What Is Fear Of Public Speaking?

Are your nails chewed up, because you were biting them, while waiting for your turn for speech giving in college? Does your hand trembles, when you have a big presentation coming up and you have to deliver it ALONE? Do you send silent prayers to God sitting in a class, that the teacher doesn’t call on you to answer a question or to read aloud? Do you get emotionally distraught before going for a job interview? If the answer to it is yes, then my friend you are suffering from Glossophobia or what may be called as fear of public speaking in lay man’s language. Don’t worry, it is not something that makes you some kind of weirdo or freak, even the most sought after people in the world have this disease, if not at magnitude, then at smaller amount, but world’s 73% population is suffering from fear of public speaking. Be it, Julia Roberts, the famous star, or Barbara Streisand the famous academy award winner singer, world’s famous star singer legend Elvis Presley. They all at some point of their life have had stage fright and fear of public speaking, though they may have different reasons for it, be it stutter, traumatic experience or inferiority complex. They have been there and have overcome it. So can you.

Fear of public speaking can be identified easily, but for record, its symptoms are classified into three categories:

• Physical

• Verbal

• Non- Verbal

Physical Symptoms that a man with fear of public speaking has are:

• Trembling of legs, hands or body

• Shortness of breath

• Rapid heartbeat

• Nausea

• Panic attack

• Increased / decreased blood pressure

• Perspiration and Oxygen intake

• Sensitive hearing

• Tight Neck and upper back muscles

• Enlargement of pupils

• Dry mouth and knots in stomach

• Frequent urination

Verbal Symptoms include:

• Quivering and tensed voice.

• Vocal cord tightening

• Getting stuck in between of sentences and repeating words like ahm... aaah

• Sweaty palms

• Getting on too fast with the speech

• Hoarse voice

Non-Verbal Symptoms include:

• Fight or flight response

• Anxiety

• Feeling of butterflies in stomach

• The feeling to flee

• Black outs

• Getting freeze

Fear of public speaking can be conquered, if right measures are taken. Speech is a form of communication without which the world would stop working, and if you have fear of public speaking, then that might create hindrance in the way of your success. With support from family, friends, therapists, you can control your anxieties and be a good orator. The problem and the solution, both are you only.

To be a good orator, all you need is good amount of self-confidence and right amount of preparation that is a perfect recipe for a good orator. Just have confidence and relax, prepare well and you are ready to throw away your fear of public speaking.