Speech Anxiety: Causes and Management - Assignment Example

 Speech Anxiety: Causes and Management Speech anxiety, which is also referred to as fear of public speaking, public speaking anxiety, stage fright, performance anxiety, and speech phobia (Speech Anxiety Cure.Com 2007), nervousness and “the jitters” (Colombo 2007), is recognized as the major fear of most people. Surveys conducted in the USA have demonstrated that speech anxiety is fear number one among Americans, going ahead of snakes, spiders, height, disease and even death (Brokaw 1999). The same surveys have shown that 85% of adults are disposed to this fear, with 5 % having its excessive form. Only 15 % of Americans are able to speak in public without fear, 5% of them getting pleasure from the process (Speech Anxiety Cure.Com 2007). Meanwhile, the ability of public speaking is one of the decisive in modern world, where one has to constantly communicate. We have to give public speeches at school in front of the class as we answer the learnt lesson, we have to defend a thesis at the university, and then we are to be interviewed by the employers, and to speak before our colleagues and subordinates. Besides, the broad requirements of PR and accountability, creativity and on-going training often put the modern person into the situations when he must perform and speak in the face of audience. There are two things to be understood: 1) speech anxiety is normal and common; 2) it can be managed. Speech anxiety is so common that even Sir Olivier Lawrence experienced it during his whole life, after many years of performing on stage. The greatest minds in psychology and psychiatry tried to understand its natured. Freud traced the roots of public fear to the moment of our birth, when we first appeared naked and helpless before the audience. Karl Jung based his explanation on the archetypical thinking of the humankind and the myth of Achilles with the weak heel of his. Thus Jung stated that our shyness comes from our assumption that our enemies (i.e. our listeners) are aware of our secret weakness. Alfred Adler found roots of shyness and anxiety in the “inferiority complex”, when we project our talents, knowledge and skills onto the audience, disempowering ourselves. McLuhan, contemplating on the performance anxiety of Sir Lawrence, explained it from the positions of social roles. Not knowing how to behave in the unusual situation, we feel anxiety (In Colombo 2007). Eric Berne would say that speech anxiety is the result of our parents’ impact, while Harry Adler (the author of several books on NLP) would say that it is the result of earlier negative experience recorded in our brain. We inherited the mechanism of speech anxiety from our predecessors, who had to mobilize to survive. There are several factor causing speech anxiety: the audience (speeches are usually associated with performance which is to be critically judged), the subject (one should know it), and the speaker (who is usually the harshest critic for himself). Anxiety is a mechanism of self-defense, when our organism, being under stress, creates additional adrenaline and epinephrine and releases them to blood to give us more energy for action. This hastens heart beating and raises blood pressure. You are faced with the situations known as “fight or flight”, when your organism is prepared to extreme actions. The stress is manifested both physiologically and psychologically. Then you are likely to experience one the commonly reported symptoms, including: shaky hands and/or knees, perspiration and sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach, going blank and stuttering, fidgeting and extra movement and blushing, dry mouth and squeaky or unpredictable voice (Hamilton 2000, Chattanooga state 2006). There is good news: we cannot experience all of them at once. Adrenaline accelerates body systems and increases muscle tension, we become stronger and faster. But then our mental signals may spoil everything. If you perceive public speaking as a normal situation, your agitation will only add you vivacity, while negative perception makes you feel threatened and your body releases more and more adrenaline, which leads to white noise and almost nausea in some cases. The physical signs of our nervousness make us feel yet more nervous. This is a closed circular system: negative thinking (“stinking thinking”) – physical reaction – increased dread (more negative thinking) – increased physical reaction – avoidance – “stinking thinking”. There are two definitions to mind. Anxiety is “the anticipation of a situation that is perceived as threatening”, while speech anxiety is “the fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with others” (Chattanooga state 2006). It means that changing our attitude towards public speaking one is able to reduce his speech anxiety. Another way of coping with speech anxiety is using physical tools. However, the very first recommendation is to define your personal symptoms of anxiety, so that to choose special management tools. Physical tools are good for everybody. They can be used with several purposes: to relax so that you could concentrate on preparation, calm your last-minute jitters before the speech and adapt your physical reactions during the speech. The major three physical tools recommended are: muscular relaxation, abdominal breathing and physical exercises. Muscular relaxation is possible due to the fact that our body is not able to experience opposite states simultaneously. So if you strain your muscles for some time, they will relax. It is possible to do dome exercises just before the speech or right during it. One may strain his fist or fingers, legs or belly. As you relax, your muscles stay relaxed and thus you eliminate the anxiety symptoms. Abdominal Breathing is breathing in your belly, from your abdomen, just as you did it in childhood or do when sleeping. Slow deep breathing calms you down, slowing your heart rate and increasing your ability to concentrate. It is preferable to practice this technique beforehand. However, you are not to forget to breathe this way before and during the speech. Finally, studies have shown that those who practice physical exercises on regular basis have the lower level of anxiety than those who don’t. Many professional speakers do physical exercises just before a speech. This way they release extra energy, which would otherwise come out in fidgeting, general agitation or excessive shifting of weight. Exercises like “The Windmill” usually combine physical load with abdominal breathing (Chattanooga state 2006). Mental Tools include cognitive restructuring, positive visualization, rational emotive therapy, systematic desensitization, self-hypnosis, auto-suggestion, mind control, “keying,” “cueing,” “conditioning,” “distancing,” “positive reinforcing”, etc. Cognitive restructuring and rational emotive therapy suggest hat you simply talk your fears out, realizing that fear is irrational and substituting it with positive expectations. Positive visualization allows living through the day and immediate moments preceding the speech and the speech itself looking at the situation through the prism of a positive slide. Systematic Desensitization presupposes intentional preparations through training in muscle relaxation, in combination with visual imagery and pilot speeches in front of the mirror, camera or friends (Brokaw 1999, Chattanooga state 2006, Hamilton 2000). John Robert Colombo (2007) offers an interesting NLP exercise of his. Listen to yourself. You are to define the location of your anxiety and visualize it, giving it a name. Then you are able to communicate with it. For instance, you imagine that your growling stomach is a barking dog, Ralph by name. Then you are simply to say to him with love and calmness of a master: “Down, Ralph!” Finally, there are practical tools requiring: Be Prepared. There are numerous rules to be remembered as you prepare for a speech. Leave nothing to a chance is rule No.1. If you care about the results of your speech think it over thoroughly. You should know yourself, i.e. your symptoms and possible behavioral patterns that are to be changed and avoided, and use the physical or mental tools for correction. You should know your audience, so that to deliver that information, which will be interesting to people and in the words clear to them. It is preferable to check the conditions under which you will speak so that to know how to organize your presentation effectively. At last you should know the material. The mistakes are both to read and memorize the material. You should understand the major concepts and concentrate on the message not on words. If the information is excessive, prepare visual aids: Posters, PowerPoint, Objects, Videos, etc. If you need an assistant, ask somebody to help you. A “gimmick” for each part of your speech (music, skits, slides, etc) will provide you with additional time for looking through your papers and concentrating. It is preferable to rehearse your speech several times, alone, before a mirror, standing in the corner (to hear your voice), recording it on a tape, in the face of friendly audience, checking the timing, in brief, until you feel confident. It is useful to prepare the outline, done in big fonts and representing the major citations and key words or ideas. Such an outline is prepared in several stages. Rehearse you body and facial movements. Think over your appearance: clothes and shoes must be comfortable, nice, clean and well-ironed. Set realistic goals and think positive thoughts. Your audience is not going to eat you, but usually wants you to succeed. Don’t be in a hurry: relax and feel calm before speaking. Take several minutes to concentrate and breathe. Speak in your usual voice and tempo. Focus on the message and not your fear. Walk and move calmly and don’t pack up before you’ve finished. Look at friendly faces and don’t concentrate on those boring or irritated ones: people may have a headache or problems, so that their facial expression has nothing to do with your speech. It is possible to warm up the voice by singing before the speech. One should also not eat chocolate or nuts, drink milk or juice, which is bad for cords. See for a glass of water being at hand. At last, you may simply pretend you are not afraid: act the role. Anyway, this is only a speech and you have your family and friends, or at least, a dog that loves you. Don’t be too tough on yourself (Kurtus 2001; Halverson-Wente 2002; Craig 1999; Brokaw 1999). Love yourself (Me). Speech anxiety is the most spread fear of people all over the world. Its causes are of both physiological and psychological nature. Though there is a set of commonly named symptoms of anxiety, each of us experiences his own individual symptoms. There are three major sets of anxiety management tools: physical, mental and practical (i.e. preparation). One should know his own peculiarities and choose those of tools helpful to cure the particular signs of speech anxiety. References: Brokaw, Renee (1999). Anxiety Speech. Introduction to Speech Communication. February 09. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~rbrokaw/speech_anxiety.html - 8k Chattanooga State Technical Community College (2006). Speech Anxiety. The Center for Distributed Education. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from www.chattanoogastate.edu/cde/anxiety/nature.htm - 10k Colombo, John Robert (2007).Speech Anxiety: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking. SpeechCoachforExecutives.com. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from www.speechcoachforexecutives.com/speech_anxiety.html - 31k Craig, J.P. (1999). Tips for Controlling the Sources of Speech Anxiety. University of Iowa, Rhetoric 10:02:24 Online Resources. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from http://www.uiowa.edu/~c100298/anxiety.html Halverson-Wente, Lori (2002). Dealing with Communication Anxiety and Public Speaking. Speech Anxiety Website. January 15. December 22. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from http://www.roch.edu/dept/spchcom/anxiety_handout.htm Hamilton, Karen E.(2000). Coping with Speech Anxiety. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from webhome.idirect.com/~kehamilt/spkanxiety.html - 14k Kurtus, Ron (2001). Overcome the fear of Speaking to Groups. School for Champions. December 22. Retrieved November 20, 2007 from: www.school-for-champions.com/speaking/fear.htm - 22k Speech Anxiety Cure.Com (2007). Why does public speaking create such fear in us? Retrieved November 20, 2007 www.speechanxietycure.com/ - 64k Read More