Why does trying to speak another language make us so nervous? It's incredible how someone can be brilliant in other highly complex subjects and have panic attacks when they have to learn another language. This is so common that there is even The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). So how can you overcome this common problem? Below are a few ideas that could help.Learning another language is hard and feeling nervous about learning it is normal. It's like having to give a presentation about what you've learned every day. That's not expected in any other subjects. You are often given weeks or at least days to prepare to present in other circumstances. Learning a language is different in so many ways.
People always experience the feeling of fear or being troubled before facing something that is challenging such as an examination, interview, test, and recital. Actually, these feelings are normal and can be easily justified. Anxiety is normal. It will become a problem if it interferes in your normal and regular daily activities. One of the most common symptoms of ineffective anxiety is the inability to sleep. If you can't continue life dealing with the public, you might suffer from a public speaking anxiety.Public speaking anxiety is commonly termed as stage fright or speech anxiety. Public speaking anxiety involves the feeling of fear to be evaluated or scrutinized by other people. The feeling of fear is always coming with several emotional and physical reactions that usually hinder the person's capability to deliver his presentation or speech successfully. Additional symptoms include an extreme feeling of anxiety, sweating, worry, shaking or trembling, nervousness, dizziness and fainting.
In medical terminologies, public speaking anxiety is referred to as "glossophobia." It is a very common reported type of social fears. It is actually normal that you will experience nervousness during your presentation or speech. However, in the case of a person with a Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), your feeling of anxiety during public speaking will take out and control your life. You will worry too much a few weeks to months before the date of your speech or presentation. On the day of the presentation, you will suffer from intense physical symptoms of anxiety such as pounding heart, blushing, inability to breathe, and quivering voice. These symptoms result from the flight or fight response of your body. There is a sudden release of adrenaline that prepares you for a sudden threat of danger. At this moment, you will experience loss of body control.
This line of thinking leads us to believe that nobody will like what we have to say. Well, I have news for you, not everyone will like what you say. Some people will and other people won't. There is nothing you can do about that, but to deliver your message.
One more thing - you do not have to take the medication I will recommend here forever. It is only necessary during the period of time that you are re-training your brain to understand that speaking in public is not a threatening situation and therefore it doesn't have to create an over-abundance of adrenaline in order to survive THEREFORE, THE MEDICATION IS REALLY A "TRAINING AID", NOT A "CRUTCH".Speaking in public is the No. 1 fear of Americans. It surpasses our fear of losing our jobs, losing our relationships and, believe it or not, people write in surveys they fear public speaking even more than death (although I suspect that given a true life and death situation, they could muster the courage to give a little speech).Because speaking in public opens the opportunity for us to be judged by others in a very personal way more so than any other activity we do in life. And it is this fear of being judged that creates anxiety that can be paralyzing at times. Simply put, many of us have a fear of looking foolish, of being laughed at, of making a mistake, of being vulnerable.
That was exactly my problem. For many years my fear of speaking in public kept me from advancement in my company because even though I was very competent in my field (in fact, more competent than many of my peers), I was perceived as not being as competent as those that could speak more authoritatively than I. It got so bad I had difficulty participating effectively in large meetings where I was an expert in the discussion area. I had to do something or my career, and my life for that matter, was going to be mediocre, at best and, at worst, a dismal failure.My background was research and so I began to investigate the causes of my inordinate fear to speak in public.Simply put - what I found changed my life forever and it will change yours too.When it comes to public speaking, there are several categories of people:About 5% of the population do not fear speaking in public at all and actually look forward to it in many cases. Another 10% are apprehensive to speak in public, but do not have a real fear of it.However, the vast majority of us (about 80%) have a mild to serious fear of speaking in public; we don't do it unless we have to and we tend to minimize the opportunities to speak in public if at all possible;
This approach can be accomplished by "breaking the ice" comments. Some people may engage in small talk prior to the official presentation to reduce anxiety.Know the Material.Out of all the tips, this one is crucial. Knowing what you are talking about will help you reduce anxiety. It is recommended to practice your speech. This exercise helps build confidence, and confidence will help reduce anxiety. Practice in front of a mirror if necessary.
For instance, if we were in a situation where we stood embarrassed in front of our schoolmates without saying a word,--- that could be it. Even though we were not speaking in public, our brains perceived our fear just standing there in front of other people as we thought that we looked foolish and/or scared. In a nutshell - what happens to some of us during this type of incident is our brain links our intense negative feelings with merely standing in front of other people as they look at us. It almost sounds silly that deep fears that control us as adults often have such trivial moments of creation in childhood. Often they last only a minute, but it is a minute that can last a lifetime. I'm sure the people who initiated these terrible incidents in our lives so many years ago never think back to them or to us for that matter. They have no idea what they said or did during that incident had such a profound and lasting effect on us.Our fears may only be "in our head" but that's enough to make us react as we do to speaking in public and other anxiety-prone situations. I'm sure you already realize - it's pretty difficult to change what's "in our head" even if we can figure out why it's "in our head" to begin with and why we react as we do to perceived "threatening situations" such as speaking in public.
Once you have your game plan prepared, imagine yourself giving the speech. Visualization is a technique that helps you become familiar with the event. Imagine you are giving the speech in front of a big group. The more you practice the material and the more you see yourself doing it, the less anxious you will be. It is alright to have an error or two. Many people, as mentioned before, think that every word or every sentence must be perfect. Keep in mind that your audience does not know what you have planned for them. If you omit a word or sentence, they will not notice it.
Remember that public speaking anxiety is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think the speech will go wrong, you will seek for validation of errors. Additionally, if you use visual aid make sure that if it does not work, you are prepared. That is why it is recommended for you to know the material. I have seen many presentations where the presenter relies heavily on the visual aid. Remember, the message is what is important. Everything else supplements your message.
Finally, have a conversation with the audience. When presenters tend to read from visual aids or cards, they are disengaged from the audience. Remember that your speech is not about you, it is about the audience. You are giving them something, a message. Engage them with a conversation. This approach will be and feel more natural. More importantly, it will help you reduce anxiety.Public Speaking is something we all have to do at some point. The more we do it, the easier it will be for you. Remember that it won't be perfect every time, but with practice you will become much better. The goal is not to get rid of the anxiety, but to learn to control it.
[Speaking Anxiety]
People always experience the feeling of fear or being troubled before facing something that is challenging such as an examination, interview, test, and recital. Actually, these feelings are normal and can be easily justified. Anxiety is normal. It will become a problem if it interferes in your normal and regular daily activities. One of the most common symptoms of ineffective anxiety is the inability to sleep. If you can't continue life dealing with the public, you might suffer from a public speaking anxiety.Public speaking anxiety is commonly termed as stage fright or speech anxiety. Public speaking anxiety involves the feeling of fear to be evaluated or scrutinized by other people. The feeling of fear is always coming with several emotional and physical reactions that usually hinder the person's capability to deliver his presentation or speech successfully. Additional symptoms include an extreme feeling of anxiety, sweating, worry, shaking or trembling, nervousness, dizziness and fainting.
In medical terminologies, public speaking anxiety is referred to as "glossophobia." It is a very common reported type of social fears. It is actually normal that you will experience nervousness during your presentation or speech. However, in the case of a person with a Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), your feeling of anxiety during public speaking will take out and control your life. You will worry too much a few weeks to months before the date of your speech or presentation. On the day of the presentation, you will suffer from intense physical symptoms of anxiety such as pounding heart, blushing, inability to breathe, and quivering voice. These symptoms result from the flight or fight response of your body. There is a sudden release of adrenaline that prepares you for a sudden threat of danger. At this moment, you will experience loss of body control.
This line of thinking leads us to believe that nobody will like what we have to say. Well, I have news for you, not everyone will like what you say. Some people will and other people won't. There is nothing you can do about that, but to deliver your message.
One more thing - you do not have to take the medication I will recommend here forever. It is only necessary during the period of time that you are re-training your brain to understand that speaking in public is not a threatening situation and therefore it doesn't have to create an over-abundance of adrenaline in order to survive THEREFORE, THE MEDICATION IS REALLY A "TRAINING AID", NOT A "CRUTCH".Speaking in public is the No. 1 fear of Americans. It surpasses our fear of losing our jobs, losing our relationships and, believe it or not, people write in surveys they fear public speaking even more than death (although I suspect that given a true life and death situation, they could muster the courage to give a little speech).Because speaking in public opens the opportunity for us to be judged by others in a very personal way more so than any other activity we do in life. And it is this fear of being judged that creates anxiety that can be paralyzing at times. Simply put, many of us have a fear of looking foolish, of being laughed at, of making a mistake, of being vulnerable.
That was exactly my problem. For many years my fear of speaking in public kept me from advancement in my company because even though I was very competent in my field (in fact, more competent than many of my peers), I was perceived as not being as competent as those that could speak more authoritatively than I. It got so bad I had difficulty participating effectively in large meetings where I was an expert in the discussion area. I had to do something or my career, and my life for that matter, was going to be mediocre, at best and, at worst, a dismal failure.My background was research and so I began to investigate the causes of my inordinate fear to speak in public.Simply put - what I found changed my life forever and it will change yours too.When it comes to public speaking, there are several categories of people:About 5% of the population do not fear speaking in public at all and actually look forward to it in many cases. Another 10% are apprehensive to speak in public, but do not have a real fear of it.However, the vast majority of us (about 80%) have a mild to serious fear of speaking in public; we don't do it unless we have to and we tend to minimize the opportunities to speak in public if at all possible;
This approach can be accomplished by "breaking the ice" comments. Some people may engage in small talk prior to the official presentation to reduce anxiety.Know the Material.Out of all the tips, this one is crucial. Knowing what you are talking about will help you reduce anxiety. It is recommended to practice your speech. This exercise helps build confidence, and confidence will help reduce anxiety. Practice in front of a mirror if necessary.
For instance, if we were in a situation where we stood embarrassed in front of our schoolmates without saying a word,--- that could be it. Even though we were not speaking in public, our brains perceived our fear just standing there in front of other people as we thought that we looked foolish and/or scared. In a nutshell - what happens to some of us during this type of incident is our brain links our intense negative feelings with merely standing in front of other people as they look at us. It almost sounds silly that deep fears that control us as adults often have such trivial moments of creation in childhood. Often they last only a minute, but it is a minute that can last a lifetime. I'm sure the people who initiated these terrible incidents in our lives so many years ago never think back to them or to us for that matter. They have no idea what they said or did during that incident had such a profound and lasting effect on us.Our fears may only be "in our head" but that's enough to make us react as we do to speaking in public and other anxiety-prone situations. I'm sure you already realize - it's pretty difficult to change what's "in our head" even if we can figure out why it's "in our head" to begin with and why we react as we do to perceived "threatening situations" such as speaking in public.
Once you have your game plan prepared, imagine yourself giving the speech. Visualization is a technique that helps you become familiar with the event. Imagine you are giving the speech in front of a big group. The more you practice the material and the more you see yourself doing it, the less anxious you will be. It is alright to have an error or two. Many people, as mentioned before, think that every word or every sentence must be perfect. Keep in mind that your audience does not know what you have planned for them. If you omit a word or sentence, they will not notice it.
Remember that public speaking anxiety is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think the speech will go wrong, you will seek for validation of errors. Additionally, if you use visual aid make sure that if it does not work, you are prepared. That is why it is recommended for you to know the material. I have seen many presentations where the presenter relies heavily on the visual aid. Remember, the message is what is important. Everything else supplements your message.
Finally, have a conversation with the audience. When presenters tend to read from visual aids or cards, they are disengaged from the audience. Remember that your speech is not about you, it is about the audience. You are giving them something, a message. Engage them with a conversation. This approach will be and feel more natural. More importantly, it will help you reduce anxiety.Public Speaking is something we all have to do at some point. The more we do it, the easier it will be for you. Remember that it won't be perfect every time, but with practice you will become much better. The goal is not to get rid of the anxiety, but to learn to control it.
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