2 Speech Anxiety

If you feel anxious about giving a speech, know you are not alone. It is so common that there is even a psychological term for it: glossophobia.

The main thing is not to let anxiety affect your performance or discourage you from public speaking opportunities. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld parodied this sentiment when he commented during his Seinfeld TV show on May 29, 1993, “Some people are so afraid of public speaking that they would rather be the guy in the coffin than have to stand up and give the eulogy.”

Some nervousness can be beneficial. It gives you an extra shot of adrenaline that can help you perform well. The old public speaking saying goes, “It’s okay to have butterflies before a speech, as long as they’re flying in formation.”

The best way to mitigate anxiety is to put your attention on your message rather than on yourself. Focus on your content and view yourself as the channel. Once you begin thinking, “How am I doing?” you are misdirecting your energy.

This kind of thinking is easier said than done. Some speaking anxiety is inevitable. Refrain from being overly concerned about perfection. No one gives a flawless speech. Even the great speeches that are held up as classic examples have imperfections. It would be hard for an audience to relate to a “perfect” speech; it would lack the humanness that is critical for connection. It is more important to “be yourself” and focus on authenticity than to aim for perfection. Be heartened by studies that have consistently shown that speakers rate themselves as having more performance anxiety than audiences perceive.

The best way to alleviate nervousness is to prepare well. The more work you do on the front end, the more positive you will feel about your potential success.