The Fear Of Public Speaking

Being a socialize person, I have always believed that public speaking is not a problem for me at all. However, I realize I was completely wrong as I had to deliver a lot of speeches in front of class, which was a quite a struggle for me. Even though my English accent has gotten a lot better throughout the year, yet it would always get terrible during my speech as I was mispronouncing words constantly. Fortunately, I have came to realize that my accent would not be so bad if I memorize the speech instead of reading it out loud like how I usually would.

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

When it comes to public speaking, I tend to fumble my words. I do not always communicate my thoughts as I would like. In the past, I was hindered from public speaking due to my intense stage fright. Oddly enough, I am heavily involved at my church, and they have asked me to speak on several occasions over the course of this year. I did not ask for this, but I suppose it is God’s calling for me. I preached my first sermon at age seventeen in front of over 700 people. Shortly after, my high school asked me to speak in chapel for over 400 students around my age. Those are a few examples that have gotten me to this point, today. I have had very little professional instruction with public speaking, so I anticipate learning a great amount this year, including: word flow, different tactics, memorization, and gaining more confidence. I do not enjoy public speaking but I feel it is necessary for my career. I truly am a living, breathing paradox.

Public speaking is the number one fear in the world, which shows that the number one fear is really a deep fear of rejection from the connection of others. The narrator in “Typical First Year Professor”, who had a fantastic education and experience, has public speaking issues. She explains how her fear physically affects her in, “Ten minutes before my first class, I run to the bathroom and vomit. I’m afraid of public speaking, which

Public speaking used to be a daunting task that I would try to avoid as often as possible, often I would be the last to present a project and would refrain myself from having to read outloud. When I would speak my head would fill with thoughts of how other were perceiving me and how easy it would be to mess up. With this nervous mentality my speaking was stuttered and confusing.

One of my more vivid experiences of public speaking was when I was taking a class at a community college. While taking this class I would often have to give speeches and demonstrations in front of the class. As I was waiting for my turn to give my very first speech, I was very certain that I would have no problems at all, it would a piece of cake, or so I thought. All of a sudden, I hear my name being called as it was my turn to deliver a knockout performance, but as I stood in front of that small class of people I just blanked out. An overwhelming amount of anxiety came over of me. I could feel my heart beginning to race and my hands starting to sweat. I could not for the life of me remember what I was going supposed say. In addition, the

I was a very shy and quiet kid compared to others growing up. Submerged among my peers and lost in the crowd, I felt more at ease and found myself mostly at home where the attention drifted far away from me. However, when teachers asked me to speak before the class or answer questions, uneasiness flooded me as though I stood before hundreds of strangers. While speaking, my different bonds of friendship to each and every person sitting in the room disappeared as apprehension controlled me and my voice shook with fright. This fear of public speaking came from my experiences during the first few years elementary school. When I attended Mission Park Elementary School, in 5th grade unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy reading. After a few months in class

Claudia Stepanovich gave me a message through power point that I completely agree with and that is that public speaking is not a skill you are born with; it is something that you have to learn and get better at. This message spoke to me, because I am extremely nervous about public speaking and I always avoid it when I can; when I can’t avoid it I always get nervous and start to stutter and forget information.

The third chapter of a Pocket Guide to Public Speaking is about anxiety in relations to

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

As we all took our seats on the stage, I knew it was time to make the opening statement of the night. The moment was surreal as my legs trembled with each step I took, trying not to give off an intimidated vibe. As I made my way to the mahogany podium, the world paused as I felt two hundred and twenty eyes on my person anxiously waiting for me to speak. My mind went blank, as my hands quivered like an incoming earthquake. The taste of utter dryness filled my mouth as I began to speak. As I uttered “Good evening …” I realized I was conquering my fear of public speaking. My voice became more animated as I continued to speak. I felt more alive than I have ever been, knowing I conquered one of my greatest fears at that

Some people can feel comfortable speaking or performing in front of large groups of people, but feel anxious making small talk or meeting new people. Other people are comfortable spending time with friends and family, and interact with their co-workers, but they fear performance situations, such as participating in business meetings or giving speeches. Some people fear only a single situation (such as public speaking), while others fear and avoid every social situations.

During my academic journey, public speaking has always been an extreme fear. When I enrolled at Thomas Nelson Community College, the first question that I asked was do I have to take Public Speaking. My experience with talking in front of people resulted in hot pepper colored face, blacking out, dizziness, or nausea. In Spring of 2016, I went ahead and enrolled in Professor Fotinos’s class just to get it over with. As class day one approached, fear and anxiety started to rise. When the first speech day came, I volunteered to go with the first group so that I was done and the anxiety wasn’t building up. As I was doing my speech, I thought of what Professor Fotinos told the class to do and calmed down. The more speeches that I did, presenting

Communication apprehension is categorized as fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with a person or persons. It is a form of social anxiety that takes into account various contexts. The PRCA-24 assessment I completed scored my levels of communication apprehension in four different areas: group discussion, interpersonal conversation, meetings, and public speaking. From my results I found that I most likely experience communication apprehension during group discussions and interpersonal conversations but not during meetings and public speaking. I agree that the results do apply to my life on certain occasions.

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.