How to stop being afraid of public speaking psychology. Fear of Public Speaking: Ways to Overcome

Instructions

Prepare your speech carefully and responsibly. Write it down on paper so you don't miss the most important things. It is better to prepare the text in advance so that you can re-read and correct it. The speech should be simple, understandable and interesting. Try to use bright epithets and to interest people.

Now start fighting your fear. First of all, realize that even if the performance fails, nothing bad will happen to you. They won’t kill you, won’t maim you, won’t fire you, won’t throw eggs at you. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing to fear.

Remember, people make mistakes. And even if you say something wrong, the public will be loyal to it. To avoid this minor embarrassment, learn the speech by heart.

Think about how many benefits this performance will give you. Set a specific goal for yourself. For example, you will campaign to win elections. Or your speech will help bring your idea to life. If no global goals are found, think that this speech will help overcome your fear.

Don't think about this as a public speaking event. Let it be just another task that needs to be completed. Take everything easier.

Don't forget to clean up before the event. This will make you more confident and the audience more loyal. Comb your hair, fix your makeup, iron your clothes, remove dust from your shoes.

Practice your speech in front of a mirror or in front of relatives. It's better to do this several times. You must understand how simple it is. Not only give a speech, but also think about your posture and gestures so that your speech looks organic.

When you are in front of an audience, imagine that you are sleeping and having a dream that you can control. This will solve most of your problems. After all, you will begin to feel calmer and simpler. There is no audience, no stage, there is just a dream in which you are in charge. As you want, so it will be. You will be able to perform brilliantly and convince people that you are right. This simple auto-training will help you relax and become more confident in your abilities.

note

Before the performance, do not use any sedatives, this can only worsen the situation.

Helpful advice

During your presentation, find one person. Imagine that he is your friend and you are telling him your text.

Sources:

How to speak confidently and not be afraid of it
how they are not afraid to speak in public

Before a first public performance, a person inevitably experiences anxiety. For some people this results in a feeling of mild anxiety, while others may experience real panic.

Instructions

The success of your presentation depends on a solid knowledge of the material you are going to present. Learn everything and repeat several times in front of the mirror, in front of friends or family members. Start overcoming fear in small audiences. After several training sessions, you will feel a certain confidence that you can successfully perform in front of strangers. people.

Give yourself room to make mistakes. People are imperfect, and you are no exception. The audience is almost always positive about the speaker's perception. Therefore, even if you make a mistake and mix something up, no one will kick you out or judge you. Imagine that you are running away from the hall to the whistles and hoots of the audience. It's funny, unrealistic and not scary at all.

Don't let fear paralyze your body, especially your vocal cords. Before a performance, try to relax, and if you can’t, think of something funny. For example, imagine listeners sitting in a hall wearing clown costumes.

“Courage is a special kind of knowledge: how to be afraid of what
one should be afraid, and how not to be afraid of what one should not be afraid of.”
David Ben-Gurion, 1st Prime Minister of Israel

One day, a girl came to me for public speaking training. Six months earlier, she was offered a promotion at work. The responsibilities of the new position included regular public speaking for completely different audiences. There were work meetings for colleagues and presentations for clients in different cities. Then she refused. As she admitted, the main barrier before taking on a new position was a strong fear of speaking in front of the public. At the time of our acquaintance, she was given a second promotion offer and she was supposed to give an answer in a week. During this time, she planned to deal with her fear.

Causes The factors that cause fear of public speaking may be different for everyone. The most common reasons are:

lack of experience and, as a result, confusion in the face of the unknown;
a vague goal, i.e. lack of a clear understanding of what I want from my interlocutor or audience as a result of the dialogue;
previous bad experience;
high expectations and excessive responsibility;
resistance to evaluation.

These and other reasons are formed in each individual due to many factors - upbringing, communication and life experience, attitude towards oneself and relationships with other people, the total amount of communication with people and the type of activity.

The girl who came to me for training fear was caused by a lack of experience and the habit of speaking quietly. She had never performed in front of an audience before.

There is no way in nature to get rid of fear and anxiety completely once and for all. Although, to be completely honest, it exists. But I could be prosecuted for promoting this recipe, so I will remain silent...

As soon as our heroine heard this, her face expressed surprise along with disappointment, and she asked: “So I came in vain?!”

It was necessary to save her hopes and I said that fear can be reduced so much that it does not interfere with the performance. I gave her three tips that were guaranteed to help her overcome her hand tremors and the giddy anxiety of public speaking.

I will share these methods with you, dear reader.

3 ways to relieve anxiety before a performance and reduce the fear of speaking in front of an audience during the performance itself!

Secret The first method is to distribute your attention. A person is able to concentrate his attention on only one object at one time. Accordingly, by concentrating on fighting fear, we automatically lose concentration on what we are performing for, i.e. our goal. I’ll make a clarification about setting the goal of the speech. The goal is to change the behavior of listeners, that is, the action of each individual person. For example, purchasing a product, doing work, etc. If our attention is completely given to the goal and movement towards it, then the excitement at some point will disappear by itself.

For this method to work, first set yourself a clear and achievable goal for a specific speech. And during the speech, concentrate your attention on achieving it. How can you keep your attention on the goal directly during the speech? Throughout the speech, based on your feelings and feedback from the audience, adjust the degree of disclosure of information, its relevance and the degree of persuasiveness of the arguments for a given audience. Be sure to monitor whether the audience's attention is being held. If you have doubts that the audience is interested in listening, they understand and assimilate the information well, then immediately adjust your actions in accordance with the purpose of the speech. Sometimes it is useful to ask those present: “Did I explain this question clearly?”, “Do you have any questions about this part of our meeting? Please ask." Such interaction will help determine exactly how to adjust further movement towards your goal.

The second method allows you to minimize the factor of lack of experience. The essence of this method is preparation and training. In most cases, I do not encourage speaking impromptu, even if you already have a good amount of experience. And if you have no experience, then I urge you to abandon impromptu altogether. Lack of preparation and experience leaves a lot of room for unforeseen situations, and therefore, for worrying about them. To minimize the unknown factor, prepare the content and execution of your speech. The content is the informative part. Performance is how the performance will be conducted. So that the execution is also not unpredictable and does not take up the lion’s share of your attention, rehearse your performance in front of the camera. Watch the recording of the rehearsal, think about the adjustments, and do another rehearsal performance in front of the camera with the corrections. Conduct 3-5 such rehearsals. Do not memorize the text of your speech under any circumstances. Use your own words all the time. If it is possible to conduct a rehearsal in the space where you will perform, do it using all the technical means - projector, microphone, presenter, laser pointer, etc. This is necessary in order to get comfortable, distribute your movements and eliminate the possibility of confusion with objects. There is another rehearsal method that I encourage you to use after rehearsing in front of the camera - rehearsal in imagination. To do this, you will need a quiet, peaceful place where you can retire during the rehearsal. Sit in such a place and replay in your mind the sequence of all the key moments of your speech. Think about how you will act if something unexpected happens - people start asking questions, the microphone stops working, the most unwanted question arises... And one more thing to prepare... The greatest peak of excitement occurs in the first seconds of the speech. Then the excitement gradually decreases. Therefore, in conclusion of the preparation, in order to reduce the fear of speaking in front of an audience at the beginning of the speech, Prepare yourself a specific template for the first few phrases for your speech. This could be the phrase: “Good afternoon, dear listeners! My name is so-and-so! Our meeting today will be dedicated to... So, let's start with...” or “Hello, friends! I am pleased that you came to our meeting. Today we will cover a number of issues. The first of them...", etc. And start your performance with this blank.

The third method contains the formula “Do what you must and be what will happen!” Give up expectations of bright positive reactions, crowds of people wanting to chat or order your product after joining, instant fulfillment of all your instructions and demands by subordinates, evaluations from the outside...

After all A successful performance is one that sank into the soul and was remembered. This means something to which the listener will return tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, or maybe in a week. Even if you see a serious face among the listeners, this does not necessarily mean that this person is negative. In my experience, such facial expressions often indicate close attention to the subject of speech. In my practice, it happened that people listened to the entire training with serious expressions on their faces. I could only guess about their true feelings and emotions. And after finishing, my assistants told me that many of these people expressed gratitude, asked about my other trainings, and left very positive feedback. Then I saw these people at my other trainings, and they took the information just as carefully and took the practical tasks very seriously.

Free yourself from expectations, do your performance honestly, and when you're done, see how it turns out. Most likely, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The proposed methods are the most universal and suits most people. All three methods, or just one of them, may be suitable and useful for you.

In the case of the girl who received an offer for a promotion, the most effective way to overcome the fear of speaking in front of an audience was to gain experience and knowledge. That's why she found my school and underwent training. When the time came to respond to the promotion offered to her, she gave an affirmative answer and began her new responsibilities with a fighting spirit and confidence that everything would work out.

Perhaps you also need to remove the factors of uncertainty and figure out what reactions your actions cause in the audience, what arsenal of actions and words can be used in a speech, and what is better to refuse. If this is the case, then leave a request on the site, after which one of my assistants will contact you shortly and tell you how you can take part in the training.

Apply the suggested methods in your practice. And I wish you to find the most effective way for yourself! Good luck!

Dmitry Malinochka

Every person has had to speak in public at least once - some have a professional obligation associated with this, for example, teachers, politicians, artists, managers, lawyers. Now there is even a separate specialty - speaker.

According to statistics from psychologists, The level of stage fright is so developed that it affects about 95% of the entire population. Fear of public speaking is one of the most common fears, which causes a lot of inconvenience and also worsens a person’s condition. Let's look at how to overcome fear of speaking and what treatment modern medicine offers.

Description of the phobia

The medical term for fear of public speaking is glossophobia, and in some cases it does need to be treated. This fear of public speaking was familiar to many prominent people. Among the celebrities who were afraid of the stage were Faina Ranevskaya, musician Glenn Gould, and singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

For many, the fear of speaking in front of an audience becomes a serious stress blow, in which the lack of any treatment and proper therapy leads to the development of a full-fledged mental disorder and social phobia.

Under the influence of fear, a person develops so-called defensive behavior. This behavior helps to get rid of stress only at first, and if the problem is not solved in the future, the person cannot cope with fear and defensive behavior becomes his normal daily pattern.

This behavior begins to interfere with personal and career growth, creates mental problems and a distorted perception of reality.

That is why fear of speaking should be recognized at the initial stages; you should not be afraid to seek the help of a specialist who will determine in each individual case how not to be afraid to speak.

Typical and atypical fear

Let's consider how the phobia manifests itself, since it is impossible to overcome the fear of public speaking without accurately identifying the pathology. In addition to glossophobia, there is another name - peiraphobia. It is worth distinguishing from the ordinary anxiety that a person experiences before speaking in front of an audience, and the pathological fear of public speaking.

The reaction is quite adequate when a person is nervous before an oral entrance exam or a musical performance. Among their friends, such people easily cope with fear and calmly demonstrate their talents.

Psychologists say that a little anxiety in front of the public has its advantages. Before an upcoming speech, a person concentrates his attention, becomes more collected and energetic, as a result, the course of any public performances is kept under control and goes well.

A person who suffers from stage fright experiences true fear both before and after a performance; in addition, he is afraid even after the performance is over, and cannot cope with fear, even if he performed well.

Such fear remains in front of both unfamiliar and familiar audiences; it cannot be overcome, regardless of the number of listeners and the degree of familiarity with them.

Symptoms

Phobias can have different causes, but almost always cause the same symptoms. Before a performance, just seeing future listeners, a person instantly feels strong emotional tension.

The cerebral cortex, endocrine glands, and sympathetic system are activated, as a result of which the work of the internal organs changes in such a way - muscles tense, facial expressions and gestures change, changes in speech are also observed that are difficult to cope with - changes in the timbre of the voice, the speed of speech.
The autonomic system responds with increased sweating, rapid heartbeat, surges in blood pressure, headaches and tightness in the chest.
When people are terrified of speaking, they experience dry mouth, trembling and confusion in the voice, a complete loss of the ability to speak clearly, and even involuntary urination.
Sometimes, with high nervous excitability, a person may even faint, and before that he feels nausea, weakness, dizziness, his skin becomes pale and covered with perspiration.

The strength of symptoms and the complex of symptoms is individual and depends on the characteristics of the person and his character, the state of the body and mood.

Reasons for developing a phobia

The main reasons for the development of this phobia lie in both genetic predisposition and social factors.

There is a genetic predisposition to certain types of fear, for example, social phobia, or congenital increased anxiety. A person constantly tries to meet certain standards, is afraid of being misunderstood and unaccepted, unfairly assessed, isolated from society. Among the hereditary characteristics are temperament, level of anxiety and emotional perception. Parents and children can be very similar in this, having the same fears.

The most serious, underlying causes of phobia are social conditions. The development of phobias is facilitated by overly strict upbringing, intimidation and threats from parents in childhood, and excessive sensitivity to the opinions of others.
A negative assessment of one’s abilities and capabilities, negative experiences in childhood that were subjected to strong criticism, distortion of a stressful situation and its exaggeration can also contribute to the development of a phobia.
Pathology can develop due to low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence in front of listeners, poor preparation for a speech and lack of knowledge. Many people develop a phobia precisely because they have had very little performance experience.
On the other hand, glossophobia often arises against the background of a constant desire for perfection, often accompanies perfectionists and people who value public evaluation.

Coping methods

How to get rid of stage fright, and what treatment is indicated for such a pathology? Specialized help is necessary only when fear becomes panicky and neurotic, crossing all boundaries. In other cases, overcoming the fear of public speaking is possible with the help of auto-training.

The main ways to overcome stage fright lie, first of all, in recognizing this problem, and then in analyzing the reasons that led to the development of pathology. Then solutions are developed and tested in practice.

Eliminating the unknown factor

To overcome the fear of public speaking, you should get rid of the factor of the unknown of the audience sitting in front of you. Analyze why they gathered, what they expect from what they heard, and what kind of audience reaction you would like to receive. Analyzing the situation allows you to avoid the unknown and stop being afraid of people’s unknown reactions.

Eliminating illusions

Nervous arousal increases when a person concentrates on the negative traits of the public. Such traits usually include skeptical smiles, disapproving gestures, inattention, and whispering during a speech.

You can change your own state by mentally endowing people with positive qualities, paying attention not to negative, but to positive traits - approving gestures, interested and attentive glances.

Another good way to eliminate the illusion that everyone in the room is against you is to concentrate on the positive result of the work done.

Planning your speech

One of the most important tips on how to overcome stage fright and how to cope with nervousness is thorough preparation for the performance. Confidence in your own preparation and sufficiency of information allows you to relax somewhat and tune in to a high-quality performance.

For example, when preparing a report, you should first analyze and study the source data obtained from various authoritative sources. Then create a unique text and write down the main points of your report, make a speech plan– what to say and when. Choose strong arguments in your favor and do not lose sight of them throughout the entire report, anticipate possible questions and prepare answers to them.

Ways to overcome fear also lie in thorough rehearsal - to stop stuttering and stuttering during a speech, rehearse your report in front of a mirror, or read it to your loved ones. Since it is impossible to stop being afraid without some experience, rehearsing in front of those closest to you will be good training.

Recognition of imperfection

Before you fight your fears, accept the fact that the importance of other people can be greatly exaggerated. Do not attach excessive importance to criticism, skepticism and sarcasm, realize that everyone has the right to make a mistake. Also remember that even well-wishers can wishful thinking, therefore not a single opinion around can be the ultimate truth.

Learn techniques that increase self-esteem and self-esteem, feel your own worth and the uniqueness of your personality. You will also have to accept the fact that other individuals are just as unique and have the right to make mistakes just as much as you do.

Set yourself up for a positive outcome

You can effectively overcome fear if you focus on the process of achieving the goal, and not on the result. Record your actions in the present, as if looking at yourself from the outside, without exaggeration or understatement. Imagine the positive aspects of your time on stage - this will allow you to overcome fear and get rid of it faster each time in the future.

Treatment of pathology may include physical activity, learning proper breathing techniques, training the left hemisphere of the brain, for example, working with mathematical calculations or other exact sciences. One of the pleasant ways to fight is to hum a favorite tune, meditate, and practice body posture to achieve more open and restrained positions.

Fear of public speaking is common to all people. But there are effective methods for overcoming it, which consist of special exercises and practice.

What fear is is an ancient instinct that leaves us with only two options for action: to run or to attack. Naturally, in modern society the latter method of fighting instincts is unacceptable.

Most people, when they see a full audience in front of them, simply run or are speechless. They confuse the words and after a few minutes they themselves no longer understand what they are talking about. Fortunately, there are effective methods for dealing with this kind of fear. And the first step to victory is understanding its reasons.

Phobia or ancient instinct?

Everyone, even the most successful speaker, has a fear of the public. This is inherent in people on a subconscious level. Remember the times when we had to hunt dangerous predators to get food for ourselves. Back then, teamwork determined what the tribe would eat that evening.

Times have changed, but the instinct to remain part of the “tribe” remains. That is why when we go on stage or give lectures from the podium, we experience fear, because we are separated from society.

Fear of public speaking is a normal emotion, which in the hands of a skilled speaker turns into a weapon, making him more concentrated and attentive. Moreover, he motivates us to better prepare for the performance, forcing us to review the material over and over again and rehearse in front of the mirror.

Ancient people were afraid to stand out because it meant taking responsibility. If your brain begins to come up with excuses for itself like: “If I wasn’t afraid, I would have performed better than everyone else,” know that this is a fear of responsibility.

It is very important not to let fear turn into a phobia. A phobia is a psychological disease that occurs against the background of a traumatic memory.

If a person was publicly ridiculed or insulted as a child, it will be very difficult for him to force himself to speak in public.

There are exercises that can help cope with anxiety, but if there is deep emotional trauma, you will need the help of a psychologist. Such treatment can take from several months to several years. It usually includes performing special exercises and regular visits to a psychologist.

Exercises for fear of public speaking

There are two types of techniques to overcome the fear of speaking in public:

Slow— allow you to overcome your insecurities step by step.
Fast- work on the principle: “If you throw a man in the middle of the lake, let him learn to swim.”

Slow way

Practice with friends

Gather all your friends at home and try to perform in front of them. This will be a loyal audience that will make you feel more confident. The main thing is to make presentations only on a topic that is interesting to your comrades.

Let’s imagine that you have always had an idea that solves certain problems of the team. Collect material, make slides and present it. Try to interest your listeners and don’t do yourself any favors!

Create a unique style

Every good speaker has a unique speaking style. You need an image that will be remembered by the audience. They should not forget it a day or even a week after the performance. This will motivate them to come to your seminar or training again.

To understand what a good image is, look at public people. Every outstanding politician has his own image. The main thing is that the role you choose matches your field of activity. It is unlikely that at a business presentation anyone will want to listen to a report from Petrosyan or Dzhigurda.

Try out a few looks in front of your friends and ask them which ones they liked best. Analyze the collected information, take into account mistakes and create a unique style.

Practice

Once you have a set of images, it's time to try them out in real life. Attend all kinds of events where you will have the opportunity to speak in front of an audience. Join a discussion club, play in the theater, speak at meetings and consultations.

Fast way

Method number 1. “We sell!”

Have you ever met sellers of kvass, ice cream or candy in your city? Approach such a person and offer your help. Tell them that you are undergoing special training and need to practice sales techniques.

Your task is to increase sales through active actions. Remember, you are not selling a product, but a solution to a problem: “You’re hot - our ice cream will help you cool down,” “You’re thirsty - buy kvass, for just …” The main thing is not to be intrusive.

Conduct a dialogue with people, rather than trying to sell a product. For the exercise to be successful, it must be done three times in one day at different points.

Method number 2. “Ask stupid questions”

Each city hosts a variety of free exhibitions. Gather a group of like-minded people and start asking absurd questions to consultants. The weirder and more inappropriate the question, the better.

Method number 3. “We visit art exhibitions, installations, festivals and attract attention!”

For this exercise you will also need a group of like-minded people. This is a whole complex that will help you overcome fear in 2-3 lessons:

Enter the exhibition area in some unusual way: do a cartwheel, dance, pretend to be a robot.
Divide into several teams. Each team chooses one letter of the alphabet. Then you approach different people and ask them to stand in the shape of your letter. A memorable moment needs to be captured. The team that takes the most pictures wins.
Take any text and start reading it out loud in the middle of the hall or square. Your team members should actively interact with the speaker by providing comments, criticism, or support.

Attending 2-3 events will help you quickly get rid of the fear of speaking.

Fear of performances prevents a person from realizing himself. Any leadership position requires good public speaking skills. It's no surprise that people who want a promotion look for ways to overcome it.

There are a number of psychological techniques that help in this fight, among them:

relaxation and tension of all muscles by force of will;
a couple of sips of cold water;
provoked yawning;
transferring body weight from heel to toe and back;
a series of deep breaths and exhalations;
jaw movements, cheekbone massage;
rubbing the palms;
fast step, gymnastics;
choosing the most comfortable position;
humming your favorite tune.

Some practical tips:

If you feel trembling in your knees or hands, make a movement as if shaking droplets of water from them.
It wouldn’t hurt to invite your loved ones to the performance. Their support will help you overcome your fear.
In a critical situation, simply admit that you are afraid and smile. The public appreciates honesty. But be careful. This move cannot be used twice.
In extreme circumstances, take special remedies such as tablets. To minimize the harm caused to the body, there is homeopathy. This is a branch of medicine that studies the effects of natural substances on the human body. Aconite 200 C or Ignatia 200 C works best to help cope with a panic attack.

Fear of speaking is inherent in every person. To overcome it you need a lot of practice and the desire to become better. Special exercises that force you to step out of your comfort zone and find the right words in absurd and ridiculous situations are the shortest and most effective path to performing without fear.