Why Are We Scared of Public Speaking?

Understanding the roots of this common fear can help us conquer it

faster.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smashing-the-
brainblocks/201711/why-are-we-scared-public-speaking

Communicating your ideas clearly and presenting them openly in a

public forum is an essential component of success across several
domains of life. Being a good public speaker can help you advance
your career, grow your business, and form strong collaborations. It can
help you promote ideas and move people to action on issues that affect
them directly and society at large. To do any of these things well
requires a fair amount of standing in front of an audience and delivering
a pitch, an idea, or a body of work. And sometimes the only thing that
stands between you and your audience is fear.

Glossophobia — a really cool and geeky name for the fear of public
speaking — appears when you are performing or expecting to perform
an oral presentation or a speech in front of other people. Fear of public
speaking is frequently but incorrectly cited as people’s biggest fear.
Fear of public speaking is often not people’s biggest fear; there
are many other things that people are really scared of.
Nevertheless, fear of public speaking is very common; approximately 25
percent of people report experiencing it.

While some people experience a debilitating form of glossophobia,

even a mild form can have devastating effects. Fear of public speaking
can prevent you from taking risks to share your ideas, to speak about
your work, and to present your solutions to problems that affect many
people — and as a result, it can affect how much you grow personally
and professionally, and how much impact you can have. At the same
time, any negative public speaking experiences will make it less likely
that you will speak in public in the future — fear teaches you to protect
yourself from risky situations.
Why are we afraid of public speaking?

Fear of public speaking is not so much related to the quality of a speech

as it is to how the speaker feels, thinks, or acts when faced with speaking
in public. There are many reasons why people become afraid when
having to speak in public. The theories exploring fear of public
speaking have identified four contributing factors:

1. Physiology

Fear and anxiety involve the arousal of the autonomic nervous system in
response to a potentially threatening stimulus. When confronted with a
threat, our bodies prepare for battle. This hyperarousal leads to the
emotional experience of fear, and it interferes with our ability to perform
comfortably in front of audiences. Eventually, it prevents people from
pursuing opportunities for public speaking.

Some researchers suggest that there are people who generally

experience higher anxiety across different situations, and are therefore
more prone to feel anxious about speaking in public as well. People who
are predisposed to feeling anxious find it more challenging to master
their anxiety and conquer their fear of public speaking and will opt to
avoid it. For other people, the anxiety is limited to public speaking
situations, but the physiological signs of fear they experience as they
anticipate, prepare, and perform in public are similar. Moreover, some
people experience what researchers call anxiety sensitivity, or the fear
of fear. Anxiety sensitivity means that in addition to being worried about
public speaking, people are worried about their anxiety about public
speaking and how their anxiety will affect their ability to perform in
challenging communication situations. So, along with worrying about
whether they will accomplish their objectives with their speech, people
with high anxiety sensitivity also worry that they will be overwhelmingly
anxious in front of their audience, and they will come across as a shaky
speaker.
2. Thoughts

Another factor involves people’s beliefs about public speaking and

about themselves as speakers. The fear often arises when people
overestimate the stakes of communicating their ideas in front of others,
viewing the speaking event as a potential threat to their credibility,
image, and chance to reach an audience. Negative views of oneself as a
speaker (I am not good at speaking in front of crowds, I am not a good
public speaker, I am boring, etc.) can also raise anxiety and augment the
fear of speaking in public. Some theories make the distinction between a
performance orientation and a communication orientation. Performance
orientation means you view public speaking as something that requires
special skills, and you see the role of the audience as judges who are
evaluating how good of a presenter you are. In contrast, communication
orientation means that the main focus is on expressing your ideas,
presenting information, or telling your story. For people with this
orientation, the objective is to get through to their audience the same
way they get through to people during everyday conversations. Think
about this in reverse: If you view any conversation that you have in the
presence of another person as a form of “public” speaking, you have
enough evidence that you can express yourself clearly and
communicate effectively. You would then take the same approach to
public speaking events where the focus is simply on sharing ideas and
information. However, when the focus shifts from being heard and
understood to being evaluated, the anxiety tends to be higher.

3. Situations

While there are people who by nature tend to be more anxious, or

people who don’t think they are good at public speaking, there are
certain situations that are likely to make most of us more anxious when
presenting in a public forum.

 Lack of experience. As with anything else, experience

builds confidence. When you don’t have a lot of stage hours under
 your belt, you are more likely to experience fear of public
speaking.

 Degree of evaluation. When there is a real or imagined evaluation

component to the situation, the fear is stronger. If you are speaking
in front of a group of people who have the evaluation forms ready
to fill out, you may feel more anxious.

 Status difference. If you are about to speak in front of people of

higher status (e.g., people at your workplace in higher positions,
or groups of accomplished professionals in your line of work), you
may feel a higher dose of fear tingling through your body.

 New ideas. If you are sharing ideas that you have not yet shared in
public, you may worry more about how people will receive them.
When your public appearance involves presenting something
new, you may feel more uncomfortable stating your position,
taking questions from the audience, or dealing with those
audience members who try to poke holes.

 New audiences. You may already have experience speaking in

public and presenting to familiar audiences. You may, for instance,
be used to speaking in front of professionals in your area of
expertise. Fear may arise, however, when the target audience
shifts. If you are standing in front of an audience that is very
different from the people you usually speak to, your confidence
may be a little shaky.

4. Skills

Finally, another factor that contributes to the fear of public speaking is

how skilled you are in this area. While many people consider
themselves naturally good speakers, there is always room for growth.
The people who work on their skills, instead of relying on natural talent,
are the speakers who stand out the most. There are many different
approaches to enhancing this skill set and increasing competence in
public speaking. Increased competence leads to increased confidence,
which is an effective antidote to fear. Nevertheless, confidence alone
does not translate into effective public speaking.

The many benefits of sharing information and ideas in public definitely

outweigh the need to protect ourselves from the horror of having to
speak in front of others. The next logical question is: How do we conquer
this fear? Luckily, there are many approaches that work well, both in
terms of building skills and boosting confidence.

About the Author

Theo Tsaousides, Ph.D. is a neuropsychologist, assistant professor, and

author of the book Brainblocks: Overcoming the Seven Hidden Barriers to
Success.