Fear of Public Speaking and the Effects on Performance
Effective communication is an essential part of building relationships, expected across work settings and occurs regularly within school projects. Glossophobia or the fear of public speaking is a common challenge that affects approximately 73% of the population according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Such fears impact a large amount of people and their performance across many demand situations throughout their lifetime.
Think back to the first time you had to speak in front of a large group. What was did you experience? Typically people shared they felt nervous, feared the worst happening, heard their voice shake, experienced sweating, dry mouth, increased heart rate and the dreaded “brain freeze”. At some point in our lives, most of us have had these fears and either challenged them to confront the issue or avoided the situation as many people do when feeling anxious. The more people avoid their fears it will bring short-term relief, but in the long-term it will maintain their anxiety.
State vs. Trait Anxiety
State anxiety is anxiety that arises out of an event. Trait anxiety pertains to a personal characteristic. High-trait individuals are more highly anxious across most areas in their life, which has them experiencing a higher likelihood of also being more anxious when speaking in front of a group. High-trait anxiety individuals focus more on the physical signs of anxiety, which increases their fears and impacts their performance when speaking. When they have completed the tasks they continue to show higher levels of anxiety. Whereas, individuals who exhibit state anxiety and/or low-trait anxiety also tend to feel anxious about public speaking, but after it has ended report that they felt relief over completing the task and that it wasn’t as bad as they feared. Both types of individuals can learn to overcome their fears through becoming more aware about the underlying concerns that impact their anxious thought process, learning relaxation skills and stepping into the demand situation in order to feel less anxious about public speaking in the future.
Common Reasons For Having A Fear Of Public Speaking
According to researchers, mental health professionals and speech coaches, there are several contributing factors that include the following:
1. Worry about judgement and evaluation from others
2. Past negative public speaking experiences
3. Comparisons to others
4. Lack of preparation
5. Feeling self-conscious about your abilities
6. Feeling uncomfortable or awkward physically
7. Fearing failure or success
FPA Performance Can Help With Fear of Speaking in Public!
FPA Performance is a subsidiary of Family Psychology Associates. Out psychologists use evidence-based treatments to deal with a wide variety of sport and performance-related issues including stress management, performance anxiety, self-confidence, team building, body image and many other areas. Individual and group consultation services for performers. athletes and professionals in high stress professions are available. We have two offices in Trinity and Safety Harbor that can provide help in your 1 area. Call us today (727) 203-3770 to talk with our caring and compassionate staff to schedule an appointment.
1 Bodie, G. (2010). A racing heart, rattling knees and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining and treating public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59 (1), 70-105.
2. Daly, J., Vangelisti, A, Neel, H. & Cavanaugh, P.D. (1989). Pre-performance concerns associated with public speaking anxiety. Communication Quarterly, 37 (1), 39-53.
3.Montopoli, J.R. (2017, February 20). Public speaking anxiety and fear of brain freezes. Retrieved from www.nationalsocialanxietycenter.com/2017/02/20/public-speaking-and-fear-of-brain-freezes.
4 Spielberger, C.D., Gorssuch, R.L., Luschene, P.R., Vagg, P.R., Jacobs, G.A. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Consulting Psychologists Press.