The Fear of Public Speaking

By: Demetrio Limbauan

The fear of public speaking is the most common phobia ahead of death, spiders, or heights. The
National Institute of Mental Health reports that public speaking anxiety, or gloss phobia, affects
about 73% of the population. The underlying fear is judgment or negative evaluation by others.
Public speaking anxiety is considered a social anxiety disorder
The Fear of Public Speaking is worse than the Fear of Death Evolution psychologists believe
there are primordial roots. Our prehistoric ancestors were vulnerable to large animals and harsh
elements. Living in a tribe was a basic survival skill. Rejection from the group led to death.
Speaking to an audience makes us vulnerable to rejection, much like our ancestors’ fear. A
common fear in public speaking is the brain freeze. The prospect of having an audience’s
attention while standing in silence feels like judgment and rejection.
Why the Brain Freezes The pre-frontal lobes of our brain sort our memories and is sensitive to
anxiety. Dr. Michael DE Georgia of Case Western University Hospitals, says: “If your brain
starts to freeze up, you get more stressed and the stress hormones go even higher. That shuts
down the frontal lobe and disconnects it from the rest of the brain. It makes it even harder to
retrieve those memories.”
The fight or flight response activates complex bodily changes to protect us. A threat to our safety
requires immediate action. We need to respond without debating whether to jump out of the way
of on oncoming car while in an intersection. Speaking to a crowd isn’t life threatening. The
threat area of the brain can’t distinguish between these threats.
Help for Public Speaking Anxiety We want our brains to be alert to danger. The worry of having
a brain freeze increases our anxiety. Ironically, it increases the likelihood of our mind’s going
blank as Dr. DE Georgia described. We need to recognize that the fear of brain freezing isn’t a
life-or-death threat like a car barreling towards us while in a crosswalk.
Change How We Think About Our Mind Going Blank. De-catastrophize brain freezes. It might
feel horrible if it happens in the moment. The audience will usually forget about it quickly. Most
people are focused on themselves. We’ve handled more difficult and challenging situations
before. The long-term consequence of this incident is minimal.
Leave it there. Don’t dwell on the negative aspects of the incidents. Focus on what we can learn
from it. Worry that it will happen again will become self-fulfilling. Don’t avoid opportunities to
create a more positive memory. Perfectionism won’t help. Setting unachievable standards of
delivering an unblemished speech increases anxiety. A perfect speech isn’t possible. We should
aim to do our best instead of perfect. Silence is gold. Get comfortable with silence by practicing
it in conversations. What feels like an eternity to us may not feel that way to the audience.
Silence is not bad. Let’s practice tolerating the discomfort that comes with elongated pauses.