Fear Of Public Speaking Essay

Importance of Communication

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking. The average person ranks the fear of public speaking higher than the fear of death. According to the National Institute of Mental Health over 74% of people suffer from speech anxiety (Brain, 2016) . This is a sad statistic being that communication is the backbone of our society. It is what allows us to connect with others. Without communication skills, we would not be able to form relationships, whether in our personal or professional lives. We, as a society, tend to think that communication is only verbal. However, communication includes nonverbal, written, even listening, as well as our body language. In fact, over 70% of our communication is nonverbal. In this class I hope to improve on my interpersonal communication by learning ways to overcome my fear and setting new standards in the way I communicate with others. In my personal life, improper communication has led to more than one situation that caused hurt to someone I love. Likewise, I have been on the receiving end of hurt directly as a result of poor communication. Currently, if I were to rank my comfortability in speaking in front of the class, I would say it would be a 4 out of 10. I know many people would think it would be higher, but the fact of the matter is I have an anxiety when it comes to public speaking. Being an extroverted personality often leads people to believe I would have no problem speaking in public, but when the spotlight is on, it is an entirely different story. The moment I know I must get up in front of a group of people, I start to feel dread, my stomach goes into knots, my heart starts to race, and my palms get clammy. I always try to be the first speaker so that these feelings of dread can disappear sooner than later. Ironically, after I finish speaking (assuming it went well) I feel a sense of accomplishment. There is a remarkable sense of pride that comes with effectively communicating to your peers and being well received. My hope is that by taking this Communication 100, I will find new ways to effectively communicate, which will not only help me grow as a person, but will further my success in the competitive job market. Some of the

Public Speaking Anxiety

COPING WITH PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the teaching of affective strategies helps students' reduce their public speaking anxiety. We used the questionnaire Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) developed by McCroskey (1970; 1992) in order to determine the level of anxiety that a student experiences while holding a speech. At the beginning of the semester, the students were asked to fill out the questionnaire by approximating the level of distress that they experience while holding a public presentation. After the teaching of affective strategies at the end of the semester, the students were given the same questionnaire, with the above described instructions. The...show more content...

According Beatty, 1988; Beatty, Balfantz & Kuwabara, 1989; Beatty & Frieland, 1990 public speaking anxiety may stem from numerous sources, such as public speaking skills, fluency in a foreign language, emotional predispositions towards public speaking, and characteristics of the public speaking situation itself. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the teaching of affective strategies helps reduce high levels of public speaking anxiety.

2. METHODS

2.1. Sample

The research was carried out on a total of 202 subjects, freshmen students majoring in tourism, marketing, finances, management, and informatics at the Faculty of economics and tourism "Dr. Mijo Mirković" in Pula. All of the subjects were fulltime students. There were 75 male students (37%) and 127 female students (63%). They attended lectures in Business English 6 hours per week.

2.2. Procedure and Instruments

The research was carried out in two phases. The first measuring was conducted at the beginning of the first semester. In the first phase of research the students were asked to fill out the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) (McCroskey, 1970; McCroskey & Richmond, 1992) questionnaire by approximating the level of distress that they experience while holding a public presentation. Then, they were taught how to use 9 affective learning strategies in order to reduce public speaking anxiety

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According to a Chapman University survey on American fears, more than twenty–five percent of Americans' biggest fear is public speaking (Ingraham, 2014). This ranked higher than heights, bugs, snakes, blood, and even dying. So what is it about speaking in public that is scary? And how can one get over this fear? It turns out that "most people tend to be anxious before doing something important in public" (Lucas, 2015, page 9). Being afraid of speaking in public is very common, and many people will never be able to completely overcome the fear of public speaking. However, there are many ways to manage and control this fear. Also known as glossophobia, speech fright is one of the most popular fears of all people. This particular phobia is the fear of speaking in public or in some cases simply speaking in general. It can range anywhere from minor apprehension to panic or even being frozen in fear. A person who is stage fright might forget what to say, feel unprepared and unsure, or just uncomfortable. Along with that, one may experience sweaty palms, increased heart rate, shortness of breath, increased breathing,...show more content...

If a mistake is made during a speech, the best thing to do is to continue like nothing happened. Chances are the audience did not even notice the mistake. Most audiences are concentrated on the information that is being presented, not the presentation. During the speech, the speaker should focus on their material, and not the audience. As a speaker, the job is not to worry about if the audience likes them or is paying attention, but to present information to the audience. One of the best ways to help speech fright, according to Dr. Hall–Flavin, with Mayo Clinic, is to "give [oneself] a pat on the back" after the speech is over. "Look at any mistakes you made as an opportunity to improve your skills" (Hall–Flavin, 2014). Everyone, whether experienced or not, makes mistakes and the audience knows

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The thought of speaking in front of an audience causes fear and anxiety in some people and prevents them in expressing their thoughts. Ability to effectively speak to people is an essential skill to be successful in the workplace. Not only the workplace but expressing thoughts, opinion, and ideas are part of everyday life. Good speaking skills are required to simply convey information. In an organization, managers, supervisors, team leaders, and employees that are required to make a speech need to have skills of good public speaking. Public speaking involves a lot more than just standing in front of an audience and talking. How thoughts and message are delivered depends on a number of factors, such as speaker's comfort level, the nature of the information and most important, audience's expectations. In a workplace, speeches can include impromptu speeches, informal discussion during meetings, presenting project report, selling of a product, and promoting an idea or future plan (Baccarani, & Bonfanti,2015). With the utilization of proper speaking methods, education, training, and...show more content... The fear of public speaking can prevent people from attending events that focus on individual attention and can limit the opportunities required for the progress of their career. According to Pillay (2016), "Fear is your brain's alarm system that is triggered by sudden motions, sounds, or anything that could threaten your safety or survival (para, 2). Fear is not always bad. Primitive reaction to fear is to either take flight, meaning avoid the situation that causes fear or to fight, meaning stay and face the situation to the best of one's ability. There are mainly two reasons why people fear speaking, first is when they are not prepared and second is that are too concerned about themselves

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Fear Of Public Speaking

Juan Castillo

Mrs. Gray

ENGL 1301.083

22 Nov 2017

Fear of Public Speaking "According to Turner, Beidel, Dancu, and Keys (1986), 83% of the social phobics felt their fears interfered with academics by deterring speaking in class, joining clubs or athletic teams, acquiring leadership positions, and general participation in campus life," assess G.D. Lawm, et al (214). College can be a very intimidating setting with new classes, people, and relationships to develop every semester starting day one when professors use "ice breakers" which most of us dread and forcing people to introduce themselves. This can be especially challenging for students who fear speaking in public. There are however, treatments used to help diminish the fear of public...show more content... (Lombardo, 1988) G.D Lawm, et al. 215. Practicing allows everyone to go in front of a class and do a speech with two psychologists evaluating the individual and providing positive observation feedback of the student's behavior while s(he) is giving a speech. This would allow the student to re–configure their speech and gain courage. The student would go through a series of steps with the next assignment being more difficult than the last with their minutes being increased making the students raise their anxiety levels but still be given support to continue the study, gain confidence and overall rid the fear. This exposure combined with feedback is an effective way of diminishing that fear. Technology can "provide an exact replica of the anxiety–producing situation for the subject, which is impossible to do in the real world. Many researchers have shown that VR is successful in reducing the fear of public speaking". analyzes Lee et al. (191). There are two techniques to develop the treatment. The first is the model–based which is made with virtual models with limited data and non–realistic motions. The second is the movie–based technique which uses real audiences. With each audience being shot individually, makes it possible to manipulate the virtual audience to compose many more settings. This would give the student a more realistic environment where a therapist is able to configure each audience member with nine different positive actions such as

Topic

Many organizations continually search for aspiring professionals with leadership qualities and the ability to effectively speak to fellow professionals, at conferences, seminars, and outside the company environment. However, several professionals who are subject matter experts are terrified if called upon to speak to an audience. What lends to more poignancy to this issue is the fact that the positions of these professionals may be at stake. Several have lost their positions or have been overlooked for promotion because of their inability to deliver effective speeches. Yet, the lack of public speaking skills among promising professionals continues to be a major concern for several organizations. Topic Choice. The prevalence of this problem in several organizations warrants this study.Management must effectively communicate with their employees, their business partners, and their philanthropy partners. Professionals must also be able to communicate effectively. For example, a professional may be called upon to present their products to potential customers. The employee may have thorough knowledge of the products; however, will s/he be able to stand before an audience and convince them that the products are what they absolutely need for profitable business? Several other examples of situations where professionals must demonstrate effective public speaking skills are not uncommon. The responsibility for this issue lies not only with the professionals but also

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Conquer Fear Of Public Speaking Analysis

Public speaking is a fear faced by over 75% of the Earth's population. In fact, 5.3 million of Americans today face social phobia and speech anxiety. Commonly referred to as "glossophobia", speech anxiety is fear people face when delivering speeches and/or lectures to large audiences. The article, "Conquer Fear of Public Speaking through Emotional Intelligence", written by Gleb Tsipursky, provides people with expert advice on how to conquer their speech anxiety. As someone who presents ideas and projects on a daily basis, I have started to conquer my speech anxiety.

When I first moved to Hillsborough in 2013, I was petrified when delivering my student council speech. No one knew me, and I only had a scant amount of friends. I patently remember being extremely...show more content...

When practicing my speech in an empty auditorium I was exceedingly confident, but I started becoming restless when students began filling up the room. My knees started to quiver, and I began feeling febrile. However, I knew that I needed to remain composed, and ultimately deliver an excellent speech. Similar to Tsipursky's "positive–thinking" method, I started to think positively. I used Tsipursky's method "of positive thinking", and thought "If you do not believe in yourself, how do you expect other people to believe in you?" (Paragraph 8). By thinking positively and optimistically, I was able to envision my successful speech. The speech anxiety I once possessed had now disappeared, and I knew that I was ready to deliver a successful speech. This daunting experience provided me with a valuable lesson, which was to never think pessimistically. Presently, I apply the same methods that I used during this experience, as well as Tsipursky's method to the presentations I deliver. The bottom line is that speech anxiety affects over 75% of the world's population, but we can all use effective methods to push through this

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Fear Of Public Speaking Class

The fear of public speaking is greater than the fear of death itself for the average American, and I was no exception. Succeeding in a public speaking course over at the local community college was by no means an easy feat. Throughout the majority of the semester, I struggled to speak well in front of my fellow classmates in the classroom: I was spending too much time reading off of my speaking outline and thus failed to maintain sufficient eye contact. This meant that my speeches were far from being presented extemporaneously (which combines the careful preparation and structure of a manuscript presentation with the spontaneity and enthusiasm of an unrehearsed talk). Public Speaking was a course fundamentally structured in a different way.

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According to The University of Iowa, glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, remains the number one phobia in people all around. Although one can't usually eliminate the fear, one can learn how to manage and reduce it. Once learning how to control anxiety, public speaking can lead to success for anyone. Seventy–five percent of people experience this fear of speaking in front of others, and I am one of them. When I was a little girl I was very shy. I would be afraid to enter conversations, meet new people, and wouldn't feel confident around people in general, especially when it came to public speaking. In seventh grade, I did my first major speech and experienced a lot of anxiety. Before the speech, my stomach hurt so bad that I thought I was about to throw up. I was dizzy, my hands were sweaty, and my face was very pale. I got told I looked like I was sick, and I thought I was going to be. During the speech, my heart was pounding so hard, it felt like it was going to bust out of my chest. Unfortunately, I decided not to finish the speech and end it early because of how nervous I was. Now I am in a public speaking class, and have learned how to manage my speech anxiety. From experience, learning how manage anxiety is the best way to get over the fear of public speaking.

Preparing for the speech is a huge part of achieving for success. First, selecting a speech topic that interests you is crucial. When choosing my speech topic in seventh grade, we had a requirement of

Fear is an activity that emerges from a non desired emotional encounter, and in some cases it emerges from one's imagination. Heights, Animals, and closed spaces are some of the most common feared elements out there, but the truth is, public speaking should be at the top of the list. It's Glossophobia the actual term for this activity, and many people have a problem trying to overcome this devastatingemotion. These kind of emotion can lead people to health issues, such as depression, traumatization.

For instance, some key elements that lead to the fear of public speaking are, lack of confidence which can affect your whole attitude towards what you're doing resulting in a negative mindset which leads to a negative outcome, poor knowledge or

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Reflection on "Conquer Fear of Public Speaking through Emotional Intelligence" While Gleb Tsipursky produces some valuable tips on how one could conquer fear of public speaking, the author does not show full evidence that proves her tips to truly be reliable. A couple times is mentioned the phrase "research shows," however that exact research is never disclosed to the audience nor cited or mentioned later. The passage certainly gives some sound advice about how to overcome "glossophobia," as I have used techniques similar to these to overcome my own speech fears, but because the author doesn't fully support her tips and reasonings behind each one, they lose their credibility. In the passage discussing the benefits of positivity as a way to

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Fear Of Speaking Analysis

I think they lose their fear of speaking because they become more comfortable with being seen publically. I also think that after the first impression, things get more comfortable for them. They can get more involved with the audience, and start to focus on the speech instead of having to think about the fact that they are about to speak in front of many people. Once they are on a role with speaking, they will start to relax and interact with the audience and realize the audience wants to be there and to listen to what the speaker has to offer. I also very much believe the looking forward at the speech and facing all those people is harder and more frightening then actually giving the speech. Because being off the stage we let our thoughts

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Your chest is tight and you feel like you're on fire. Your chest is tight ant you're burning up. The flash cards in your hands are crumpled from you squeezing them obsessively. You look up and see dozens of eyes staring at you, waiting expectantly. Taking a deep breath, you stumble through the speech. When it's finally over, you practically run back to your seat, cheeks flaming bright red. You slump down, already dreading the next time you'll have to deal with your upmost fear: public speaking. For as long as I can remember, public speaking has always been one of my greatest weaknesses. Whether it's a simple in–class presentation or a speech in front of an auditorium filled with people, I can barely get my words out from the anxiety and...show more content...

I used the search engine Google with the search term "public speaking fear" and it brought up a great deal of interesting websites pertaining to public speaking. The first one I decided to peruse was 5 Tips to Reduce the Fear of Public Speaking on Psychology Today's website. I learned that public speaking is the number one fear in America, while the fear of death is second in line. This means that we're more afraid of speaking in public than we are of dying. I also learned five tips on how to reduce public speaking nervousness.

The first one was 'Don't Expect Perfection from Yourself.' No one is perfect but when it comes time to speak in public, some of us pick at every little flaw we think we make. We blow up our imperfections yet ignore the good things. Honestly, though, even the greatest and most experience public speakers can make a lot of mistakes. The difference is, when they do, they're able to gracefully recover and keep going as if nothing happened. That's one of the keys to success: keep going gracefully. Most of the time, the audience won't notice most of your mistakes unless you make them obvious by stopping your speech, breaking down and admitting your mistakes. You just have to carry through with poise and let yourself not be perfect. The second tip was 'Avoid Equating Public Speaking to Your Self–Worth.' Basically, if you're a successful professional who's worked hard for where they are in life right now, you Get more content

Fear Of Public Speaking

Ngoc Lac (Ruby) Professor Karen Ozbek English 113 07 March 2016 How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking People give a speech every day for different occasions such as for work, for school or a social event. When it comes to speaking in the public, people tend to strongly dislike it, and they let their fear get the best of them. In a familiar environment, people feel more ease and relax so they can present better. However, when the surrounding change, their confidence level drops. They get nervous and all of the sudden they forget everything they need to present. Gathering the information about the topic, practicing in front of mirror and friends, mapping out some main ideas on a piece of paper will help to reduce the chances of fear. First of all, to overcoming the fear of public speaking, is to prepare. Know your topic and research about it. Get more information about the topic and make sure to understand it thoroughly. There are many different sources that you can get information such as websites, online news or books from the library. After reading the material, get a piece of paper and try to write down everything you have research into that paper by your own word. Carefully organized the information that you will present includes video, audio, data. The more organized you are, the less worry you will be. By being organized, it will help summarize your major point. Also, you will open your brain to more concepts of the subjects matter and familiarize yourself

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Fear Of Public Speaking

Assignment Instructions:

Read the following article, How can I overcome my fear of public speaking (Mayo Clinic). Reflect on your personal fears related to public speaking.

1–What is your experience with public speaking?

2– How do you feel about public speaking?

3– Identify three positive results you would like to gain from this course (organization, speech delivery, managing anxiety, etc) Provide concrete examples of how you plan to achieve these results.

In your reflection, consider incorporating some or all of the following concepts from your reading assignment and lesson; explain how they come into play in relation to those positive results: glossophobia, self–esteem, perception, confidence, and culture. Assignment...show more content...

Men have a right to decide, control, and judge us as well. As result, whenever I am in front of public, I decide not to fully engage in conversation. All my interventions are limited with brief comments about what is being discussed. I believe that is the mean reason why I am not feeling fully comfortable to talk in front of audience. The oriental culture that I grew up in plays a vital role to impact my way of delivering my speech, thoughts, and concerns. Regardless of those facts, I am fully aware that public speaking is a task that each one of us should master. This is the reason why I am here at Valencia. Assigning for this class is one of the steps that I choose to overcome my weaknesses. I decide to be myself not someone else. My expected goals that I would love to gain from this class are: learning how to overcome the stage fright, being organized during my presentations, and finding a style that will allow me to convince my audience. After watching the video and reading the assigned article, I came to the following results: in order to be organized in my presentations, I should gather my thoughts and try to be specific rather than talking abroad. In Get

Why does public speaking create such fear in us? Here's the information you need to be able to eliminate your symptoms of fear and nervousness caused by speaking in public. It's called by many names – fear of public speaking, stage fright, speech anxiety, performance anxiety, public speaking anxiety and speech phobia. Every day the fear of speaking in public has a negative effect on literally thousands of careers and inhibits countless other's ability to get things accomplished. What you need to know is that there is a physical reason for our feeling frightened when put into a position to speak in public. That reason is our body's perception that speaking in front of others is a "threatening situation" that demands the over–creation of adrenalin....show more content...

The symptoms of fear of speaking in public are curable specifically at the time you're put in a position to speak in public by taking one of a number of, safe, inexpensive and non–addictive herbal medications. As I will explain, this medication which is completely natural allows us to control the cause of our symptoms exactly at the time when they are getting out of control. Therefore, what I am going to teach you will help those of us who have to routinely give presentations for our careers, those who need to only give several speeches a lifetime for wedding toasts, funerals, and the like, as well as those in show business who must be relaxed and confident enough to focus on their

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Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking

To: Prof. Mellisa Rickard From:Sumit Maharjan and Raj Khatri Date: Jan 29, 2014 Subject: Proposal to write a report on how to overcome the fear of Public Speaking. Purpose To help individual overcome the fear of Public Speaking by understanding their fear and taking the plunge to get over those fears. We purpose to research and write a background report on the issues involved on overcoming the fear of public speaking. Background of the Problem Public speaking is not a talent that anyone could have. In fact, it is a way of learning skills and could build up by individual's own will. It could be lot easier if a person enrolls himself in speaking groups, where he will be able to build up his confidence of speaking and also...show more content...

31, 2013. Alford, Henry. "Joining Toastmasters to Overcome a Fear of Public Speaking." New York Times 24 Dec. 2013: Print. Morgan, Nick. "In Public Speaking, Less Is More." Forbes Aug. 2013: Print. Ortner, Nick. "Getting Over Your Fear of Public Speaking." Huffington Post. Huff Post Healthy Living, 03 Oct. 2012. Web. 2Feb.2014. Benjamin, Loh. "9 Essential Tips to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking." Personal Excellence. Web. March 4, 2013. Kissack, Julianne. "Flip the Fear of Public Speaking." World Net Daily 24 Oct. 2012. Galnes, Jordan. "Fool yourself out of your fear of public speaking." NBC News 19 Apr. 2013: Print. Timetable We hope to conclude our research paper by February 20 and proceed with the interview and surveys by February 26. We will then spend two to three weeks on writing a draft and turn it to you by March 19. After reviewing your comments, we will work on revising the final copy of our report and submit it by March 26. We will take this proposal and finish our research and turn in a hard copy to you by April 2. Request for

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Immediate public speaking: Outline

1–All you need to know about public speaking

–The fear of public speaking; something normal but that can be fixed. The attitude you need to have that can help you overcome your fear (where to look at where you are making your speech, how to deal with errors, etc...)

–Fear is mostly in your head, remember you are teaching something new to your audience, you shouldn't be intimidated by their presence, but they; instead, should be impressed, inspired and informed by the content of your speech.

–The importance of personal presentation: How to present yourself (outfit, attitude etc...)

– The tools (accessories) you need during your speech (visual aids, audio etc...)

–Example

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