[kazzamunga]

Does anyone else have real problems with public speaking...I'm talking, blushing, sweating, flight or fight so that your brain doesn't function properly and it's all you can do to stay standing there, let alone function normally if someone asks you a question...plus, time slows down so that 2 minutes feels like forever. Haha.

Everyone tells me that practice makes perfect, and I'm sure they're right. I was just curious to see whether anyone has experienced a 'phobia' of this kind, and has somehow changed their mindset and found it became easier. I think that's the thing - getting to the tipping point. At the moment the reaction my body/mind has is so severe that I can't get to that stage. Meditation/ hypnotherapy are working to an extent, so I guess I'll keep plugging away!

[Sk8ordude]

I had a problem where I couldn't express my thoughts verbaly in front of a group very well, I joined a toastmasters club and that fixed it within a few months. Its a great club for anybody wishing to become a public speaker or even just improve their communication and leadership skills and costs only about 5 dollars a month to join, these clubs are everywhere all over the world too so there is probably one in your area.

I'm not trying to advertise or anything, I just think alot of people can benifit from it.

[MrFreakaficial]

Simple
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is pretty common, so you shouldn't worry about it. People with a tendency for shyness or a history of worse forms of social anxieties are prone to have it. I'm not that comfortable on stage myself, but only if I know I'm in front of an audience who won't appreciate my presence (I once botched a speech in front of over a 150 first graders in high school. Fun memory.)

As for resolving this issue, I'm not sure. I'm in the process of doing so myself. There are many factors involved, so I don't want to give uninformed advice. However, one simple thing that I found to be helpful is teaching yourself how to speak slower. When I'm trying to convey a long thought, I tend to speak fast because my brain switches from idea to idea, and I want to blurt them out pretty quickly, which confuses me and leads to the "uuh" everyone is so familiar with. The confusion makes me feel uncomfortable, and the recipe is set for performance anxiety, in which you are thinking about performing well instead of actually performing, as worry takes over your thoughts. Other than that, practice does help.

[Equinox]

Originally Posted by kazzamunga To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Does anyone else have real problems with public speaking...I'm talking, blushing, sweating, flight or fight so that your brain doesn't function properly and it's all you can do to stay standing there, let alone function normally if someone asks you a question...plus, time slows down so that 2 minutes feels like forever. Haha. Everyone tells me that practice makes perfect, and I'm sure they're right. I was just curious to see whether anyone has experienced a 'phobia' of this kind, and has somehow changed their mindset and found it became easier. I think that's the thing - getting to the tipping point. At the moment the reaction my body/mind has is so severe that I can't get to that stage. Meditation/ hypnotherapy are working to an extent, so I guess I'll keep plugging away!

This is what we call "normal anxiety."
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Are you talking about public speaking as in speaking while in a public place, or as in speaking in front of an audience? If it's the latter, I'll have you know that some of the most arrogant, self-assured loudmouths in my classes at law school were absolutely petrified when they had to give trial-level oral arguments in front of the class. The main thing is just preparation so that even if you get nervous, you'll remember what you wanted to say and just say it from memory. (easier said than done)

[mormeguil]

Well as for any "phobia" or fear the best way to get over it...is to fight it. Now the easiest way especially if you are doing things by yourself is to start small. You just want to be used that speaking in front of a public can go well.

Maybe make a small "speech" or joke in front of a small group of friend or family members.

Second thing that will help is accepting what is the worse then that can happen, be realistic. Most of the time the reality is "If I make a mistake, people will laught but nobody will think i'm stupid or crazy." and repeat this when your getting nervous.

Finally, some relaxation method right before the event and some breathing method during the event will help.

[phoboser]

Try
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. It's a short acting beta-adrenergic blocker so it lessens the physiological symptoms of anxiety. It's safe. It's been around for decades so it's very cheap. Public speakers and performers often use this.

[ATCGs]

I got over my fear of public presentation/speaking (which, admittedly, sounds like it was less severe than yours is) by taking it head on. Instead of dreading the presentation, i put in extra hours boning up for it, and i asked for the earliest slots available to present.

The single statement that i have found most comforting, both to myself and to others who i've had similar conversations with is "make sure you are the foremost expert on your topic in the room". It isn't that hard, except perhaps at my committee meetings...

[John01]

All through school I had a fear of talking in front of a group. My hands would start shaking and my heart would race. Then, in my 20s, I had to do a lot of public speaking for a few years and the fear went completely away. Now, it's been a while since I've had to do it, and I find a little anxiety resurfacing when I have to do it.

Basically, I just have to accept the anxiety and not think so much about whether others can see it. I just sweat, tremble and stutter away, and do what I have to do. If I become more focused on what I need to say than my anxiety, the self-consciousness fades.

Good luck!

[Bluesea]

Here is a very good resource if you are working on self help:


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[MadBomber]

I used to hate it until I started serving and bartending. Jobs like that teach you the art of bullshitting very quickly. In hindsight, my fear came from the spontaneity of public speaking and not the act itself. In the past I would plan exactly how I wanted to give my speech(/presentation/etc) and deliver it, and the problems came up when I would miss a line or when someone in the audience would break my line of thought and I'd have to scramble in my head to recover. I had problems because I worried too much about the details of it. After being a firefighter and a bartender and dealing with people in a wide variety of awkward situations I took a speech class in college and immediately noticed how little it bothered me. I was amazed because I went into the class dreading it and wound up giving some of the best performances on a consistent basis. I figure the firefighting and bartending forced me to rely more on my intuition than my need to think and organize, forced me to accept doing things in the present. If you let it happen and work to improve how you deal with things on the fly, I can only imagine it'd greatly reduce performance anxiety.

Between that class and now I didn't have to give many speeches until this semester. Standing in front of the room for the first time I explained that I'd probably go red in the face and my body would look nervous, but that mentally I'm fine and it's nothing to worry about. Being up front about a problem can go a long way in helping solve it or at least taking away some of it's effect on you.

---------- Post added 04-16-2011 at 10:18 PM ----------

Originally Posted by ATCGs To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I got over my fear of public presentation/speaking (which, admittedly, sounds like it was less severe than yours is) by taking it head on. Instead of dreading the presentation, i put in extra hours boning up for it, and i asked for the earliest slots available to present. The single statement that i have found most comforting, both to myself and to others who i've had similar conversations with is "make sure you are the foremost expert on your topic in the room". It isn't that hard, except perhaps at my committee meetings...

That's an excellent point. In my last speech class, every speech I gave was on firefighting, bartending, boxing, or some other hobby of mine that I knew wouldn't be common to others in the class. It was great going into a speech knowing that if I botched a fact that nobody would know it even happened and I could just bullshit my way out of it.