Speech Anxiety
How Can Speech Anxiety Be Overcome?
Speech anxiety is suffered by 1 in 5 people in America, which gives us one more thing in common when we feel so misplaced and out of touch. This means that when you stand there, nauseous and short of breath, in front of those 60 people who await the shake of your voice and the tremble of your hands as you turn the page, at least 12 of the people looking back at you are feeling your pain. It is the same anxiety which moves us to diarrhea, cold sweats, and stomach contents deposited into trash cans before we hit the field or the stage to perform. Michael Jackson, considered worldwide to be one of the greatest live entertainers ever, has severe stage fright, performance, and speech anxiety. How can this be so? He has learned to convert the immense negative energy into positive fuel toward his act.
Speech anxiety is generally quipped as “excessive shyness” by the psychiatric community. Freud to Zimbardo agree on the probability of 20% of all humans having a heightened sense of self-consciousness and uncomfortable physical symptoms when faced with the public realm. What’s more, the majority of our most beloved public spokespersons have conquered excessive shyness, or speech anxiety, to deliver their powerful messages for history’s recordings. This said, it is safe to say that there is no magic pill or therapy session which can dissolve this temporary conflict between ambition and apprehension. The body and the mind have to come to an understanding, and it is important that you allow your emotions to take their course and make you stronger.
Using the nervous energy that you may experience during a speech anxiety bout to create a positive outcome may seem a bit overwhelming, especially when in the throws of the episode. Preparations need to be decided and placed prior to the event in order to be effective when your time to shine is at hand. Speech therapists and coaches offer invaluable tools and knowledge for those who suffer speech anxiety, and getting in touch with one that you trust could be the best choice you have ever made.
Some of the thoughts and fears which cross our minds when dealing with speech anxiety can be quite undermining. We tend to think that people are judging us, staring at us, laughing at us. What if they think your voice is funny? What if you stutter, stumble, crack…what if you can’t remember what to say? These are all very grave concerns to someone who is supposed to be presenting with pride, and our minds can wreak havoc on our self esteem before we even step up to the microphone. Learning how to be more accepting of yourself, as well as remembering that each person in front of you has been afraid and embarrassed before, will help you to relax and focus on the not-so-daunting task at hand.