Fear Of Public Speaking

Public speaking ranks above death as the number one fear of things people are afraid of! Most people have an irrational fear of speaking in public, stemming from an intense fear of being appraised by others as stupid, foolish or boring. Other reactions are fear of embarrassment or humiliation. This leads people to high states of panic, dread and feelings of rejection. In reality, this is more closely related to people’s own emotional reactions of being judged by others. Common public speaking tasks such as presentations, meetings, client interviews or wedding speeches can lead people to intense distress and apprehension. This irrational fear can inhibit people from being social, fearing the worst in cases of having to introduce themselves to others in an academic or social situation.

People tend to think that everyone is staring at them and demanding perfection. Nobody’s perfect, we all know that, but somehow, this ridiculous fear is manifested. This makes people feel ‘the spotlight’ and intense self-scrutiny can cause the speaker to become incredibly distracted, getting lost in their notes, forgetting what they were talking about, losing focus in a meeting or being unaware of their surroundings.

Some people even feel so threatened by the idea of having to speak in public at a future event that is causes them undue stress in the months, weeks and days preceding the event. People can worry unduly about the speech or presentation in advance that the event itself is doomed for failure. The speaking event itself, under such self-generated pressure, often ends up with the speaker suffering from sweating, twitching, inability to speak slowly and clearly, a blank mental state or blushing and laughing their way through their speech. In the aftermath of such stress, the speaker is lost in a sea of self-analysis, wondering what they could have done to prepare better and how badly those that witnessed such a traumatic event have judged them. This hardcore fear of public speaking differs from shyness because it turns a normally social and outgoing person into a panic-stricken, incoherent and mumbling idiot.

Many powerful people at the top of their corporate ladder fear public speaking. This can lead to an impression from their audience that they are disinterested, reserved or aloof. Why does this happen? Very successful people are often called on to share their knowledge in their area of specialization because of the wisdom they have acquired being good at what they do. These people realize they are irrationally uncomfortable with this scenario, understanding logically that they have been asked to speak because people WANT to learn from their expertise. Phobias are attributed to being a fraudulent use of imagination, causing creative and artistic people to be especially vulnerable to this type of public speaking phobia.

This fear may be caused by a myriad of bad experiences- from childhood shyness to adult anxiety or panic attacks. People with panic attacks tend to develop a phobia due to the fear of the confidence-shattering panic attack happening again, which throws them into a vicious cycle of panic for panic’s sake

Article Source: http://www.new.citynewslive.com

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