Move Past Fear and Become a Powerful Public Speaker
The fear of public speaking is the most common phobia. It has been said that people fear public speaking more then they fear death. Although that may sound extreme most people aren’t faced with death at the next sales meeting and so the speaking fear is more real and more immediate.
Many people make their fear worse by their behavior. If a person with performance Anxiety forces themselves to speak in an effort to move past their fear, what likely will happen is reinforcement of the negative feeling and the more it is reinforced the worse it will become.
Another way you might make this fear worse is by avoidance. This often starts in school, by selecting classes where there is no speaking required or choosing a career where speaking and presenting is not necessary. When you have a fear and you avoid the thing that triggers your fear, once again you are reinforcing the message to your mind that you can’t do presentations and so the fear becomes more imbedded. The best way to move past a fear or phobia of this type is to clear it out on a subconscious level where fears are stored.
When I work with clients who have this fear we start by clearing out old experiences that may retrigger the fear. By moving past the initial cause of the fear you begin to gain more control. The initial cause could be having a panic attack when giving a presentation in school, or perhaps a speech in college or simply introducing yourself in a meeting. Fear of public speaking is not a fear that you are born with since we are born with only two fears, fear of falling and fear of loud noises. Every other fear is taught or learned. Once the triggers are removed we can work on developing the skills and confidence to not only be able to speak, but to become an engaging and exciting speaker.
