what are the causes of fear in public speaking?

Question

How to conquer these fears?

Answer 1

The first thing to understand is that fear is a natural and normal human 'negative' emotion. The purpose of negative emotions is to tell us that something isn't quite right; an indication that we need to take some kind of action.

In the case of fear, the message is 'danger'. While we are born with fear of loud noises and fear of heights 'pre-wired' in our nervous systems, all other fears are learned from experience, whether real or imagined. Learned fear is an important survival mechanism, but just occasionally the wires get crossed and we learn a fear response for something inappropriate, like appearing in front of others, and Fear Of Public Speaking can develop.

The Root Cause

The root cause of Fear Of Public Speaking varies from individual to individual, and whilst no two individuals are the same, most fall into one or more of the following categories:

A Single Traumatic Incident. A highly stressful or frightening real event at which, instantaneously Fear Of Public Speaking is created. Similar to, say, a child being bitten by a dog and developing an immediate phobia, a single traumatic incident is a one-time experience at which there is such extreme fear - even if only for a moment - that the nervous system 'learns' to associate fear to help the individual avoid such situations in futre.

The initial fear, by the way, may be nothing to do with appearing in front of others. We often hear from clients that the problem started at a time when they were under extreme stress for something completely unrelated, but the mind associated the negative feelings to 'performing' in front of others.

An Associated Traumatic Experience. This is where the individual does not directly experience the fear, but 'associates' to someone who does, either in a real situation, or, more rarely, when watching someone in a movie - or even a dream - experience a traumatic event.

A Slow Build. A slow build occurs when a mild case of Fear Of Public Speaking – probably rooted in a escalates over time to become a severe one. What is happening here is that the individual is 'accumulating' fearful experiences, so that the evidence used by the mind/nervous system is becoming increasingly irrefutable that fear is the appropirate emotion, so it is created automatically in anticipation each time... creating a self-fullfilling prophesy.

Sometimes Fear Of Public Speaking can simply be developed from seemingly harmless experiences, or seem like 'its always been like this'. The truth is it hasn't always been that way (have you ever seen a new born baby afraid of speaking up in front of a group?) but it may have started way back in an early childhood, possibly school, experience.

A 'Learned' Respose, like Fear Of Public Speaking can Always be Unlearned...

In all the years we've been helping people overcome the most extreme fears and phobias, we have never found a case that could not be overcome, provided the individual was determined to do so.

The human system is capable of learning new responses incredibly quickly (how else could a single incident lasting only a few seconds or minutes create a problem in the first place?) and with the correct techniques a fearless, comfortable response can always be restored.

Answer 2

well i would say low self esteem, or your a longer , or you just do not like to be in the spot light, phobia's, not thinking your speech is that good, just the nerves and shy type. and etc. Mainly i would say you would need to work on your self esteem, cause that is why you usually do not feel comfortable in front of a crowd, so you really need to start changing the way you think, when you think neg about yourself, well you need to stop there, and change it to an postive thought, i know this sounds easy but it is not, and it is hard work, but it is well worth it. If you can not do this without professional help then get a therapist , and like i said it is going to be hard work, and you may not enjoy trying to be or think positive, but it does work in time. So keep at it.

Answer 3

Maybe the primary reason is caused because you still haven't use yourself with this kind of activities.There's a few tips which i can have it for you.1.always make sure that you are integrally prepared with this.2.try to practice presenting it in front of the mirror or having it with the accompany either of your family and friends.3.get yourself relax and don't think anything worse are going to happen.4.think for the best and imagine what will going to happen when you successfully did it.all the best

Answer 4

Many reasons ... feeling exposed, fear of screwing up, social anxiety, etc.

Although I'm not a fan of "clubs" and such, I have friends who have overcome this fear by joining a local chapter of Toastmasters. Really works miracles.

Answer 5

Same fear as standing in front of a moving freight train. Practice, practice and more practice. Practice by doing it in front of ppl,how elce, School tells you to pretend the audience is sitting in their underware.

Answer 6

Making mistakes in front of people who are focused only on you.

I look past the audience to the back of the room and bascially pretend no one is there.

Answer 7

Being ridiculed and not understood. You can only overcome this by actually doing it - whether in practice or for real - in the deep end.

Answer 8

self confidence

read a lot, sometimes aloud. so when you speak you know what your are saying and won't be intimidated by your audience.

Answer 9

Be more social and talk to people more. And practice.