afraid that your boss will be disappointed and won’t give you a promotion? Or are you afraid that you have little experience and will say something wrong? You need to train awareness, try to look at yourself from the outside. This will help you find the root of fear and understand how to influence it.

Shift Focus

When we focus on fears, we naturally become afraid. You need to try to shift your attention to something else, for example, making eye contact with the audience.

Determine the goals of the speech

There can be many goals. In addition to the fact that we need to convey information, we can, for example, set a goal to train the skill of public speaking. When we understand why we are doing something, fear becomes much less.

Rehearse

If you don’t feel very comfortable in public speaking, rehearse not alone, but in front of your family. Speak the text 2-3 times, and neural connections will already be formed in your head that will help you speak. If you are confident in your abilities, then improvise. This will give the performance liveliness and zest.

But there is another point of view on the issue of rehearsals from a person who often and brilliantly performs.

Zurab Bely, head of Java practice at Reksoft:

“I’m more comfortable improvising, I never prepare for presentations - I don’t rehearse in front of the mirror or do dress runs. I tried to prepare, but it always made things worse. The only thing I prepare is the slides themselves. This is enough to structure the material in your head.

I go on stage, and the thoughts in my head flow out into the audience. I don’t like to rehearse - when I talk about a topic for the first time, I give it my all, it’s very interesting for me. And when I perform the same material for the third or fourth time, I get bored and, as a rule, I perform worse. Also during rehearsal - I can perform perfectly in front of the mirror, but when I go out to the audience I will already be bored.

The passion that awakens in me on stage is the driver that makes my brain move faster. But I advise you to try one thing, another and figure out for yourself how to perform easier.”

Forget about perfectionism

In my practice, everything has never gone 100% as planned. Either the projector does not turn on, then the presentation does not start, then it turns out on the spot that the screen format is not the same, then people appear who ask tricky questions that it is not clear how to answer.

If you can do everything in advance, do it. But there is no need to reflect during a speech if you cannot influence what is happening in any way. Remember, no one except you knows how things should really be. Maybe it was all meant to be.

Fear is the first thing you need to deal with when starting to prepare for a performance. In the next post we will look at how to choose a topic to speak at an IT conference. So subscribe so you don't miss out.