- Hypnosis can transform the way you feel about speaking in public and greatly enhance your performance.
What is Fear of Public Speaking?
Also often referred to as public speaking phobia, public speaking fear, public speaking anxiety, presentation anxiety, performance anxiety, performance nerves and stage fright. In various surveys, the fear of public speaking often ranks as the number one fear. Surprisingly many people will rank the fear of public speaking higher than the fear of dying.
Someone experiencing public speaking anxiety is feeling the effects of the ‘fight or flight’ response. The fight or flight response is our mind and bodies natural response to a perceived threat. The perceived threat itself may be physical or psychological in nature. (e.g. making a scene, looking foolish, not being liked or accepted, appearing weak, potential physical harm etc.)
When it is activated, hormones are released into the body to enable us to either deal with or escape from the dangerous situation.
The effects of the fight or flight response include an increase in our heart rate to pump blood faster to the lungs, muscles and brain. We breath more rapidly to increase our oxygen levels, our muscles tense ready for action and many functions not necessary for fighting or escaping, such as digestion or reproduction, slow or stop.
It is important to realise that all anxiety including public speaking anxiety starts with our thoughts, and it is our brain that then stimulates the release of the various stress hormones. It is the negative thoughts we have about what is happening in the world around us, or other people, or our own bodily sensations, or even our own thoughts that will start the anxiety response within our body.
In some ways our minds and bodies can’t tell the difference between the thoughts about a situation and the situation itself. Therefore by simply thinking negatively, worrying, or ‘what if’-ing about an upcoming presentation, speech or performance, you are activating the fight or flight response in exactly the same way as if you were actually experiencing it in reality.
Symptoms of public speaking anxiety / performance anxiety may include:
| Breathing difficulties | Excessive perspiration | Tingling feeling |
| Tightening of the throat | Light-headedness | Hyperventilation |
| Frequent need to urinate | Muscle Tension | Diarrhoea |
| Chest pain | Sweating hands | Sleeping difficulties |
| Headaches | Neck pain | Catastrophic thinking |
| Dissociative symptoms | Depersonalisation | Aching jaw |
| Extreme exhaustion | Lack of concentration | Feeling detached from body |
| Nausea and/or vomiting | Digestive problems | Fear of being ‘found out’ |
| Pounding heart | Trembling | Short term memory loss |
| Fear of embarrassment | Ice cold feeling | Hot prickly feeling |
| Choking sensation | Intense heat | Indigestion |
| Pins and needles | Fear of losing control | Fear of making a fool of self |
| Fear of going insane | Fear of having a heart attack | Feelings of inferiority / inadequacy / weakness |
| Churning/burning stomach | Muscle pain | Sense of shame |
NOTE: If you are suffering from any of the above physical symptoms then do discuss them with a doctor first to rule out any potential physical causes.
Common situations which often provoke public speaking and performance anxiety include:
- Wedding Speeches
- Presentations
- Meetings
- Interviews
- Exams
- Acting Auditions and Performances
- Musical Performances
- Speaking on the telephone
- Being put on the spot
- Being the centre of attention
Panic Attacks
A panic attack may also be experienced as part of the public speaking anxiety or performance anxiety, and is an intense rush of very uncomfortable physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, nausea, light headedness, shortness of breath, inability to concentrate, and confusion. Which is coupled with negative thoughts about the situation (e.g. making a scene, looking foolish, not being liked or accepted, having a heart attack, not being able to breathe etc.).
Symptoms of panic attacks can include palpitations, sweating, trembling or shaking, sensations of shortness of breath or smothering, feeling of choking, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal distress, dizziness or light-headedness, de-realisation or depersonalisation, fear of losing control or going ‘crazy’, fear of dying, paraesthesia, and chills or hot flushes.
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