Identifying Anxiety Triggers

Page 288

Before you can conquer your nervousness, you need to identify it. Just what has you so frightened? Research, as well as our personal experiences, points to several key factors, including upsetting experiences, fear of evaluation, and distaste for attention (Ayres, 2005; Bodie, 2010).

Upsetting Experiences. Anna forgot her line in the second-grade school play, and the audience laughed. They thought it was adorable, but to Anna, the experience was devastating. It’s fairly common for a negative experience in our past to shape our expectations for the future, but it’s important to remember that it’s never too late to learn or improve on personal skills. Anna needs to think about other skills that she has mastered, despite her initial nervousness: she was anxious the first time she drove a car, for example. With practice, she was able to master it—even though she failed her first road test. She needs to approach public speaking with the same kind of “try, try again” attitude.

Fear of Evaluation. Anna’s anxiety about public speaking may not be about speaking but about being evaluated on her speaking abilities: graded in class or laughed at in other situations. We all feel this way from time to time, but Anna must remember that her instructor will consider other aspects of her speech preparation, including her organization and research. In addition, she should recall that she’s not under the intense scrutiny that she imagines: in most public speaking situations, the audience wants the speaker to succeed. Keeping the presentation in this perspective will help her feel less anxiety.

Distaste for Attention. Alonzo loves to sing in the car, in the shower, and at concerts. But he refuses to sing a solo because being the center of attention makes him feel incredibly uncomfortable. While he may be able to avoid singing a solo, he will likely have to speak publicly at some point. He can minimize his discomfort with being the center of attention by thinking of his speech as an opportunity to communicate with a group rather than to perform. In other words, if he were to give the best-man speech at his brother’s wedding, he’d be communicating with a group of family members and close friends (people who share his love for his brother) rather than putting on a performance.