The Counseling Center for
Human Development
Speech Anxiety
Every time Jane stands behind a podium facing a group of people she immediately gets
sweaty palms, a dry mouth, weak knees, shaky hands, and butterflies in her stomach. Her
symptoms are real and according to a recent survey approximately 85 percent of
Americans experience this same phenomenon – known as "speech anxiety." Public
speaking can be a most unpleasant experience, both physically and emotionally, due to
the extra adrenalin released in the body causing your heart to race and leaving you short
of breath. You may fear that the most you will be able to do is utter a few words in
between panting and gasping for air, right? Wrong!
Dr. Michael Motley, professor of rhetoric and communication at the University of
California,
acknowledges that speech anxiety is a real fear but explains that it does not have to leave
you speechless. According to his research, confident speakers see the physical symptoms
of speech anxiety as a positive sign that indicates that they are emotionally ready for the
speech. However, most of us interpret these feelings as fear. That's when you begin to
imagine what will happen if your speech is less than perfect, or that you will embarrass
yourself.
Motley claims that our irrational fears combined with our physiological symptoms often
feed on each other. The fears increase the symptoms, which in turn increase the fears
until extreme physiological arousal combines with thoughts of catastrophe. Conquering
the fear of public speaking is no easy feat. You can alleviate some of the anxiety by
thinking of your speech in terms of ordinary communication, rather than as a public
performance. By approaching the podium with the objective of communicating a point,
instead of worrying about your oratorical flair, you can make your audience feel as if they
are being spoken with rather than lectured to. In essence, all you really need are the
gestures, vocal inflections and facial expressions that you use in everyday conversation.
By concentrating on communicating a point the hardest part of public speaking should be
preparing, not delivering the speech.
TIPS FOR SPEAKERS
o Decide on your specific objectives first.
o Put yourself in your audience's place; speak in terms that they'll understand.
o Practice your speech privately. This can help you to feel more confident with
what you will say.
o Don't memorize or read your speech; use brief notes or an outline.
o Speak to one person at a time; try to make eye contact with everyone at least
once.
o Don't worry about your hands or your facial expressions.
o Take it slow and easy, speaking as you do in casual conversation.
o Use slow, deep breathing both before and during your talk to help reduce physical
tension.
o Ask for advice and feedback from someone you trust.
Do your knees feel like Gumby's when you have to get up and speak in front of a
group?
Do you feel like the next words out of your mouth are going to be the dumbest
words ever uttered by a human?
If you said yes to either of the questions above, be advised, you have a full-blown case of
stage fright, says Lenny Laskowski, a professional speaker and President of LJL
Seminars.
According to the book of lists, the fear of speaking in public is the # 1 fear of all fears.
The fear of dying is #7! Over 41 % of people have some fear or anxiety dealing with
speaking in front of groups. People who have this fear can experience all kinds of
symptoms: Sweaty palms, accelerated heart rate, memory loss and even difficulty in
breathing.
Some of the world's most famous presenters have freely admitted to nervousness and
stage fright. Mark Twain said it best, "There are two types of speakers: those that are
nervous and those that are liars."
Everyone, even experienced speakers, has some anxiety when speaking in front of a
group of people. This is perfectly normal. The best way to deal with this anxiety is to first
acknowledge that this fear is perfectly normal and you are not alone. To reduce your fear,
you need to make sure you properly and thoroughly prepare yourself before you speak.
Proper preparation and rehearsal can help to reduce this fear by about 75%. Proper
breathing techniques can further reduce this fear by another 15%. Your mental state
accounts for the remaining 10%.
Below are just a few suggestions you should use to overcome your speaking anxiety. The
first and most important of all is preparation. I like to think of it as the 9 P’s:
o Prior Proper Preparation
o Prevents Poor Performance
of the
o Person Putting on the Presentation.
Speech Anxiety continued
Nothing will relax you more than to know you are properly prepared. Below are 10 steps
you can take to reduce your speech anxiety.
1. Know the room – become familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive
early and walk around the room including the speaking area. Stand at the lectern,
speak into the microphone. Walk around where the audience will be seated. Walk
from where you will be seated to the place where you will be speaking.
2. Know the Audience – If possible, greet some of the audience as they arrive and chat
with them. It is easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.
3. Know Your Material – If you are not familiar with your material or are
uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech or
presentation and revise it until you can present it with ease.
4. Learn How to Relax – You can ease tension by doing exercises. Sit comfortable
with your back straight. Breathe in slowly, hold your breath for 4 to 5 seconds, then
slowly exhale. To relax your facial muscles, open your mouth and eyes wide, then
close them tightly.
5. Visualize Yourself Speaking – Imagine yourself walking confidently to the lectern
as the audience applauds. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and
assured. When you visualize yourself as successful – you will be successful.
6. Realize People Want You To Succeed – All audiences want speakers to be
interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They want you to succeed – not
fail.
7. Don't apologize For Being Nervous – Most of the time your nervousness does not
show at all. If you don't say anything about it, nobody will notice. If you mention
your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your
speech, you'll only be calling attention to it. Had you remained silent, your listeners
may not have noticed at all.
8. Concentrate on Your Message - not the medium – Your nervous feelings will
dissipate if you focus your attention away from your anxieties and concentrate on
your message and your audience, not yourself.
9. Turn Nervousness into Positive Energy – the same nervous energy that causes stage
fright can be an asset to you. Harness it, and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm.
10. Gain Experience – Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective
speaking. Most beginning speakers find their anxieties decrease after each speech
they give.
Speech Anxiety continued
If the fear of public speaking causes you to prepare more, then the fear of speaking serves
as it's own best antidote.
Remember, "He who fails to prepare is preparing for failure - so Prepare, Prepare,
Prepare."
www.stresscure.com/jobstressispeak.html; www..usf.edu/counsel/self-hip/speech. htm;
www.ljlseminars.com.monthtip.htm
Tips for Controlling the Sources of Speech Anxiety
o
o
o
o
o
Develop an optimistic attitude toward speaking
Don't procrastinate preparing your speech
Set realistic goals
Realize the audience wants you to succeed
Direct your concerns at important issues. (Don't sweat the small stuff.)
Tips for Improving Delivery
Appearance
Appearance often has a disproportionately significant effect on audience perceptions,
which can be measured in at least two ways. The first involves audience members' first
impressions. The second involves how people perceive themselves as a result of their
appearance and the impact this perception has on their self-confidence and delivery.
(Research tells us that speakers who feel they look attractive report greater selfconfidence than those reporting otherwise. Of course, this could simply be due to their
greater self-confidence impacting their self-perceptions. . . .) A third possible measure is
the extent to which appearance impacts the audience's perception of your personal
authority.
Simply said, your dress should be appropriate to the situation. Don't dress like you're
going to a wedding, but also don't dress like you're cramming for finals. Realize that
you're going to be in front of the class and that you'll want to look good and be
comfortable.
Facial Expression
Your body is your tool. When you talk to friends, you use your face and eyes to highlight
certain ideas or to downplay others. You can do the same thing during your speech. You
can also make certain physical gestures – but make sure everything you do serves a
purpose. Drumming on the podium or tapping your foot isn't likely to do much for you.
Voice
You can use your voice in a number of ways to enhance your speech. Much of the
emotional impact of a speech is conveyed by vocal changes.
o Volume: Speak loudly enough for everyone to hear you, but not so loud that you
give your audience a headache. You can usually tell by your audience's body
language. If they're leaning forward a lot, they're probably struggling to hear. If
they're leaning back, you may be too loud. It is also useful to vary your volume
during a speech, using either an increase or decrease in volume as a means of
emphasis.
o Articulation & Enunciation: These two words actually have slightly different
meanings, but both deal with how clearly you speak. Speak so that everyone can
understand you, and use correct pronunciation.
o Pitch: Pitch refers to the degree our voices are high or low. Each of us has a
habitual pitch, or level at which we speak most frequently, and an optimum pitch,
or the level at which we can produce our strongest voice with minimal effort and
that allows variation up and down the scale. Most people's optimum pitch is 4 or 5
notes up from the lowest note they can sing. Effective speakers use their optimum
pitch as a base but vary their pitch for emphasis. Avoid a monotone (monotonous)
delivery.
o Rhythm: Rhythm is extremely important to your delivery – It involves the
characteristic pattern of your volume and pitch. Have you ever heard someone
described as having a "singsong" voice? This means that the speaker's voice is
consistently going up and then down in pitch in a predictable an sometimes
irritating pattern. Although variation in the rhythm of your voice is certainly to be
encouraged, the exact pattern of variations shouldn't be predictable.
o Tempo: This is the rate at which you produce sounds. It partly depends on
geographical location; in Tennessee, we speak a little slower than Iowans.
Geography aside, researchers have found that a moderate to fast pace tends to be
associated with audience perceptions of increased competence. There's a ceiling
to this effect. A too-quick speech conveys only nervousness. The best advice is to
vary your tempo, average the speed at which you audience normally speaks, and
learn to use pauses for emphasis.
o Important as it is, your voice is but a single component of your overall
performance. Not all great speakers have great voices. Most people under-utilize
their voices – the question is whether you're willing to work to improve yours.
Content
Have faith in your material. Delivery can make a good speech great, but no delivery style
can salvage an empty speech.
Speech Anxiety continued
Tips for Improving Your Voice
Relax
Vocal sounds are produced by taking air and expelling it through the trachea across our
vocal cords, which are contained in the larynx. Variations in the amount and speed of air
expelled result in variations in sound. Muscle tension also has an effect. Nasality,
shrillness or screeching, and excessive rates of speech are consequences of tension and
stress.
Breathe Properly
If you breathe by raising your shoulders instead of in from your diaphragm, the muscles
in your neck and throat will become tense. This can result in a harsh, strained vocal
quality. Also, you probably won't take in enough air to sustain your phrasing, and it will
become difficult to control the release of air. The air and sound then all come out with a
rush when you drop your shoulders, leading to unfortunate oral punctuation marks when
you neither want nor need them.
Stand Up
Good posture leads to good voice. Find your center of balance; usually this means
standing with your feet apart at about shoulder width. Pull your shoulders back and keep
your chin up and off your chest. This will improve your air flow by making your trachea
straighter. It also improves the audience's perception of your confidence.
Find a Model
Listen to the tapes of your speeches. If you think you need more vocal variation (and you
probably do at this level), pick out someone whose vocal characteristics you admire, then
repeatedly listen to that person. Try to imitate your model's vocal variation. If you are
tone deaf, have a friend help you or consider taking a voice class.
Practicing for Presentation
1. Practice your speech using a detailed outline.
2. Continue practicing, using the outline less and increasing eye-contact with your
imagined audience.
3. Practice from a key-word outline, reading only direct quotations.
4. Work on integrating body language and visual aids into your verbal message.
5. Check the timing of your speech.
6. Practice in front of friends, listen to their advice, and make changes if
necessary.
7. Practice some more until you feel comfortable and confident.
Research shows that delivery directly impacts other speech elements. It determines how
well your speech is understood. It highlights important points. It makes transitions. It can
create a hook and give a sense of closure. Improving your delivery, therefore, will
improve your speech as a whole.
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[All material stolen from Danna Prather, who stole it from Osborn & Osborn's Public
Speaking (Houghton Mifflin, 3rd ed. 1994) and Brydon & Scott's Between One & Many
(Mayfield, 2nd ed. 1997).]