Is Public Speaking Really More Feared Than Death?

Most people are not aware of this but public speaking is feared more than death itself. It sounds crazy, but that’s what people say. Is there any truth to this?

(Approximately a 2 minute read)...

In fact, the vast majority of people rank fear of public speaking as number one – 75% according to the National Institutes of Mental Health.

Most people experience some degree of nervousness or anxiety when they give a speech, presentation, or perform on stage. They still manage to cope with the occasion even though they are not enjoying it.?

The scientific word for fear of public speaking is “glossophobia.” It comes from the Greek words “glossa” (tongue) and “phobos” (dread or fear).

WHAT IS GLOSSOPHOBIA?

A person with glossophobia is unable to control their nerves and has an extremely strong fear of public speaking, sometimes to the point of a nervous breakdown. With this can come uncontrollable trembling, sweating, and a racing heartbeat.

This speaking anxiety may not be confined to speaking to large audiences – people suffering with glossophobia may struggle to speak in a meeting, zoom meeting, boardrooms and in other smaller group settings.

This can make it very difficult for sufferers to communicate verbally in order to express their ideas and thoughts. As a result, glossophobia may hamper the sufferer’s ability to further his or her academic, social or career opportunities.

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

For some people, the roots of a fear of public speaking are buried deep in our past. For example, the fear can come from an experience where we were once embarrassed. For adults, it can be a presentation or performance that didn't go well (or didn't seem to go well) and as a result panicked or shut down.

If you have encountered this, the next time you need to give a presentation, the survival part of our brain, tells you the situation looks dangerous because of previous experiences. Your body gets ready to fight or freeze, which means physical tension, shaking, increased blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, sweating, and forgetting what you were about to say. Once in motion, the cycle of fear builds on itself.

IS IT TRUE THAT WE FEAR PUBLIC SPEAKING MORE THAN DEATH?

A survey by YouGov in the U.K. asked more than 2,000 people to rate 13 common phobias, with glossophobia coming 3rd, only beaten by the fear of snakes and heights.

Heights are the UK’s number one fear, with nearly a third (27%) of the population suffering from acrophobia.

In my opinion, most people faced with a real choice in a real-life situation between speaking and death, they would choose speaking.

Most people go to great lengths to avoid rejection. For many people, fear of public speaking causes them to turn down jobs, decline promotions, avoid interviews, and drop out of classes.

But avoidance doesn’t help. It narrows your choices, and makes the anxiety worse. The worst case? The group won’t like me. I’ll be rejected. I’ll be shut out.

DARE to try this these three things to improve your public speaking confidence???

1. Practice & feedback - You need a friend or family member to help you practice so they can give feedback and point out any mistakes you made during the speech. Make sure they are as brutally honest with the constructive feedback.
2. Random word - every day pick a random word and talk as if you were presenting it for 10-15 MINUTES. Fore example, a "cup" - how did it make you feel when you saw the cup, why the cup is great and why they (other person) needs a cup. The key is to speak out loud, not just in your head.
3. Record yourself - a lot of students hate it when I ask them to do this however, the more you watch and hear yourself back, the more you can see and hear yourself from the view of the audience. This not only helps with confidence but improves your delivery such as tonality, vocal speed, pacing, hand gestures, etc.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE - famous people have had a fear of public speaking

Many famous people have suffered from glossophobia, including actors, politicians and even presidents. To name a few;

• Abraham Lincoln
• Gandhi
• Nicole Kidman
• Mark Zuckerburg
• Renée Zellweger
• Thomas Jefferson
• Harrison Ford
• Julia Roberts
• Samuel L.?Jackson
• And many others..

SPEAKING IS REWARDING

If you want to be successful in your business or career, chances are you’ll need to be able to?communicate your ideas?effectively and?lead teams.?

Not being able to do this could cause you to lose out on many opportunities because speech anxiety takes control of your life.

When you master the art of speaking, you start to feel more confident and focused but more importantly build better connections.

Fortunately there are simple, reliable strategies that can help you speak confidently in public. In fact, there are only 5 techniques you need to master to be a world-class speaker.

These 5 techniques have allowed me to speak on National and International Stages and become 4 x Award Winning Professional Speaker.

If you want to know what these 5 techniques are, get in touch with me. You deserve to take your voice and speaking skills to the elite level.