Which of the following is suggested as a reason for anxiety in public speaking?

Chapter 3: Managing Speech Anxiety

This chapter, except where otherwise noted, is adapted from Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

How do I manage my speech anxiety?

Now that you have an understanding of how important it is for you to use ethical principles in creating an effective speech, let’s move to the topic you have all been either dreading or can’t wait to learn about: how to manage speech anxiety.

Take a look at this scene from the Albert Meets Hitch video and see if you can relate to how nervous these people are.

Hitch: Albert meets Hitch HD CLIP, by Binge Society – The Greatest Movie Scenes, Standard YouTube License. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIBzVc3kJAM

You can imagine how much better this interaction would have gone had the participants not been so anxious. The question is, is it possible to manage your speech anxiety during a conversation, a job interview, or a speech?

Speech Anxiety/Communication Apprehension

Many different social situations can make us feel uncomfortable if we anticipate that we will be evaluated and judged by others. The process of revealing ourselves and knowing that others are evaluating us can be threatening whether we are meeting new acquaintances, participating in group discussions, or speaking in front of an audience.

Definition of Communication Apprehension

According to James McCroskey, communication apprehension is the broad term that refers to an individual’s “fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (McCroskey, 2001). At its heart, communication apprehension is a psychological response to evaluation. This psychological response, however, quickly becomes physical as our body responds to the threat the mind perceives. Our bodies cannot distinguish between psychological and physical threats, so we react as though we are facing a Mack truck barreling in our direction. The body’s circulatory and adrenal systems shift into overdrive, preparing us to function at maximum physical efficiency, kicking in the “flight or fight” response (Sapolsky, 2004). Yet instead of running away or fighting, all we need to do is stand and talk.

The excess energy our body creates can make it harder for us to be effective public speakers. But because communication apprehension is rooted in our minds, if we understand more about the body’s responses to stress, we can better develop mechanisms for managing the body’s misguided attempts to help us cope with social judgment fears.

Physiological Symptoms of Communication Apprehension

There are various physical sensations associated with communication apprehension. We might notice our heart pounding or our hands feeling clammy. We may break out in a sweat, have stomach butterflies, or even feel nauseated. Our hands and legs might start to shake, or we may begin to pace nervously. Our voices may quiver, and we may have a dry-mouth sensation that makes it difficult to articulate even simple words. Breathing becomes more rapid, and, in extreme cases, we might feel dizzy or light-headed. Communication anxiety is profoundly disconcerting because we feel powerless to control our bodies. We may become so anxious that we fear we will forget our name, much less remember the main points of the speech we are about to deliver.

The physiological changes our bodies produce at critical moments are designed to contribute to ensure our muscles work efficiently and expand available energy. Circulation and breathing become more rapid so that additional oxygen can reach the muscles. Increased circulation causes us to sweat. Adrenaline rushes through our body, instructing the body to speed up its movements. If we stay immobile behind a lectern, this hormonal urge to speed up may produce shaking and trembling. Additionally, digestive processes are inhibited so we will not lapse into the relaxed, sleepy state that is typical after eating. Instead of feeling sleepy, we feel butterflies in the pit of our stomach. By understanding what is happening to our bodies in response to public speaking stress, we can better cope with these reactions and channel them in constructive directions.

Watch this Ted Ed video, The Science of Stage Fright by Mikael Cho. In it, Cho shares what physically happens when we become anxious. It is now called the “fight, flight, or freeze” response because sometimes we hold very still when frightened.

The video can make you feel scared just watching it, but try and notice that there is an actual science to stage fright or speech anxiety, and you are not alone in feeling nervous or scared.

Pay particular attention near the end when Cho gives you one option to help manage your anxiety.

The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it) – Mikael Cho, by TED-Ed, Standard YouTube License. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93fMnFKwfI

After watching the video, did you realize that anxiety is a normal human reaction? We can help reduce the anxiety, but not totally eliminate it. As you continue with this module you will learn strategies to reduce anxiety.

• Any conscious emotional state, such as anxiety or excitement consists of two components:
• A primary reaction of the central nervous system.
• An intellectual interpretation of these physiological responses.

The physiological state we label as communication anxiety does not differ from those that we label rage or excitement. Even seasoned effective speakers and performers experience some communication apprehension. What differs is the mental label that we put on the experience. Effective speakers have learned to channel their body’s reactions, using the energy released by these physiological reactions to create animation and stage presence.

It has been documented that famous speakers throughout history such as Cicero, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Gloria Steinem conquered significant public speaking fears. Celebrities who experience performance anxiety include actor Harrison Ford, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Matt Damon, and George Clooney (Hickson, 2016).

Myths about Communication Apprehension

Before we look at how to manage our speech anxiety, let’s dispel some myths.

1. People who suffer from speaking anxiety are neurotic. As we have explained, speaking anxiety is a normal reaction. Good speakers can get nervous, too, just as poor speakers do.
2. Telling a joke or two is always a good way to begin a speech. Humor is some of the toughest material to deliver effectively because it requires an exquisite sense of timing. Nothing is worse than waiting for a laugh that does not come. Moreover, one person’s joke is another person’s slander. It is extremely easy to offend when using humor. The same material can play very differently with different audiences. For these reasons, it is not a good idea to start with a joke, particularly if it is not well related to your topic. Humor is just too unpredictable and difficult for many novice speakers. If you insist on using humor, make sure the joke is on you, not on someone else. Another tip is never to pause and wait for a laugh that may not come. If the audience catches the joke, fine. If not, you’re not left standing in awkward silence waiting for a reaction.
3. Imagine the audience is naked. This tip just plain doesn’t work because imagining the audience naked will do nothing to calm your nerves. The audience is not some abstract image in your mind. It consists of real individuals who you can connect with through your material.
4. Any mistake means that you have “blown it.” We all make mistakes. What matters is how well we recover, not whether we make a mistake. A speech does not have to be perfect. You just have to make an effort to relate to the audience naturally and be willing to accept your mistakes.
5. Audiences are out to get you. An audience’s natural state is empathy, not antipathy. Most face-to-face audiences are interested in your material, not in your image. Watching someone who is anxious tends to make audience members anxious themselves. Particularly in public speaking classes, audiences want to see you succeed. They know that they will soon be in your shoes, and they identify with you, most likely hoping you’ll succeed and give them ideas for how to make their own speeches better. If you establish direct eye contact with real individuals in your audience, you will see them respond to what you are saying, and this response lets you know that you are succeeding.
6. You will look as nervous as you feel. Empirical research has shown that audiences do not perceive the level of nervousness that speakers report feeling (Clevenger, 1959). Most listeners judge speakers as less anxious than the speakers rate themselves. In other words, the audience is not likely to perceive accurately your anxiety level. Some of the most effective speakers will return to their seats after their speech and exclaim they were so nervous. Listeners will respond, “You didn’t look nervous.” Audiences do not necessarily perceive our fears. Consequently, don’t apologize for your nerves. There is a good chance the audience will not notice that you’re nervous if you do not point it out to them.
7. TRUE. A little nervousness helps you give a better speech. This myth is true! Professional speakers, actors, and other performers consistently rely on their nervous heightened arousal to channel extra energy into their performance. People would much rather listen to a speaker who is alert and enthusiastic than one who is relaxed to the point of boredom. Many professional speakers say that the day they stop feeling nervous is the day they should stop public speaking. The goal is to control those nerves and channel them into your presentation.

What are self-defeating thoughts and anxiety producing situations that can sabotage your speech?

This section is adapted from Practically Speaking by J. Dan Rothwell.

Now that we have debunked those speech-anxiety myths, let’s turn our attention to those barriers to managing our speech anxiety. See if you can relate to any of these self-sabotaging behaviors.

Self-Defeating Thoughts: Sabotaging Your Speech

Some individuals believe giving a speech is a challenging and exciting opportunity, whereas others believe it is an experience equivalent to being swallowed by a python. How you think about speaking to an audience will largely determine your speech-anxiety level (Bodie, 2010). Self-defeating thoughts that can sabotage your speech are grounded in the belief that your audience will judge and reject you (Cunningham et al., 2006).

Catastrophic Thinking: Fear of Failure

Wildly exaggerating potential failure’s magnitude is a common source of stress and anxiety (Ackrill, 2012). Those with irrational fears predict not just momentary memory lapses of no real consequence, but a complete mental meltdown. They fear that audiences will laugh, hoot them off the stage, and view them as irredeemable fools. Minor organizational problems during a speech are magnified in the speaker’s mind into graphic episodes of total incoherence and nonstop babbling.

Predictions of public speaking catastrophes are unrealistic because they are highly unlikely to occur (Peterson, 2000). As Boyes states, “I personally have listened to more than 20,000 students’ speeches. I have witnessed some unimpressive presentations, but not more than a handful qualified as outright unforgettable disasters, and the obvious cause of the disaster in each case was a complete lack of preparation” (Boyes, 2013b).

Catastrophic thinking, or catastrophizing as it is sometimes called (Boyes, 2013b), sees only failure, not an opportunity for exhilarating success produced by embracing challenges. Such catastrophizing can create a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby you create a mental condition that can produce the failure you fear (Grohol, 2013). Thomas Edison made more than 2,000 attempts to invent the electric light bulb. When asked how it felt to fail so many times, Edison responded, “I’ve never failed. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process.” Do not paralyze yourself with catastrophic, unrealistic thinking.

Perfectionist Thinking: No Mistakes Permitted

Perfectionists can anguish over every perceived flaw, and they overgeneralize the significance of even minor defects. For example,

I tanked – I forgot to preview my main points.

I feel so stupid. I kept mispronouncing the name of one of the experts I quoted.

Flawless public speaking is an unreasonable goal. Even the most talented and experienced public speakers make occasional errors in otherwise riveting and eloquent speeches. Martin Luther King Jr. stumbled twice during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. These were only fleeting blips in an otherwise smoothly delivered masterpiece. Ironically, the imperfections that are so glaring to perfectionists usually go unnoticed by their audiences.

Desire for Complete Approval: Trying Not to Offend

It is highly unlikely that you will please everyone who listens to your speech, particularly if you take a stand on a controversial issue. If your audience’s complete approval is your vital concern, you set an unreachable standard for success. Few speeches are universally praised, even ones viewed as among the greatest speeches ever presented. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, for example, was effusively praised by the Springfield Republican newspaper as “a perfect gem” that was “deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word and comma” (quoted in Prochow, 1944, p.17). The Chicago Times, however, editorialized: “The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States” (quoted in Sandburg, 2002, p. 445).

The Illusion of Transparency: Being Nervous about Looking Nervous

Substantial research shows that often individuals are overly worried about appearing nervous in front of an audience. Speakers who experience much anxiety often fall victim to the illusion of transparency—they overestimate the extent to which their audience will detect their nervousness (Dean, 2012). As difficult as it may be for you to believe, your anxiety is not as obvious as you may think it is (MacInnis et al., 2010). The speech by Zach Wahls referred to in the previous chapter is such a case. Wahls confessed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show that he was so nervous that he was shaking while presenting his “Two Mothers” speech to the Iowa State Legislature. You simply cannot tell this from looking at his speech on YouTube.

Nevertheless, this illusion of transparency greatly increases a speaker’s anxiety. You become “nervous about looking nervous” (Savitsky & Gilovich, 2003, p. 619). Unlike telling a person not to be nervous about giving a speech, which is unhelpful advice, informing a speaker about the illusion of transparency can free individuals from their anxiety cycle and help them present better speeches because they worry less about appearing nervous (Savitsky & Gilovich, 2003).

Anxiety-Provoking Situations: Considering Context

There are three principal anxiety-provoking situations that are relevant to public speaking: novelty, conspicuousness, and speech types.

The Speaking Situation’s Novelty: Uncertainty

We often fear what is unpredictable or unfamiliar (Witt & Behnke, 2006). For inexperienced speakers, the speaking situation’s mere novelty may trigger fears and speech anxiety (Kelly & Keaten, 2000). What if your listeners seem bored? Is your speech too long or too short? Is the audience likely to be supportive or hostile? Based on uncertainty-reduction theory, as you gain public speaking experience, the novelty wears off, reducing uncertainty and consequently diminishing anxiety. You gain a reservoir of knowledge from giving speeches, which helps you handle almost any situation that might occur (Roby, 2009).

Conspicuousness: In the Spotlight

When asked what causes their speech anxiety, most students identify it as being on stage or in the spotlight. Being conspicuous, or the center of attention, can increase your anxiety. You feel as if you are under a microscope being meticulously examined. As the audience size grows, conspicuousness increases in most individuals’ minds. But, the more experience you have speaking to large and small audiences, the more confidence you gain, which is a strong antidote for alleviating speech anxiety provoked by conspicuousness.

Speech Types: Varying Responses

Speech types combined with situational challenges affect whether you experience anxiety. Telling a story in front of fellow students may give you no pause, but giving a teaching demonstration to perspective employers as part of an important job interview may produce much anxiety (Young et al., 2004). Suddenly being asked to say a few words with no warning typically stirs greater anxiety than giving a more prepared speech (Witt & Behnke, 2006). Giving a speech to an audience hostile to your expressed viewpoint may also engender high anxiety levels (Pertaub et al., 2002).

All of these self-defeating thoughts and anxiety-provoking situations can produce a spiraling effect that feeds on itself. If you begin by viewing a speech as a performance, you have already created unrealistic expectations for yourself. This, in turn, stimulates a physiological fight-or-flight arousal. If you then interpret the physical symptoms as fear, this can trigger catastrophic thinking, which stimulates more intense physical symptoms, greater fear, and so forth (Motley, 1995). A key to managing your speech anxiety is to prevent the fear spiral from ever occurring. The next section takes a deep dive into the reservoir of effective strategies for preventing just such an occurrence.

Common yet unexpected difficulties can increase speech anxiety: how do we cope?

The following sections are adapted from Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Speech Content Issues

Nearly every experienced speaker has gotten to the middle of a presentation and realized that a key notecard is missing or that he or she skipped important information from the speech’s beginning. When encountering these difficulties, a good strategy is to pause for a moment to think through what you want to do next. Is it important to include the missing information, or can it be omitted without hurting the audience’s ability to understand the rest of your speech? If it needs to be included, do you want to add the information now, or will it fit better later in the speech? It is often difficult to remain silent when you encounter this situation, but pausing for a few seconds will help you to figure out what to do and may be less distracting to the audience than sputtering through a few “ums” and “uhs.”

Technical Difficulties

Technology has become a very useful public speaking aid, allowing us to use audio or video clips, presentation software, or direct links to websites. However, one of the best-known truisms about technology is that it can and does break down. Web servers go offline, files will not download in a timely manner, and media are incompatible with the presentation room’s computer. It is important to always have a backup plan, developed in advance, in case of technical difficulties. As you develop your speech, visual aids, and other presentation materials, think through what you will do if you cannot show a particular graph or if your presentation slides are hopelessly garbled. Although your beautifully prepared chart may be superior to the oral description you can provide, your ability to provide a succinct oral description when technology fails can give your audience the information they need.

External Distractions

Although many public speaking instructors directly address audience etiquette, you’re still likely to experience an audience member walking in late, a cell phone ringing, or even a car alarm blaring outside your room. If you are distracted by external events like these, it is often useful, and sometimes necessary—as in the case of the loud car alarm—to pause and wait so that you can regain the audience’s attention and be heard.

Whatever the unexpected event, as the speaker, your most important job is to maintain your composure. It is important not to get upset or angry because of these glitches—and, once again, the key is to be fully prepared. If you keep your cool and quickly implement a plan B for moving forward with your speech, your audience is likely to be impressed and may listen even more attentively to the rest of your presentation.

Speech Anxiety Stages and How to Manage Them

This section is adapted from Practically Speaking by Dan J. Rothwell.

You have just learned about several anxiety-producing scenarios. Now let’s discover how we are going to successfully overcome those situations and learn effective strategies to manage speech anxiety.

There are actually three different stages of speech anxiety that we need to manage.

1. Pre-Speech Stage: Pre-speech anxiety can occur the moment your instructor gives you the speech assignment. Also in this stage, you may feel anxiety whenever you decide to work on the speech, such as later, tomorrow, or next week. While procrastinating may initially reduce your anxiety, you will feel worse when you have an ill-prepared speech to give later. You can reduce your pre-speech anxiety by completing speech-prep tasks in small chunks or steps over several days, such as the following,

• • • • • Choose a topic.
        • Decide on your specific purpose statement.
        • Choose three main points.
        • Put the main points in an outline so that you can add subpoints as you think of them, etc.

Pre-Speech anxiety can also occur in the hour or minutes before you stand up to give your speech. This wait time can be nerve wracking if you don’t have a strategy to manage the anxiety. Keep reading to see some very helpful strategies.

2. During-Speech Stage: The second wave of anxiety is felt while you begin your speech, and as we will see from the research, actually ebbs and flows as you speak. In this stage, if you make a mistake in your speech, your anxiety can spike. If your audience is reacting well to your speech, your anxiety can decrease. As you get into the flow of your speech, you can see yourself relax.

3. Post-Speech Stage: This third stage is often forgotten. Speakers think that when their speech is over, they will sit down and relax, and their anxiety will go away. However, consider what a speaker says to themselves as soon as they sit down after their speech.

I did terrible.

I forgot that statistic!

I bet the audience hated my speech.

They could tell I was so nervous.

I really blew it!

I never want to speak again.

You can see the anxiety is still high with this self- judgement. It sets the speaker up to experience more speech anxiety for their next speech. Unless post-speech anxiety is dealt with, the speech anxiety for the next speech will be hard to manage.

Fortunately, there are effective strategies for managing pre, during, and post-speech anxiety. You’ll want to pay particular attention since you will be choosing three strategies to manage your own speech anxiety throughout the semester, and you will put them into your managing-speech-anxiety plan.

A No-Anxiety Speech

One surefire way to experience absolutely no anxiety prior to and during a speech is not to care about your speech’s quality. You will be very relaxed, but you will also give a poor presentation. Many individuals, from famous actors to various celebrities, have suggested strategies for managing speech anxiety. These include swearing at your audience backstage, sticking a pin in your backside (pain as diversion), and imagining audience members naked, clothed only in their underwear, or wearing diapers. Although dubious solutions, these suggestions may indeed work for you, but there is no good evidence that they are widely applied. If there were such evidence, speech instructors across the nation would be passing out pins to their anxious students for them to stick in their backsides before giving speeches. These suggestions are unquestionably limited at best because they are diversionary tactics rather than strategies that directly address speech anxiety’s primary causes. This section discusses several substantial strategies to manage your speech anxiety that are supported by research and address the anxiety’s main cause.

Prepare and Practice: Transform Novelty into Familiarity

As in most social situations, whether making small talk with strangers at parties or playing a musical instrument in front of a crowd, you tend to be less anxious when you are confident of your skills. You fear making a fool of yourself when you do not know what you are doing. First and foremost, do not delay preparing and practicing your speech until the night before you give it. Procrastination increases anxiety (Boyes, 2013a).

When you are adequately prepared, you have removed most of the novelty and uncertainty from the speaking situation. This reduces your anxiety. So, prepare your speech meticulously. Begin the necessary research well in advance, organize and outline your speech carefully, and practice your presentation. Practice your speech while taking a shower. Give it in your car on your way to class. Give it to your dog; they are eager listeners—cats not so much. Practice, practice, practice! When you have practiced your speech enough, practice it again. Do a dress rehearsal for friends or family members, or video record your performance and play it back so you can study parts to improve (Svoboda, 2009).

Giving speeches to a variety of audiences will gradually build your confidence and reduce your anxiety (Finn et al., 2009). Speaking experience, of course, will not reduce anxiety if you stumble from one traumatic disaster to the next. If you make speech after speech ill prepared and untrained, your public speaking dread will likely become dysfunctional.

Poor physiological preparation also will sabotage the most carefully prepared and practiced speech. You require appropriate nutrition to manage public speaking stress. Do not deliver a speech on an empty stomach. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, pastas, and legumes work well to stoke your energy, but eat lightly. You want blood traveling to your brain, not your stomach. Avoid the empty-calorie foods such as doughnuts. High intake of caffeine, simple sugars, and nicotine can stoke the physiological symptoms of fight-or-flight, such as increased heart rate and sweating. Alcohol and tranquilizers are also counterproductive solutions. Alcohol restricts oxygen to your brain and dulls mental acuity. Tranquilizers can send you on a valium vacation in which you feel pleasantly numb but mentally dumb. You never want to take even a mild amphetamine. Speed kills a speech. It will increase your heart rate beyond what anxiety already induces.

There is no substitute for preparation and practice. If you do both, most of your anxiety will melt away, and your confidence will soar (Ayres & Hopf, 1995).

Gain a Realistic Perspective: Think Rationally, Not Irrationally

Understanding how your speech anxiety progresses can give you a realistic perspective about what to expect during your speech. The anxiety will improve naturally. There are four phases to speech anxiety symptoms (Witt et al., 2006). There is the anticipation phase, when your symptoms elevate just prior to giving your speech. The confrontation phase occurs when you face the audience and begin to speak. In this phase, there is a tremendous adrenalin surge, heart rate soars—sometimes to 180 beats per minute—perspiration and other symptoms increase. Next, the adaptation phase kicks in about sixty seconds into the speech. Adaptation takes place even more swiftly for low-anxiety speakers, usually fifteen to thirty seconds into the speech. During this phase, symptoms steadily diminish, reaching a more comfortable level within a couple of minutes. Finally, there is the release stage—the sixty seconds immediately following the speech’s finish.

Recognizing that your anxiety will diminish dramatically and quickly as your speech progresses should provide some comfort. You can learn to monitor how you adapt and can accelerate the process. For example, as you begin to notice your heart rate diminishing, say to yourself, “It’s getting better already… and better… and better.” Anxiety levels, even for the inexperienced high-anxiety speaker, will diminish rapidly during your speech.

Another way to adapt is to gain a realistic perspective of what is rational and irrational speech anxiety and to learn to recognize each (Allen et al., 2009). Allen’s colleague, Darrell Beck, concocted a simple formula to determine the difference: the severity of the feared occurrence times the probability of the feared occurrence. This formula roughly approximates how much anxiety is rational and how much is irrational. Approximate the severity by imagining what would happen if catastrophic failure did indeed occur. For example, Peggy Noonan (1998), speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and political pundit guest on numerous television news shows, puts possible failure into perspective this way: “If I fail utterly, if I faint, babble or spew, if people walk out flinging the heavy linen napkins onto the big round tables in disgust…my life continues as good as it was. Better. Because fewer people will ask me to speak. So, flopping would be good for me. The minute I remember this, I don’t flop” (p. 191).

Severity: Typically, when students are asked to imagine and describe their worst speech-anxiety scenario, they offer examples such as stuttering, flop sweating, knees and hands shaking violently, forgetting everything, even fainting or vomiting in front of the class. Imagine all of this occurring—not just one or two of these manifestations of catastrophic failure, but the entire mess. Would you renew your passport and make plans to leave the country? Would you hide from friends and family, afraid to show your face? Would you drop out of college? Would you join a monastery and take a vow of silence? None of these choices seems likely. You might drop the class, but even this choice is unlikely. Students are an understanding lot, and you will have other opportunities in class to redeem yourself. Even a disastrous speech does not warrant significant life changes. A few moments of disappointment, mild embarrassment, or discouragement because of a mediocre grade is about as severe as the consequences get.

Probability: Then consider the probability of this nightmare scenario happening. It is highly improbable that all of these feared occurrences would transpire. As Rothwell states: “No one has ever fainted or vomited in my classes despite the thousands of speeches I have witnessed.” If you stutter, and it is not an actual speech pathology, you can gain control by deliberately slowing your speaking rate and carefully enunciating your words. You can mitigate other occurrences by conscientiously preparing and practicing. When you consider the worst-case scenario probability, you should realize that there is not much to concern you. Stop catastrophizing and predicting utter failure (Boyes, 2013b). Concentrate on the probable (low-severity occurrences), not the improbable (high-severity occurrences).

Even individuals for whom English is a second language will benefit from gaining a realistic perspective on their speech anxiety. Giving a speech in a second language can increase anxiety (Tan Chin Keok, 2010). There is an unrealistic expectation that English should be spoken perfectly. As Rothwell suggests, “I have witnessed hundreds of speeches by non-native English speakers. Never once has an audience of college students been rude to that speaker because his or her English was not perfect.” Normally, students admire a speaker who tries hard to give a good speech in a relatively unfamiliar language. They usually listen more intently as well. Preparation and practice are especially critical for non-native English speakers. Practicing very short speeches, even a small thirty-second speech portion for friends or family members can be very helpful (Seim et al., 2010). Working yourself into a lather over an impending speech simply lacks a realistic perspective.

Adopt a Noncompetitive Communication Orientation: Reframe Your Focus

Desiring complete approval, engaging in perfectionist thinking, and fretting over your conspicuousness onstage all occur when you view public speaking as a performance—an attempt to satisfy an audience of critics whose members are focused on evaluating your presentation (Motley, 1997). Giving a speech is not an Olympic event; you are usually not competing to score more points than someone else or to earn a gold medal and get your face on a cereal box. Your audience will not hold up cards indicating your score immediately after you sit down. Granted, your speech instructor will likely grade your speech, but even here, the performance orientation is counterproductive. No speech instructor expects silver-tongued oratory from novice speakers. You are expected to make mistakes, especially during your first few speeches. Speech classes are learning laboratories, not speech tournaments.

Reframe the performance orientation with a communication orientation. The communication orientation focuses on making your message clear and interesting to your listeners, as Motley (1995) states: “I have never encountered an anxious speaker who did not have a performance orientation, or one whose anxiety was not substantially reduced when the communication orientation replaced it” (p. 49).

You will perform more effectively as a speaker if you move to a communication orientation (Motley, 2011). Your speaking style and delivery will seem more natural, less forced and stiff. When conversing with a friend or stranger, you rarely notice your delivery, gestures, and posture. You are intent on being clear and interesting, even having some fun. Approach your speech in a similar way. Choking under pressure occurs most often when you overthink your performance while it is occurring, for example, you think to yourself, “vary your voice,” “use gestures,” “don’t pace,” “look at the audience,” etc. Scrutinizing your performance while speaking is counterproductive (Svoboda, 2009). Research on attentional control shows that high-anxiety public speakers concentrate on the threat associated with performance failure. Low-anxiety public speakers concentrate on that which does not heighten anxiety (Jones et al., 2012). Simply concentrate on communicating your message clearly to your audience and the rest will follow if you have prepared and practiced. Peggy Noonan (1998) reveals that one bad experience speaking in front of her peers in seventh grade caused her to lose her voice and induced panic. She was concentrating on her performance rather than communicating her message. She did not give another public speech until she was 40-years-old. She became an accomplished speaker by focusing less on herself and more on clearly communicating her speech.

One way to develop the communication orientation is to practice your speech conversationally. Choose a friend or loved one with whom you feel comfortable. Find a private location and sit in chairs or on a couch. Using a conversational style, just begin describing the speech that you have prepared. Do not actually give the speech. Merely talk about the speech, such as what the speech covers and how you plan to develop it. Use notes if you need to, but refer to them infrequently. In subsequent practice sessions with your listener, gradually begin to introduce the actual speech elements, such as an introduction. Eventually, deliver the entire speech while sitting down. Finally, present the entire speech standing, using only a speech outline for reference.

Does the communication orientation work? When compared to the other methods of anxiety reduction and control, the communication orientation is the most successful (Motley, 2011). Simply concentrating on communicating with your audience, not impressing them, reduces speakers’ anxiety levels from high to moderately low.

These methods for reducing and controlling your speech anxiety work so well that little else needs to be said. Nevertheless, here are some additional methods you can use: think of them as your insurance policy.

Use Positive Coping Statements: Rationally Reappraise Your Thoughts

Negative self-talk leads to catastrophic thinking. If you stumble at the outset of your speech and say to yourself, “I knew I couldn’t do this well” or “I’ve already ruined the introduction,” you are immediately scrutinizing your performance. Negative, catastrophic thinking triggers high anxiety. A rational reappraisal can help you cope effectively with your anxiety (Ellis, 1995, 1996). Try making coping statements when problems arise—mentally to yourself, of course—not out loud, which would be weird. “I’m past the tough part,” “I’ll do better once I get rolling,” and “The best part is still ahead” are examples of positive coping statements. Coping statements shift the thought process from negative and irrational to positive and rational self-talk (O’Donohue & Fisher, 2008). Make self-talk constructive, not destructive.

Use Positive Imaging: Visualize Success

Mental images can influence your anxiety either positively or negatively (Holmes & Mathews, 2005). Prepare to present your speech by countering negative catastrophic thoughts with positive successful images, sometimes called visualization. This can be a very effective strategy for addressing your speech anxiety (Ayres, 2005). Novice speakers typically imagine what will go wrong during a speech. To avoid this pitfall, create images in your head that picture you giving a fluent, clear, and interesting speech. Picture your audience responding in positive ways as you give your speech. Exercise mental discipline and refuse to allow negative, disaster thoughts to creep into your consciousness. Keep imagining speaking success, not failure.

Use Relaxation Techniques: Reduce a Fight-or-Flight Response

A number of simple relaxation techniques can reduce physiological fight-or-flight response symptoms (O’Donohue & Fisher, 2008). First, deep, slow, controlled breathing is very helpful. Five to seven such breaths per minute are optimum (Horowitz, 2002). Do not allow yourself to breathe in rapid, shallow bursts. This will likely increase your anxiety.

Relaxing your muscles through a series of tense-and-relax exercises also can be beneficial, especially right before giving a speech if you can be unobtrusive about it—perhaps backstage or outside. Lifting your shoulders slowly up and down, then rotating them slowly is relaxing. Wiggling your facial muscles by moving your cheeks, jaw, mouth, nose, and eyebrows and by smiling broadly may seem silly, but it loosens tight muscles. Even big, exaggerated yawns can help. Tensing then relaxing sets of muscles in your diaphragm, stomach, legs, and arms is another muscle relaxation exercise.

Try Systematic Desensitization: Relax Incrementally

Systematic desensitization is a technique used to control anxiety, even phobias, that are triggered by various stimuli (O’Donohue & Fisher, 2008). The technique operates on the principle that relaxation and anxiety are incompatible and do not occur simultaneously. Systematic desensitization involves being incrementally exposed to increasingly threatening stimuli, coupled with using relaxation techniques. This anxiety-management method is very effective (Spiegler & Guevremont, 1998). It is time consuming, however, so you must be committed to the technique. When you apply systematic desensitization to giving speeches, begin by making a list of perhaps ten progressive steps in the speaking process that are likely to arouse and increase your anxiety. Find yourself a comfortable, quiet place to sit. Read the first item on your list, for example, your speech topic. When you begin to experience anxiety, put the list aside and begin a relaxation exercise: tense your muscles in your face and neck. Hold the tensed position for ten seconds, then release. Now do the same with your hands, and so on, until you have tensed and relaxed all your body’s muscle groups. Now breathe slowly and deeply as you say the word “relax” to yourself. Repeat this for one minute. Next, pick up the list and read the first item. If your anxiety remains pronounced, repeat the relaxation process. If your anxiety is minimal, move on to the second item on your list, such as gathering your speech material, and repeat the tense-and-relax procedure. Work through your entire ten-item list from the beginning, stopping when you are able to read the final item, such as introducing your speech, without appreciable anxiety. Use systematic desensitization several days in a row before you actually present your speech. Your anxiety level should fall to lower levels. The final step is exposure to the actual anxiety-provoking stimulus—giving the speech.

The following sections are adapted from Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Anticipate Your Body’s Reactions

There are various steps you can take to counteract stress’ negative physiological effects on the body. You can place words and symbols in your notes that remind you to pause and breathe during points in your speech, such as “slow down” or ☺.

It is also a good idea before you get started to pause a moment to set an appropriate pace from the onset. Look at your audience and smile. It is a reflex for some of your audience members to smile back. Those smiles will reassure you that your audience members are friendly.

Physical movement helps to channel some of the excess anxiety-induced energy that your body produces. If at all possible, move around the front of the room rather than remaining imprisoned behind the lectern or gripping it for dear life; however, avoid pacing nervously from side to side. Move closer to the audience and then stop for a moment. If you are afraid that moving away from the lectern will reveal your shaking hands, use note cards rather than a sheet of paper for your outline. Note cards do not quiver like paper, and they provide you with something to do with your hands.

Vocal warm-ups are also important to do before speaking. Just as athletes warm up before practice or competition and musicians warm up before playing, speakers need to get their voices ready to speak. Talking with others before your speech or quietly humming to yourself can get your voice ready for your presentation. You can even sing or practice a bit of your speech out loud while you’re in the shower, where the warm, moist air is beneficial for your vocal mechanism. Gently yawning a few times is also an excellent way to stretch the key muscle groups involved in speaking.

Immediately before you speak, you can relax your neck and shoulder muscles by gently rolling your head from side to side.

Focus on the Audience, Not on Yourself

During your speech, make a point of establishing direct eye contact with your audience members. By looking at individuals, you establish a series of one-to-one contacts similar to interpersonal communication.

The Magic of Science

Now for some scientific managing-speech-anxiety magic. You are welcome to use what you hear in your own plan if you choose. Take a listen to Harvard Professor Amy Cuddy and a surprising two-minute strategy that many students find very effective. It is worth watching the full twenty-minute video, Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are.

Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are, by TEDGlobal 2012, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Yes, two minutes, two minutes, two minutes. Remember the audience is more interested in learning about what you have to say than in judging you. So, forget yourself and be there for the audience.

Note: Are you a good people watcher? I hope you are because it will aid your progress as a speaker. You will be viewing video clips of speakers throughout the course. Pay attention to what went well in a speech and what you would recommend a speaker change to make their speech better.

For example, In Amy Cuddy’s speech, her data visual aids helped in better understanding the speech. Did you notice where her hair was? Would you recommend she do something different with it? Notice, notice, notice. It will help you know what you want to do and not do in your own speeches.

References

Ackrill, C. (2012, October 5). 6 thought patterns of the stressed: No. 3 – catastrophizing. American Institute of Stress. Retrieved from http://www.cynthiaackrill.com/6-thought-patterns-of-the-stressed-no-3-catastrophizing-lions-and-tigers-and-bears-oh-my/

Allen, M., Hunder, J.E., & Donohue, W.A. (2009). Meta-analysis of self-report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques. Communication Education, 38, 54–76.

Ayres, J. (2005). Performance visualization and behavioral disruption: A clarification. Communication Reports, 18 55–63.

Ayres, J., & Hopf, T. (1995). Coping with speech anxiety. Norwood, NJ: Ablex

Bodie, G.D. (2010). A racing heart, rattling knees, and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining, and treating public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59, 70–105.

Boyes, A. (2013a, March 13). 6 tips for overcoming anxiety-related procrastination. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201303/6-tips-overcoming anxiety-related-procrastination

Boyes, A. (2013b, January 10). What is catastrophizing? Cognitive distortions. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201301/what-is-catastrophizing-cognitive-distortions

Cunningham, V., Lefkoe, M., & sechrest, L. (2006). Eliminating fears: An intervention that permanently eliminates the fear of public speaking. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 13, 183–193

Dean, J. (2012, October 10). The illusion of transparency. PsyBlog. Retrieved from http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/10/the-illusion-of-transparency.php

Ellis, A. (1995). Thinking processes involved in irrational beliefs and their disturbed consequences. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 9, 105 –116.

Ellis, A. (1996). How I learned to help clients feel better and get better. Psychotherapy, 33, 149–151.

Finn, A.N., Sawyer, C.R, & Schrodt, P. (2009). Examining the effect of exposure therapy on public speaking state anxiety. Communication Education, 58, 92–109.

Grohol, J.M. (2013). What is catastrophizing? Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-catastrophizing/1276/

Holmes, E.A., & Mathews, A. (2005). Mental imagery and emotion: A special relationship? Emotion, 5, 489–497.

Horowitz, B. (2002). Communication apprehension: Origins and management. Albany, NY: Singular.

Jones, C.R., Fazio, R.H., & Vasey, M.W. (2012). Attention control buffers the effect of public-speaking anxiety on performance. Social Psychology & Personality Science, 3, 556–561.

Lucas, S. E. (2012). The art of public speaking. (11th ed.). McGrawHill.

MacInnis, C.C., MacKinnon, S.P., & MacIntyre, P.D. (2010). The illusion of transparency and normative beliefs about anxiety during public speaking. Current Research in Social Psychology, 15(4). Retrieved from http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp15_4.pdf

Motley, M.T. (1995). Overcoming your fear of public speaking: A proven method. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Motley, M.T. (1997). COM Therapy. In J.A. Daly, J.C. McCroskey, J.Ayres, T. Hopf, & D.M. Ayres (Eds.) Avoiding communication. Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Motley, M.T. (2011, January 18). Reducing public speaking anxiety: The communication orientation. YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYfHQvi2NAg

Noonan, P. (1998). Simply speaking: How to communicate your ideas with style, substance, and clarity. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

O’Donohue, W.T., & Fisher, J.E. (2008). Cognitive behavior therapy: Applying empirically supported techniques in your practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

Pertaub, D., Slater, M., & Barker, C. (2002). An experiment on public speaking anxiety in response to three different types of virtual audiences. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 11, 670–678.

Peterson, C. (2000). The future of optimism. American Psychologist, 55, 44–55.

Prochow, H.V. (1944). Great stories from great lives. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers.

Roby, D.E. (2009). Teacher leadership skills: An analysis of communication apprehension. Education, 129, 608–614. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ871611

Sandburg, C. (2002). Abraham Lincoln: The prairie years and the war years. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Savitsky, K., & Gilovich, T. (2003). The illusion of transparency and the alleviation of speech anxiety. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 618–625.

Seim, R.W., Waller, S.A., & Spates, R.C. (2010). A preliminary investigation of continuous and intermittent exposures in the treatment of public speaking anxiety. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 6, 84–94.

Spiegler, M.D., & Guevremont, D.C. (1998). Contemporary behavior therapy. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Svoboda, E. (2009, February/March). Avoiding the big choke. Scientific American Mind, pp. 36–41.

Tan Chin Keok, R. (2010, November 25–27). Public speaking: A case study of speech anxiety in L1 and L2. Seminar Penyelidikan Pendidikan Pasca Ijazah.

Witt, P.L., & Behnke, R.R. (2006). Anticipatory speech anxiety as a function of public speaking assignment type. Communication Education, 55, 167–177.

Witt, P.L., Brown, K.C., Roberts, J.B., Weasel, J., Sawyer, C.R., & Behnke, R.R. (2006). Somatic anxiety patterns before, during, and after giving a public speech. Southern Communication Journal, 71, 87–100.

Young, M.J., Behnke, R.R., & Mann, Y.M. (2004). Anxiety patterns in employment interviews. Communication Reports, 17, 49–57.

Media References

(no date). man, portrait, grown up, people, smiling, facial hair, one person, beard, looking at camera, emotion [Image]. pxfuel. https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-ehnup

Binge Society – The Greatest Movie Scenes. (2020, November 6). Hitch: Albert meets Hitch HD CLIP [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIBzVc3kJAM

Cherise King. (no date). Physiological Symptoms of Communication Apprehension [Image].

Freddie Peña. (2010, 10 July). Nervous? [Image]. flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fixem/4815843665/

TED. (2012, June). Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who_you_are?language=en

TED-Ed. (2013, October 8). The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it) – Mikael Cho [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93fMnFKwfI

www.audio-luci-store.it. (2012, 19 June). Speaker at Podium [Image]. flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/audiolucistore/7403735392/