What Causes the Fear of Public Speaking and How to Overcome this Fear

What causes the fear of public speaking? Why do I get heart palpitations? I mean, I like to think of myself as being an expert in your field (at least within my own company.) And I know what I’m talking about. After all, I’ve worked in my field for years. I’ve done my research. So, why do I break out into a cold sweat when I have to speak in front of groups of people?

If you have ever asked yourself any of these questions, you’re not alone. The fear of public speaking is a common social phobia. In fact, it is actually one of the most common fears in the world. Some people just feel a little jittery and get dry mouth. For others, the fear that they experience can be so elevated that it can be categorized as a speech anxiety. Most of us, though, are somewhere in between these two extremes. We may experience a few symptoms of public speaking anxiety. The process is uncomfortable. But, the good news is that this public speaking anxiety has common symptoms and fortunately, there are ways to remedy them.

You don’t have to live with it, or suffer through it. The key lies in understanding the causes of the fear of public speaking, and dealing with those individual issues. Possible reasons for anxiety during public speaking situations have fairly common causes and have simple fixes.

Here Are Some of the Causes of the Fear of Public Speaking and How to Overcome these Fears.

Once you understand the root cause of your anxiety, you’ll often immediately begin to experience less fear. A lot of the fear comes from imagining the worst-case scenario in our heads and then psyching ourselves out before we ever even get in front of a crowd. The major thing to remember, though, is that all of the most confident speakers in the world started out as nervous speakers. Many of them felt the same physical symptoms of nervousness that you are feeling. They overcome this fear. You can too!

Here are the main causes of public speaking fear that we see most often. If you are experiencing any of these fears, click the link to access additional information about how to overcome that specific cause of performance anxiety.

• Lack of Experience Speaking in Front of a Formal Audience.
• A Concern that Others Are Judging You.
• Insufficient Preparation (Or Just Thinking that You Haven’t Prepared Enough.)
• Past Negative Experiences or a Prior Traumatic Experience.

Lack of Experience Speaking in Front of a Formal Group.

The first, and most common, cause of the fear of public speaking is lack of experience. See if this sounds familiar.

Your heart rate increases, and your palms sweat when you’re up on stage. Your voice shakes. Guess what? If you are new to speaking in front of a group and any of these things are happening to you, you’re normal. Most of these things are just symptoms of nervous energy.

Unfortunately, the only way to conquer this nervousness is to gain more experience. That is why people often take a good public speaking class to get that experience in a controlled environment. Classes work well because they allow each speaker to stand in front of an audience without the risk of failure. Since everyone in the room is working to become better public speakers, a class becomes a shared experience. You’ll learn from your own practice, and you also get a chance to see others in the group practice and grow as well If you have a good coach, then after each presentation, you’ll receive positive feedback. This will help you focus on your strengths as a presenter.

Obviously, I’m a big believer in public speaking classes. That’s why we offer so many throughout the year. A big cause of public speaking fear is speaking so infrequently. For instance, if you only drove your car once every two years, you’ll be a nervous wreck (no pun intended) every time you got behind the wheel. Your nervousness decreased over time because you started driving so frequently. That is what a class does for you. It gives you a series of positive experiences in a short period of time.

If you can’t find a class close to you, try looking for a Toastmasters International group. It is a great alternative.

Concern that Others Are Judging You.

Another big cause of public speaking fear is when you feel like the audience is judging you. People sometimes refer to this as imposter syndrome. What is going to happen when the people I’m speaking to figure out that I’m a fraud? This is a self-imposed self-consciousness. Remember that you are speaking in front of the group because you have information that they need.

If someone else in the room was more of an expect on that topic, they’d be the one in front to of the group. There are a couple of solutions to this type of nervousness. The first and easiest solution is to just accept it. Okay, the audience is judging me. So what? How does that change anything? Someone judging you doesn’t have any bearing on your performance. They can’t make you a better speaker or a worse speaker. Really though, most audiences are more interested in themselves than in you. They have problems, and your information can help them solve these problems.

So the second solution is to stop focusing on yourself and focus more on your audience members. From the moment you walk into that conference room, ask yourself, “How can I help the people in my audience understand this content better?” Then, your stress hormones that were causing negative thoughts and panic attacks now help you present more effectively. The negative energy now becomes positive energy.

All you have to do is change your focus.

Insufficient Preparation (Or Just Thinking that You Haven’t Prepared Enough.)

This is one of the few causes of anxiety where you have 100% control. You should practice a couple of times before getting in front of a group of people to present. Practicing reduces the chance of brain freeze by providing a bit of muscle memory. Your brain will remember the flow of your presentation after practicing, whether you do it fully or not.

However, keep in mind that practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes permanent. So if you practice a very bad speech, you’re going to get really good at giving a very bad speech. That isn’t good for you or your audience. So when you design your presentation, remember that less is more. Just like in the previous tip, focus an the audience and what they want and need to know. Then, limit the content of your speech to just the most important things that need to be covered. (You don’t have to explain everything — just the most important things.)

This process will cut your preparation time significantly. It will also help you feel more prepared. (The audience will like the presentation better as well.)

A little word of warning, here, though. You can actually over-prepare too. Don’t fall into the trap of writing your presentation word-for-word or trying to memorize your speech. That will just cause you to be more nervous. And don’t spend hours creating your visual aids first and then trying to speak to the slideshow. Instead, organize your thoughts in the most important items your audience needs to know. Then create your slideshow to help you explain the content better.

For additional details about how to design an effective presentation, click here.

Past Negative Experiences or a Prior Traumatic Experience Can Cause Fear.

Negative past experiences can be a more serious cause of the fear of public speaking. With the exception of lack of experience, this fear causes more stage fright than any other cause. It is also more likely to cause your flight response to kick in.

Perhaps someone from the audience asked a question you couldn’t answer. Maybe you forgot your place and froze up for a few seconds. Or, more likely, you delivered a fine presentation. But in your head, the speech was a disaster. If you think you did poorly, even if you did well, your nervousness will increase the next time you get up to speak.

This cause of public speaking fear is more complicated and takes more to overcome. Every time you do something and have a success, your confidence in that thing grows. However, every time you do something and have a failure, your nervousness – your self-consciousness will grow. If you had a bad experience that is causing you to be nervous, you may create a self-fulfilling prophesy for yourself. Your nervousness may CAUSE you to have another bad experience.

The important point here is to avoid falling into a negative reinforcing cycle. You have to break the cycle and begin to experience a series of successes. The longer the series of negative experiences, the more positive experiences you will need to begin to grow your confidence.

A good analogy is learning to play golf. The more you practice a bad golf swing, the more difficult it will be to correct. However, going to a golf pro early will improve your swing more quickly. A good public speaking coach can do the same for your presentation skills.

If You Understand the Causes of Your Fear, You Can Do Something About Them.

If you understand these four causes of the fear of public speaking, you can deal with them. You probably noticed that in each of the scenarios above I mentioned that getting a speaking coach or going to a presentation class is a good solution. That wasn’t by accident. There really is no faster or easier way to overcome the fear of public speaking than by taking a good presentation class. Your coach can help you pinpoint small changes that you need to make to get great results.

Also, remember that there’s a reason you’re up in front of the group. Someone recognizes that what you have to share is valuable. Focus on that, and a lot of the nervousness will fade away.

If you want help in this process enroll in a Fearless Presentations® class. The fear will fade away a lot faster.