Fear and anxiety of public speaking

Summary

In this instructional video, Diana, the presenter, discusses fear and anxiety related to public speaking. She covers three key points: understanding the causes of fear, building confidence through preparation and practice, and using relaxation techniques like deep breathing to manage stress. Diana emphasizes that feeling nervous is natural, offers personal anecdotes, and reassures viewers that these fears can be controlled. The video concludes by reinforcing the importance of preparation and calming techniques to successfully deliver speeches with confidence.

Takeaways

• 😊 80% of people experience fear and anxiety when it comes to public speaking, making it a common challenge.
• 😬 Public speaking anxiety is often fueled by fear of humiliation, fear of judgment by the audience, and insecurities about appearance or performance.
• 😓 Nervousness before speaking is a result of the brain perceiving public speaking as a threat, causing a release of adrenaline and other stress hormones.
• 😳 Physical symptoms of anxiety include increased heart rate, sweating, tense muscles, and difficulty speaking clearly.
• 💡 Recognizing that these fears are not based in reality can help manage and reduce anxiety.
• 📚 Preparation is key to overcoming public speaking anxiety. Knowing your audience, understanding your purpose, and being familiar with your topic are crucial.
• 🎤 Practice is essential for building confidence. The more you rehearse, the less likely you are to make mistakes during the actual speech.
• 🧘‍♂️ Relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing and visualization, can help calm nerves and lower adrenaline levels before a presentation.
• 🌬️ A recommended breathing exercise is to inhale deeply through the nose, hold for a few seconds, and exhale slowly through the mouth, repeating several times to relax.
• 🎯 The three main strategies to reduce public speaking anxiety: understanding the fear, preparing thoroughly, and practicing relaxation techniques.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the presentation?

The main topic of the presentation is fear and anxiety of public speaking, and how to overcome these feelings.

What are the three main points covered in the presentation?

The three main points are: understanding fear and anxiety of public speaking, building confidence through preparation, and learning relaxation techniques to reduce stress.

What percentage of people are afraid of public speaking according to studies?

Studies indicate that 80% of people are afraid of public speaking.

What is a common misconception people have when they feel afraid of public speaking?

A common misconception is that they might be humiliated or made fun of by the audience, or that they are inadequately prepared or unfamiliar with the topic.

What physiological changes occur when someone feels fear or anxiety before a speech?

When someone feels fear or anxiety, adrenaline levels rise, leading to increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, stiff muscles, and sweating. These symptoms are caused by the brain sensing perceived danger.

How can preparation help reduce fear of public speaking?

Preparation helps by making the speaker more confident. Knowing the audience, purpose, location, and practicing the speech beforehand helps reduce anxiety and prevent mistakes during the presentation.

What are some causes of public speaking anxiety?

Causes include fear of humiliation, insecurity about appearance, lack of preparation, and unfamiliarity with the topic.

What is a key technique to manage anxiety during a speech?

A key technique is practicing deep breathing. This involves closing your eyes, inhaling deeply through your nose, holding the breath for a few seconds, and exhaling slowly through the mouth.

Why is it important to practice a speech before delivering it?

Practicing a speech builds confidence and ensures that the speaker is familiar with the content, reducing the chances of making mistakes during the actual presentation.

What is the final takeaway message from the presentation?

The final message is that fear and anxiety of public speaking are natural, but through preparation, practice, and relaxation techniques, these feelings can be controlled and managed.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking

The instructor, Diana, introduces the topic of fear and anxiety related to public speaking, discussing the prevalence of this fear, which affects 80% of people. She highlights that fear is common, even sharing her own experience of overwhelming fear when giving her first lecture. Diana explains that this fear stems from feelings of insecurity, fear of humiliation, and lack of preparation, but emphasizes that these feelings are not based on real danger, and can be managed with proper understanding and techniques.

05:01

📝 Preparation and Practice: Keys to Confidence

Diana emphasizes the importance of preparation and practice in overcoming fear. She explains that understanding the audience, purpose, and context of the presentation helps build confidence. She stresses that practicing repeatedly is crucial to delivering a successful speech. Being familiar with the topic or researching thoroughly also contributes to feeling more secure when speaking. Despite this preparation, panic may still arise, so Diana introduces the concept of breathing exercises and visualization as ways to calm nerves and reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety.

Keywords

💡Fear of Public Speaking

Fear of public speaking refers to the anxiety or fear that individuals feel when they have to speak in front of others. This is a central theme in the video, as the speaker notes that 80% of people experience this fear. The fear often stems from the worry of being humiliated or judged by the audience, and it can manifest in physical symptoms such as a fast heartbeat or sweating.

💡Anxiety

Anxiety is the feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome, in this case, public speaking. The video discusses how anxiety can cause a range of physical reactions like increased adrenaline, fast heartbeat, and tension, which are often irrational and based on perceived rather than real threats.

💡Confidence Building

Confidence building refers to the process of increasing one's belief in their abilities, particularly in public speaking. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of preparation and practice as ways to build confidence. By preparing well and practicing multiple times, a speaker can feel more secure and less anxious about their presentation.

💡Preparation

Preparation is the process of planning and organizing content for a presentation. The speaker highlights that one of the key strategies to overcoming the fear of public speaking is thorough preparation, which includes knowing your audience, understanding the purpose of the presentation, and being familiar with the topic. This helps in reducing uncertainty and boosts confidence.

💡Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques are methods used to calm the mind and body before a public speaking event. The video suggests techniques such as deep breathing and visualization to help reduce stress. For example, taking deep breaths and thinking of a calm place can help lower adrenaline levels, reducing anxiety.

💡Adrenaline

Adrenaline is a hormone that is released in response to fear or stress, causing the body to react with a 'fight or flight' response. In the context of public speaking, adrenaline can cause symptoms like a racing heartbeat, sweating, and muscle tension. The speaker explains that these reactions are natural but can be managed with preparation and relaxation techniques.

💡Perception of Danger

Perception of danger refers to the brain's response to situations it deems threatening, even if there is no real physical threat. The video discusses how public speaking often triggers this perception, leading the brain to release adrenaline. However, the speaker reassures that this perceived danger is not real and can be controlled.

💡Practice

Practice refers to rehearsing a speech or presentation multiple times before delivering it. The speaker stresses that practicing can significantly reduce fear by making the speaker more familiar with their content, improving delivery, and reducing the chances of making mistakes. Practice builds confidence and reduces anxiety during the actual presentation.

💡Humiliation

Humiliation is the feeling of shame or embarrassment, often triggered by the belief that others are judging or mocking. In the video, one of the reasons for public speaking anxiety is the fear of humiliation, where the speaker worries that the audience will mock or criticize their performance or appearance.

💡Audience Awareness

Audience awareness involves understanding who you are speaking to and tailoring your speech accordingly. The speaker in the video emphasizes that knowing your audience helps reduce anxiety, as it allows you to prepare content that resonates with them, making you feel more confident and reducing the fear of negative reactions.

Highlights

Introduction to fear and anxiety in public speaking, a common experience among many individuals.

80% of people are afraid of public speaking, and some fear it more than having a heart attack.

Fear of public speaking is natural, even experienced speakers and teachers have felt this way at the beginning.

Reasons for public speaking anxiety include fear of humiliation, uncertainty about appearance, lack of preparation, and unfamiliarity with the topic.

Fear is largely psychological, with the brain reacting as though there is a physical danger, triggering adrenaline and physical symptoms.

Understanding that public speaking fear is not based on real danger helps in controlling the anxiety.

Preparation is key: knowing your audience, understanding the purpose, and being familiar with the topic are vital steps to control anxiety.

Practicing your speech multiple times can significantly reduce mistakes and build confidence.

Choose a topic you are comfortable with, or if unfamiliar, do thorough research to build confidence.

Relaxation techniques like controlled breathing can reduce physical symptoms of anxiety before a speech.

Controlled breathing involves inhaling slowly through the nose, holding it, and exhaling through the mouth while keeping eyes closed.

Thinking of a pleasant place or memory while breathing can also help reduce anxiety levels.

Public speaking anxiety may not disappear completely, but with preparation and practice, it becomes manageable.

Summarized key points: understanding public speaking fear, building confidence through preparation and practice, and using relaxation techniques.

Closing remarks: speech review and encouragement to use the discussed techniques for better public speaking experiences.

Transcripts

good afternoon everyone and welcome to

your first recorded video for this

semester

and this is me your instructor diana and

i'll be talking today about fear and

anxiety of public speaking

now my presentation today will tackle

three important ideas

first i'll talk about what is fear and

anxiety of public speaking

and the reasons behind them then i'll

talk about building your confidence

in preparation for your speeches and

then i will end my presentation with

some relaxing techniques that you might

follow and help reduce the stress you

get

before you present so let me start with

the first point which is

understanding fear anxiety of public

speaking and why they happen

and i'll start with a shocking fact that

studies indicate

80 percent of people are afraid of

public speaking

that's right 80 percent of people are

afraid

of standing in front of others and

present and sometimes they are more

afraid of talking

in public than having heart attacks

which is quite shocking

but it's true what i want to say in here

that if you're feeling afraid or a bit

anxious about your coming speech

it is quite natural we all share this

kind of fear

even me i can give you an example from

my own

personal experience i remember when i

started teaching

and i was about to give my first speech

to a class of students

that was the time when dinosaurs were

still wandering the earth

so i remember my class was big i did not

know the class would be that big and i

remember standing in front of others

completely overwhelmed by fear my heart

was about to jump out of my chest

i could hear my heart beating my head i

was in complete panic

i was sweating i couldn't hear

sounds clearly but then i started to

understand my fear and anxiety i started

to understand

why it happens and i learned then some

techniques

on how to control it so let's talk about

it let's say

why this fear of um

standing in front of others why actually

it happens

there are different reasons for it one

of the reasons is because

you feel you will be humiliated by your

audience

in other words you might be the center

of jokes

you feel that your audience might

and make fun of you because of what

you're saying

or because the way you're saying it

sometimes

it is related to the way you appeal

you're not really sure about your

appearance and whether it is suitable

for a speech or not

so this feeling of insecurity kind of

gets

through you and you are again afraid of

speaking in public third one is because

of lack of preparation

sometimes you choose something and you

prepare a presentation or a speech

but you are not well practiced you

haven't practiced it at all

so you feel afraid because of that uh

another reason is because of the topic

itself

maybe you're not really that familiar

with the topic

and because of that you feel you can't

really say a lot about it

so you're standing there and you have

that feeling that everybody knows

in the room that you really don't know

what you're talking about

but remember it's not real it is

all not real it's only in your head your

brain

is sensing this kind of danger because

you are sending this signal that you are

afraid and afraid

and because of that your brain feel that

they need or it needs to protect you

so it releases these uh hormones and

chemicals into your body

uh adrenaline level becomes really high

in your body

so your um your heartbeats become faster

your blood pressure becomes higher all

your muscles are

stiff even your your tongue is unable to

move

you're sweating your brain is sensing

that there is a danger

and that's why it puts you through it

but remember

again it's not real there's no real

danger outside

you're not going to die because of your

speech nobody is going to

attack you literally because of your

speech

it is just something that your brain

is projecting onto you and you feel

all of these uh kind of symptoms because

of it

so it's not real in other words whatever

you're feeling

is not real that's why you can control

it

so how can you control it how can you

control all of these symptoms

there are things that you can do and the

first and the most important thing

is your presentation itself and i'll

start with the main thing which is

preparation you need to prepare

for your speech preparation includes

knowing your audience you need to

understand your audience

so when you go to the room you

understand how to deal with them

you need to know what is the purpose of

your presentation

you need to understand why you're

presenting

and prepare accordingly and once you

finish your preparation

you need to practice it if you don't

practice your speeches

before you deliver them you will

make mistakes so preparation and then

practice

preparation includes knowing your

audience knowing the purpose

the location the time we talked already

about it

and then once you do that you need to

practice

practice and practice and practice and

this

kind of builds your confidence so that

when you go to a room to deliver a

speech

you're completely confident of what you

are saying

make sure that the topic again choosing

is you're quite familiar with it

and if you're not familiar with it you

need to do your research

so again preparation how can we

help with these symptoms like literally

because we cannot deny that we're still

in panic

that your heartbeats are still high

that's still fast

your high blood blood pressure is still

high how can you

help with that there are some relaxing

techniques

that you can follow and they can be

quite helpful

first one is about breathing

it's really important to learn how to

breathe well

so before your speech if you feel like

you're getting into this

kind of panic so close your eyes

and then take a deep breath from your

nose

okay inhale the air slowly

like this and then hold it one two

seconds

and then release the air exhale through

your mouth

[Music]

and repeat that two

three four times and do it while your

eyes are closed

and it's a good exercise to think of

something you

really like before you start your speech

so while you're breathing slowly think

of a place you really love

think of something funny that will get

you

out of this status otherwise the

adrenaline level will still be high in

your body

and you will still feel you know

anxious and afraid well i talked today

for a long time

i hope that my speech was clear

i'll just remind you again about what we

talked today about we talked about

what is fear and anxiety of public

speaking

we talked about gaining confidence

by being prepared by practicing and then

some relaxing techniques to help you

with stress

have a great day and thank you very much