How To Conquer Public-Speaking Anxiety

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF a great communicator? Hopefully the answer is Yes. When the Graduate Management Admission Council surveyed the needs of 500 global employers, ‘communication excellence’ ranked as the most in-demand asset that an employee can bring to the table, with ‘presentation skills’ ranking close behind at number four. Clearly, the ability to make a compelling presentation is a critical competency for career success. Yet many of us dread it.

Experts at Chapman University estimate that at least 25 per cent of us experience significant levels of public-speaking anxiety also known as ‘speech anxiety’. This type of anxiety falls under the larger umbrella of ‘performance anxiety’ and is similar to the struggles that professional athletes and actors experience throughout their careers.

Public-speaking anxiety involves a pervasive and chronic pattern of worry and rumination about bad things happening when we talk in front of others. The imagination runs wild and we concoct scenarios of failure. This ‘worst-case scenario’ thinking can lead to a sense of dread every time we imagine speaking in front of others, in both our personal and professional lives. Some people feel utter panic — the fear of losing control, which triggers a cascade of complex physiological symptoms such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, shaking and blurred vision. Experts contend that dysfunctional and irrational thoughts can actually trigger this type of intense psycho-biological experience. The good news is, if we work on changing our thoughts, we can change our mindset and build the confidence