Managing Speech Anxiety
All the time you spend rehearsing can be undermined if your nerves take over once you’re in front of an audience. But being nervous about speaking in public, or speech anxiety, is a common experience for many people, because no one wants to lose face or become embarrassed in a public setting (Buss, 1980). Potentially adding to that fear are your own negative thoughts. As Chapter 2 discusses, self-fulfilling prophecies are predictions you make about interactions that lead you to communicate in ways that make those predictions come true. This can happen in any communication context, whether group, interpersonal, or public speaking. Studies have shown that people who experience high levels of anxiety about giving a speech often have thoughts such as “I’m really going to blow this!” (Ayres, 1988). If you think like this, it is more likely to happen.
Finding remedies for speech anxiety has long been a focus of research (McCroskey, 2009; Smith, Sawyer, & Behnke, 2005). Although there is no “magic pill” cure, there are several strategies to help reduce the nervousness associated with public speaking. If you experience speech anxiety, here are some suggestions to try:
- Look for opportunities to speak up in large groups. Make comments and ask questions whenever you’re in a large group, such as a classroom, a forum, or a meeting. These experiences will gradually help reduce your feelings of self-consciousness when speaking in front of large groups.
- Choose speech topics that matter to you. If you can choose your speech topics, select subjects that you find interesting or important. This way, you’ll be more focused on your message than on yourself, so you’ll feel less nervous (Motley, 1990).
- Create a situational analysis. During the rehearsal step of your speech preparation, spend some time learning about your speech setting and equipment needs. You will feel more comfortable and confident if you are familiar with the room setup. Trying to find a power outlet for your laptop just moments before the actual presentation will waste time and cause nervousness. Conduct a situational analysis by thinking about and planning for your physical settings before the actual presentation day (see Table 15.2).
- Expect the unexpected. Even if you conduct a thorough situational analysis, you can still be met with a last-minute surprise. Having to adapt to such surprises can magnify speech anxiety because you’ll suddenly feel stressed. For example, how would you handle losing the USB drive containing your PowerPoint slides? Try to plan ahead for things that might go wrong so you won’t have to make last-minute, under-pressure decisions (e.g., putting your slides in more than one place). Being prepared for such “unexpected” events will help boost your confidence overall.
- Know your introduction. During the first few minutes of a speech, your nervousness peaks, since this is the time when your audience is the most attentive to you (Buss, 1980). Take time to rehearse exactly what your first few words are going to be as you greet your audience and begin your presentation.
- Use visualization techniques. If you’ve ever been involved in competitive sports, you know it can be helpful before a competition to quiet your mind and body and imagine yourself succeeding. Visualization is just as effective in reducing pre-speech jitters (Ayres & Ayres, 2003; Ayres & Hopf, 1987). To visualize a successful presentation, follow these steps: (1) relax your body through deep, concentrated breathing; (2) develop a vivid image of yourself confidently moving through your day; (3) imagine yourself successfully presenting; and (4) visualize yourself getting praise from your audience and others after the speech (Ayres & Hopf, 1987). You can also watch videos of successful speakers and then substitute your own image for those speakers in a visualization session (Ayres, 2005).
- Practice. Students who have an intense fear of public speaking spend less time practicing and more time preparing their notes (Ayres, 1996). Prepared notes, however, won’t improve your delivery; only practice can do that. But just standing before a mirror reciting your speech isn’t practice. Later in this chapter we discuss more about practicing and getting feedback on your speech. Taking time to practice will relieve a lot of speech anxiety.
Finally, your enrollment in this class will provide experiences with public speaking. This will reduce its novelty and help you feel more confident when presenting.