How to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking

Are you afraid to speak in public or in a work meeting?  If so, you are not alone.

Did you know that approximately 73% of people fear Public Speaking?  That is more than dying, suggesting that people are more afraid of speaking at the funeral than being the dead person.

Take a moment and grasp that thought.

The good news is that there is a way to solve the fear of speaking in public.  But, first, it is important to unpack what causes the fear of speaking in public.

Fears behind public speaking

The fear of public speaking isn't so much about speaking, but it is about the following fears:

Fear of forgetting or mind going blank

Fear of looking foolish

Fear of offending someone

Fear of hurting someone's feeling

Fear of looking stupid

Fear of looking too smart

Fear of being embarrassed

Fear of not being perfect

Fear of not pleasing someone

Fear of not being funny enough

Fear of what others will think about you

If you fear public speaking, you may be experiencing one of many of these fears or some other story in your mind.

Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn or Faint

As well, your brain is designed to protect you.  So, under stress, your brain will start to enter protection mode to keep you safe.  

You may experience one of these reactions.

Fight: take action to resolve the danger.

Flight: take action to escape the danger.

Freeze: become immobile in the sign of danger.

Fawn: take action to try and please the situation, avoiding conflict.

Faint: a temporary loss of consciousness.

So, what is leading to these fears and your brain's protection mode?  

Research indicates we are only born with two natural fears.  The two fears are the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.

The cause of the fear of public speaking is the negative thoughts we have picked up at some point in our lives.  These come from observations and experiences in which we have created a negative thought pattern around them.

Arron Beck, MD, called these ANTs or Automatic Negative Thoughts.  Your brain rehearses these same negative thoughts 90% of the time daily.  Everyone experiences ANTs, so recognize that your negative thoughts are normal.

The challenge is, do you allow these ANTs to rule your day, or do you have a process to recognize them for what they are and how to switch to positive thoughts?

Simple Tool to Replace Your ANTs with Positive Thoughts

Try this simple tool to help you pay attention to these negative thoughts and switch them to positive ones:

1. Acknowledge the Thought.  Say to yourself, "I am experiencing this negative thought...(state what the thought is)."
2. Acknowledge the Feeling.  Say to yourself, "This thought is making me feel (describe the feeling) this way."
3. Acknowledge the Behaviour.  Say to yourself, "When I think and feel this way, I behaviour or act like (...state the behaviour or action.)
4. Next, take 3 to 5 slow deep breaths, allowing you to reset your parasympathetic nervous system.
5. Choose the new behaviour.  Say to yourself, "Instead, I am behaving and acting like (.....state the new behaviour/action)
6. Choose the new feeling.  Say to yourself, "I am feeling (state the new feeling you want)." Keep breathing slowly and allow your body to generate this new feeling.
7. Choose a new thought.  Say to yourself, "I am thinking ....(describe the new thought you would like to experience)."

Repeat this process when you have a negative thought that stops you from using your voice.

The fun fact about our mind is that it does not know what is real or imagined.  So the more you practice imaging better results, the easier it will get to overcome the fear you are experiencing.

Suppose you want to take this experience deeper and faster to help you overcome a fear of speaking at work or in life.  In that case, hypnosis is an effective tool to help you create an experience to uncover the story your mind is imagining and provide you with a new one to practice to retrain your brain.

If you are ready to own your voice and want to release the negative thoughts holding you back, I invite you to discover if hypnosis or coaching is a good solution.

Click this link for a complimentary consultation.

In as little as 90 minutes, we can unpack the ANTs and provide you with a new custom brain training exercise to have you feeling relaxed and confident speaking in public.

Your voice and ideas deserve to be shared out loud.