Archive for December, 2009
Public Speaking Anxiety – 2 Ways To Tackle It
Years of training public speakers has taught us that there are only two ways of tackling this problem of public speaking anxiety. One is a short-term policy which helps every speaker immediately, and the other is a complete cure, which takes a few months to achieve.
Short-term Policy for Public Speaking Anxiety
A would-be speaker should begin making speeches as quickly as he can. In our classroom we start right away by bringing a student on to the platform, where the instructor begins a conversation with him. The instructor continues the conversation but he moves away from the platform, and the student goes on talking. Soon he finds himself alone talking to the instructor, who is at the back of the hall. Then he continues on his own—and all this in front of strange faces. Mistakes are made, of course. Some may feel uncomfortable, but they are so very glad of this afterwards.
We tell them to make all their mistakes in the classroom before strangers, and they won’t worry then nearly so much when facing an audience.
Far from affecting their confidence in themselves, this new method of teaching actually creates confidence.
The Cure
If first by practice, and later automatically, your muscles can be relaxed, pre-speech nerves will go forever.
Just think of that. No if’s or maybe’s, but a complete cure. However, this won’t happen by itself. You have got to do something about it.
If you do, you will find that before many months have passed, so soon as you are faced with any situation which normally would bring tenseness followed by public speaking anxiety, your muscles will automatically relax themselves, and no tenseness will be felt.
By Albert Tack
Doing Something About Public Speaking Anxiety
There isn’t any need to go as far as that, because there is a main cause for public speaking anxiety, which can be cured. Before going into this, however, here are some of the ways in which a speaker can do something about his jitters.
(b) When nervous, look at a member of the audience and speak to him as if you were having a conversation with him.
(c) If you forget a part of your speech and you haven’t any notes, recapitulate. Generally, the forgotten passage will come to your mind
when you do this.
Do Keep this In Mind
Public Speaking Anxiety – Be Ridiculous
Public speaking anxiety affects many people to varying degrees. For most people they can beat their stage fright by applying some simple strategies. One such strategy is using speech drills.
Speech drilling, which requires a student to speak with ex¬aggerated force and big gestures, will help overcome stage fright. For instance, in private practice or with other people, do the following speech laboratory exercises:
Choose a favorite hobby (your most active one.) Tell and show an imaginary audience how to take part in it. Do this with much pep. Put zip, spirit, and sparkle into your tones. Let your feelings show in your face, eyes and body. Overdo it! Feel that people must share your hobby, not tomorrow or next week, but as you talk about it.
Talk with force and pep, much louder and faster than you usually talk, and with an active body from head to toe. This is only a speech drill so don’t be afraid of high pressure or any¬thing else. As you talk nod your head vigorously (when the thought calls for it), shake your fist, or point directly and force¬fully to demonstrate a point. Make any kind of bodily move¬ments that will explain or emphasize. But make all movements big and positive. No little, easy, timid movements.
Speak earnestly with your eyes and face. Plead with them Plead with your whole being for your audience to believe and act upon your ideas. Be so much in earnest an audience must believe.
The purpose of drills is to help control and direct nervous energy rather than check or kill it.
If taken seriously this speech drill will help a person beat public speaking anxiety because the stretching caused by being ridiculous makes it easier to face an audience when being serious.
Is Public Speaking Anxiety Good For You
Some public speaking anxiety is good for you. But too much can be detrimental to your performance as it can physically affect you and cause your mind to go blank .
But having no presentation nerves can also be bad for your effectiveness as a speaker as follows:-
Some people seem to have an erroneous idea about controlling stage fright. For instance, one said, “When I’m up there speaking I wish I could feel just like a block of wood.”
What kind of speech could a block of wood make? Would that person prefer being a dead mule to being a race horse eager at the bit?
Actually, to speak well, we must always feel a challenge when we face an audience. We keep all our nervous energy, but we channel it to work positively rather than in a confused, dis¬tressing way.
The objective of controlling public speaking anxiety is to get to the stage where it helps you to be a more effective speaker. This is the situation most speakers with the ability of confident public speaking are in. They are not without nerves but use them as an incentive to do their best. The anxiety is described as excitement or anticipation.
The ability to speak with confidence when public speaking or when giving a presentation is about using the nerves in a positive way – to increase your energy levels and focus. In this way you are a much more effective speaker and presenter. Don’t try to be void of any feelings because no one wants to listen to someone presenting in a robotic fashion.
Beat Public Speaking Anxiety Through Your Nature
People learn public speaking anxiety largely because of the stops im¬posed upon them by culture. “Be a good listener. Silence is golden,” are common ideas. And this is good advice. But people should speak up and out, too. We must observe rules and convention, we need stop lights, but we can’t get far without go signals also.
We must “snap out” of this emotional straight jacket which well-meaning, but misunderstanding people have slapped upon us. Talking enthusiastically upon a subject which a person knows well and is deeply interested in sharing will help overcome stage fright.
For example, at a large university a physical education major, built like an All-American fullback, enrolled in a speech course. One wouldn’t think a big he-man like him would, tremble in his socks when he stood before a speech class. But he did. His face took turns being pink and white as he grasped his notes in trembling vice-like fingers, and stumbled through a speech which he didn’t really want to deliver in the first place.
Wanting to help him control that demon, fear, his teacher suggested that next time, instead of talking from notes he talk on some subject which he knew by “heart.” Not a memorized talk, but one which would bubble right out of his nature. Would he talk about something he really knew, and knew he knew? He could, and did.
Next time he talked about tumbling. . And could he tumble? All over the place, and talking all the while. Now there were no trembling hands, no shaking in his socks, no dry bones rattling or thick tongue because the speaker was too busy communicating vital ideas to be afraid.
What a victory over public speaking anxiety and fear!
Public Speaking Anxiety – 3 Causes And How To Beat Them
Here are 3 sources of public speaking anxiety and how to beat them;
A cause of public speaking anxiety is the feeling that a speech may be criticized either secretly or openly by a listener or a speech coach. A helpful coach offers no adverse criticism until a student speaker has gained enough self-confidence to control his fear.
The speaker’s attitude should be, “I’m giving them my best. I hope that’s good enough. At this point I couldn’t do better. And if someone is unhappy with my speech, so what? Without worrying a second about any speech I’ve already delivered I’m going to put all my energy into the next speech.”
Tenseness may come when a speaker starts thinking about re¬sults, or when he mentally compares himself unfavorably with other speakers. But this condition can be avoided when the speak¬er mentally plays down the importance of his speech. Who is going to remember it a hundred years later anyway? Nobody remem¬bers the score long. Ask a dozen people to tell you the exact score of a last year’s basketball game. How many could do it?
Then too, a speaker may become afraid when he thinks he could twist his tongue or mispronounce a word — when all those brilliant people are out there listening, maybe hoping he’ll fum¬ble. If a speaker could learn to grin at an audience and go right on speaking when he makes a mistake, people would forget the mistake and remember the grin. A mistake always looks much bigger in the mind of the person who made it than in anyone else’s thinking because he is so near it. Other people are so busy thinking about themselves (and their own mistakes) they won’t remember someone else’s error long.
Public speaking anxiety is very common. Although doing well when presenting and speaking to groups, too often it is blown up out of proportion by thinking about what could go wrong. Try to keep your thinking in control and the feeling of public speaking anxiety will subside to a more manageable level.