Welcome to the second blog in my new series about fear around standing up and speaking in public.
That is a question I get asked a lot. There is a technical name for fear of speaking in public, it’s called glossophobia and defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “The fear of public speaking or presenting to an audience; a specific type of social phobia or social anxiety disorder where individuals experience intense anxiety and fear when anticipating or being in situations where they need to speak in front of others.”The word glossophobia is derived from the Greek words “glōssa”, meaning tongue, and “phobos” meaning fear or dread.
However, I have to say that no one has ever got in touch with me and said “John, can you help me? I suffer from glossophobia.” Most people have never heard the word before, let alone know what it means, but they do know the symptoms. The very thought of standing in front of an audience to speak brings on a variety of anxiety, palpitations, sweating and in some cases breathing difficulties. So, why does this fear exist?
We know from credible research at least 75% of people suffer from it and the fear can be caused by variety of factors including physiological responses, internal beliefs, specific situations, and lack of skill or preparation. When confronted with the need to speak in public, our bodies – and minds – can experience hyperarousal, leading to the emotional experience of fear. This fear can interfere with our ability to perform comfortably in front of audiences and prevent us from pursuing work promotions or even applying for jobs, knowing that we will have to speak in public or at that big corporate event coming up.
Research suggests that this fear could well be evolutionarily embedded in our subconscious. If other humans were looking at you 100,000 years ago it was likely that it wouldn’t end well for you and could mean, at the very least, expulsion from the tribe or group you belonged to or even worse – a threat to your very survival. It’s deep-rooted in our minds and the very cells of our bodies. Most of us don’t like people looking – and in some cases ‘staring’ – at us. It makes us feel uncomfortable.
So, what’s the solution? If your job requires you to stand up and speak or you have been asked to speak at a wedding or a funeral, what do you do? The first thing you do is say YES! Jump in feet-first even through your head is telling you the opposite. If someone has asked you to speak, someone has confidence that you can do it even if you don’t think so yourself. You can’t drive a car with theory alone or watching how other people drive on YouTube. You have to get in the car and experience driving for yourself, as scary as it may feel the first time behind the wheel. And it’s the same with public speaking, you just have to do it. I had a client recently who called me for the first time to say he was waking up at three or four o’clock in the morning panicking about having to stand up and speak in public, even though he (as yet) had not been asked to do so in his new job. The fear of it kept him awake at night.
The best – and in my experience – the only way to overcome glossophobia is to firstly recognise you have it, accept that you have it and most importantly take action to break through the fear. You won’t regret it, and it could change your life, both professionally and personally.
My own Public Speaking Courses can help you, and take place in London and Cork this June – more details here.
The Public Speaking Course is a member of Laurel Leaf Networking.
