Chapter Four

1. Chapter Four Managing Speech Anxiety

2. Chapter Four Table of Contents • What Causes Public Speaking Anxiety? • Pinpointing the Onset of PSA • Strategies for Getting Started with Confidence*

3. Managing Speech Anxiety • The difference between seasoned public speakers and inexperienced speakers is that seasoned speakers are more practiced at making speech anxiety work for, and not against, them.*

4. What Causes Public Speaking Anxiety? • Researchers have identified several causes for public speaking anxiety (PSA), or the fear associated with either actual or anticipated communication to an audience as a speaker.*

5. What Causes Public Speaking Anxiety? • Lack of Experience • Feeling Different • Being the Center of Attention*

6. What Causes Public Speaking Anxiety? Lack of Experience • Anxiety is a natural reaction to new experiences. • Those who decide to avoid making speeches altogether lose out on speechmaking’s considerable rewards.*

7. What Causes Public Speaking Anxiety?Feeling Different • Despite people’s differences, almost everyone experiences nervousness about giving a speech. • Novice speakers become anxious because they worry that being unique also means being inferior, but everyone is different.*

8. What Causes Public Speaking Anxiety?Being the Center of Attention • You see yourself more critically than the audience does. • When listeners seem to be not paying attention, we think we must be doing something wrong—but in fact, audiences notice little about us that we don’t want to reveal.*

9. Pinpointing the Onset of Public Speaking Anxiety • The onset of PSA can occur at different times during the speechmaking process; for some people it arises as soon as they first learn they are to give a speech, for others it arises as they approach the podium.*

10. Pinpointing the Onset of Public Speaking Anxiety • Pre-Preparation Anxiety • Preparation Anxiety • Pre-Performance Anxiety • Performance Anxiety*

11. Pinpointing the Onset of Public Speaking Anxiety:Pre-Preparation Anxiety • Those who experience pre-preparation anxiety, or an anxiety the minute they know they will be giving a speech, may be reluctant to begin planning, or so preoccupied that vital information is missed.*

12. Pinpointing the Onset of Public Speaking Anxiety:Preparation Anxiety • Those who experience preparation anxiety feel anxious only when they begin to prepare, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of time and planning that is required.*

13. Pinpointing the Onset of Public Speaking Anxiety:Pre-Performance Anxiety • Pre-performance anxiety occurs when people rehearse their speech. They may realize their ideas don’t sound as focused or interesting as they should.*

14. Pinpointing the Onset of Public Speaking Anxiety:Performance Anxiety • The majority of people experience performance anxiety, or anxiety just before speaking begins; this is usually most pronounced during the introduction phase of the speech.*

15. Strategies for Getting Started with Confidence • The surest route to gaining confidence is through preparation and practice.*

16. Strategies For Getting Started With Confidence • Prepare and Practice • Modify Thoughts and Attitudes • Visualize Success • Use Relaxation Techniques • Depersonalize the Speech Evaluation • Seek Pleasure in the Occasion*

17. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Prepare and Practice • If you are confident that you know the material you are to present and have adequately rehearsed the delivery, you’ll feel more confident at the podium.*

18. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Modify Thoughts And Attitudes • Regard your speech as a valuable, worthwhile, and challenging activity. • Remind yourself why public speaking is helpful personally, socially, and professionally. • View public speaking as an opportunity, not a threat.*

19. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Visualize Success • Visualizing • A process (in the context of public speaking) of mentally seeing a series of positive feelings and reactions that will occur on the day of the speech*

20. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Use Relaxation Techniques • Stress-Control Breathing • A form of breathing in which the center of breathing is felt on the stomach rather than on the chest • Stage One • Inhale air and let your abdomen go out. Exhale air and let your abdomen go in. • Stage Two • As you inhale, use a soothing word such as “calm” or “relax.”*

21. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Use Relaxation Techniques • Practice some controlled, natural gestures that might be useful in enhancing your speech, such as holding up your index finger when starting your first main point.*

22. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Use Relaxation Techniques • Walk around as you make some of your points, instead of standing behind the podium the entire time. • Movement relieves tension, and it helps to hold the audience’s attention.*

23. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Depersonalize The SpeechEvaluation • Your concern as a speaker should be with your message, not yourself. • This will help to lessen your anxiety about presenting the speech. • It reminds you of your speech purpose. • Think of your speech as a conversation instead of a performance.*

24. Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:Seek Pleasure in the Occasion • Giving a speech can be satisfying and empowering. • If you prepare and practice, keep a positive attitude, make stress work for you, and visualize success, public speaking can be challenging and exciting.*