A large number of people suffer from this fear of speaking in public. It is termed as Glossophobia. The word has Greek origins- ‘Glossa’ meaning tongue and ‘Phobos’, meaning dread or fear. Among all fears, Glossophobia ranks with the top two fears, which are fear of snakes and fear of death.

Spread and Intensity of Glossophobia

A large majority of people suffer from this fear and is seen even among some seasoned performers who perform in public for a living. Although the fear is the same, the intensity of fear varies from the common low leveled nervousness to extremely high nervousness depending upon the person and/or the perceived situation.

Glossophobia is not only limited to stage exposure but it manifests itself even in situations which demands of people to be precise and persuasive. Essentially it is a normal biological response occurring in almost everyone who gets up to make a presentation or a speech in front of an audience.

Symptoms

The symptoms vary according to the intensity anxiety from low level nervousness with dry mouth and sweaty palms to high level nervousness with nausea, feeling faint, panic etc.
People with high-trait anxiety, meaning people anxious by nature, suffer more serious symptoms in comparison to people with low-trait anxiety.

Also an interesting difference between these two types is that, the people with high-trait anxiety tend to show increasing level nervousness as their speech continues and are unable to habituate themselves. While people with low-trait anxiety, while showing similar high level of nervousness initially, begin to relax and anxiety levels decrease as they continue.

The Remedy

There are no pills or drugs to cure this phobia, however there are drugs such as beta blockers to reduce the anxiety. But I would rather recommend psychotherapy or counseling over the use of drugs.

If you are a low-trait anxiety person, pat yourself on the back. You have your work cut out for you. But if you are a high-trait anxiety person, don’t lose hope. Glossophobia can be managed effectively by practicing a few easy steps.

- Be prepared with your speech. A good preparation can boost your confidence levels.
- Know exactly what you want to tell the audience.
- Practice as much as possible in front of a mirror or find someone to listen to your speech.
- Visualize yourself in front of the audience and that you are giving a good speech.
- Have a backup plan, such as carrying small notes containing the speech outlay plan.

Summary

Fear of speaking in public is widespread and seen in most people. Different people suffer different levels of anxiety from Glossophobia. While dealing with it, you must realize that it is okay to be nervous in front of other people there is no shame in it. And that each time you are in such a situation, it won’t kill you but will only help you grow stronger. There are many strategies that available that can help people cope with speech anxiety.

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If you want to improve your speaking techiques, then you should check out how this former manager who had fear of speaking turn his presentation into a roaring success with his company's management and what techniques did he use that made him change his job and become a public speaker today.

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