Why does trying to speak another language make us so nervous? It's incredible how someone can be brilliant in other highly complex subjects and have panic attacks when they have to learn another language. This is so common that there is even The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). So how can you overcome this common problem? Below are a few ideas that could help.Learning another language is hard and feeling nervous about learning it is normal. It's like having to give a presentation about what you've learned every day. That's not expected in any other subjects. You are often given weeks or at least days to prepare to present in other circumstances. Learning a language is different in so many ways.
People always experience the feeling of fear or being troubled before facing something that is challenging such as an examination, interview, test, and recital. Actually, these feelings are normal and can be easily justified. Anxiety is normal. It will become a problem if it interferes in your normal and regular daily activities. One of the most common symptoms of ineffective anxiety is the inability to sleep. If you can't continue life dealing with the public, you might suffer from a public speaking anxiety.Public speaking anxiety is commonly termed as stage fright or speech anxiety. Public speaking anxiety involves the feeling of fear to be evaluated or scrutinized by other people. The feeling of fear is always coming with several emotional and physical reactions that usually hinder the person's capability to deliver his presentation or speech successfully. Additional symptoms include an extreme feeling of anxiety, sweating, worry, shaking or trembling, nervousness, dizziness and fainting.
We start thinking of multiple fallacies that we need to reject by critical thinking The most common irrational thought is that everything will go wrong like forgetting the material or how people will judge you. This is known as the fallacy of catastrophe. This fallacy triggers our sympathetic nervous system, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. That is why when we are nervous we may have sweaty palms or tremble. Another irrational thought is the fallacy of approval.
Let me also say this up-front - The information I present here will help those with a moderate to serious fear of speaking in public, as well as give "an edge" to those who do not really fear public speaking, but just want to improve their performance . Those that have used this information successfully have included many in business who must routinely give presentations , show business folks who want to be able to deliver the best performance possible and those who just join an organization and must participate in large meetings once in a while. The symptoms of fear that I will explain how to control are identical to all of us. The only thing that separates us in terms of public speaking is the severity of those symptoms and how we're able to control them.
Another irrational thought is the belief that people will notice everything. This is known as the fallacy of exaggeration. During a speech, some of us will tremble a little. Because we are in constant self-evaluation during a stressful situation, we believe that people will notice. Finally, the last fallacy is the fallacy of perfection. There is an implied belief that we must execute the most perfect speech ever. We are our own toughest critic. We believe that mispronouncing a word or skipping a sentence will ruin the whole speech.
The point is, the final job will not look half as good if the preparation work is not done well.It's the same with a good speech. If you don't collect together the material about which you are going to speak, sort it all into a sensible well thought out order so that all the points you want to cover are included and then arrange that material in an understandable way, your speech will be a disaster. Without that preparation, your task on the day will be immeasurably more difficult.But with all that preparation behind you, your confidence in your own ability with regard to the accuracy of the information should be OK.Your next task, of course, is the delivery of the speech and your preparation for your delivery should be just as thorough as your preparation of the content of the speech.So, what are the ways in which you can prepare yourself for delivery of your speech?During your preparation, find time to practise the speech. Read it through several times and you'll get a feel for how it sounds. If you can, record the speech as you hope to deliver it and listen to the playback carefully. Note down anything which didn't sound quite right so that you can change it at the end.
This approach can be accomplished by "breaking the ice" comments. Some people may engage in small talk prior to the official presentation to reduce anxiety.Know the Material.Out of all the tips, this one is crucial. Knowing what you are talking about will help you reduce anxiety. It is recommended to practice your speech. This exercise helps build confidence, and confidence will help reduce anxiety. Practice in front of a mirror if necessary.
One of the things which can always relieve tension in any activity is an injection of some humour. Distractions are a well-known way of relieving tension and a humorous thought or mind picture can certainly play a very good part in distracting you away from your nervousness just before and even during your speech.Various silly suggestions have been put forward as to what would be a good distraction such as imagining the audience sitting there completely naked or looking like rows of carrots or other vegetables. Silly is used here in the sense of being something to laugh at. If you can do this, without actually laughing, it could be a way for you to ease your own tension.
Luckily for us, understanding the true source of our fear doesn't really matter. For some reason our brains have created a connection/link between standing up in front of people and speaking with a "threatening situation" of intense vulnerability.And let me say this now - our fears are completely independent of our intelligence. In fact, I believe those with higher IQ's may actually be more susceptible to fears brought about by childhood events than those of lower intelligence.Realistically, a deep-seeded fear may not be "curable" (in the clinical sense of the word). This is because it is a result of our genetic makeup and our external & internal conditioning which is a result of one or more of those incidents I mentioned that created our feelings of anxiety in the first place. But, as I'll explain in a moment - you do not have to cure your fear; you need only to cure the symptoms of that fear in order to be able to function without fear.For those of us with a serious fear of speaking in public our minds create what I'll call a "malfunction" of our natural defense system. It is our natural defense system that identifies a "threatening situation" that may confront us and creates the "fight or flight" response in our bodies. For us, when put into a position to speak in public our body's natural "fight or flight" response initiates the over-creation of adrenaline because we perceive speaking in public as a very serious "threatening situation."Therefore, the bad news in this discussion is the fact that our minds cause our bodies to create exorbitant amounts of adrenaline completely out of our control. And it is adrenaline that creates all of the symptoms that make us look and feel frightened.This understanding that it is the over-creation of adrenaline that creates my symptoms exactly at the time when I must speak in public was the key to finding a cure to my speech anxiety. And I promise you - it is the key for you as well.
Remember that public speaking anxiety is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think the speech will go wrong, you will seek for validation of errors. Additionally, if you use visual aid make sure that if it does not work, you are prepared. That is why it is recommended for you to know the material. I have seen many presentations where the presenter relies heavily on the visual aid. Remember, the message is what is important. Everything else supplements your message.
As I mentioned, it is adrenaline that creates our symptoms of fear and anxiety completely out of our control. But what if you could control the adrenaline your body creates- then you would be in control!! That is what my research discovered and that is what I can show you how to do - control the adrenaline your body creates by taking a safe, inexpensive and non-addictive medication. And once I show you, you can do it anytime you want, on demand - just 15 minutes before a speaking engagement or performance.No you don't and here's why - Taking the medication during public speaking engagements over a period of time, allows the brain to re-think how it feels about speaking in public. With the medication, each public speaking event will increase your confidence as you realize you don't look or feel frightened. Your brain will eventually understand that public speaking is not the threatening situation that it has assumed. The medication can make it much easier to transition through the period of fearing to speak in public and being confident to speak in public. Because of this, the medication should not be considered a "crutch", but rather a "training aid" that will allow you to re-train your brain to understand that speaking in public does not require an overabundance of adrenaline in order to survive.
[Speaking Anxiety]
People always experience the feeling of fear or being troubled before facing something that is challenging such as an examination, interview, test, and recital. Actually, these feelings are normal and can be easily justified. Anxiety is normal. It will become a problem if it interferes in your normal and regular daily activities. One of the most common symptoms of ineffective anxiety is the inability to sleep. If you can't continue life dealing with the public, you might suffer from a public speaking anxiety.Public speaking anxiety is commonly termed as stage fright or speech anxiety. Public speaking anxiety involves the feeling of fear to be evaluated or scrutinized by other people. The feeling of fear is always coming with several emotional and physical reactions that usually hinder the person's capability to deliver his presentation or speech successfully. Additional symptoms include an extreme feeling of anxiety, sweating, worry, shaking or trembling, nervousness, dizziness and fainting.
We start thinking of multiple fallacies that we need to reject by critical thinking The most common irrational thought is that everything will go wrong like forgetting the material or how people will judge you. This is known as the fallacy of catastrophe. This fallacy triggers our sympathetic nervous system, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. That is why when we are nervous we may have sweaty palms or tremble. Another irrational thought is the fallacy of approval.
Let me also say this up-front - The information I present here will help those with a moderate to serious fear of speaking in public, as well as give "an edge" to those who do not really fear public speaking, but just want to improve their performance . Those that have used this information successfully have included many in business who must routinely give presentations , show business folks who want to be able to deliver the best performance possible and those who just join an organization and must participate in large meetings once in a while. The symptoms of fear that I will explain how to control are identical to all of us. The only thing that separates us in terms of public speaking is the severity of those symptoms and how we're able to control them.
Another irrational thought is the belief that people will notice everything. This is known as the fallacy of exaggeration. During a speech, some of us will tremble a little. Because we are in constant self-evaluation during a stressful situation, we believe that people will notice. Finally, the last fallacy is the fallacy of perfection. There is an implied belief that we must execute the most perfect speech ever. We are our own toughest critic. We believe that mispronouncing a word or skipping a sentence will ruin the whole speech.
The point is, the final job will not look half as good if the preparation work is not done well.It's the same with a good speech. If you don't collect together the material about which you are going to speak, sort it all into a sensible well thought out order so that all the points you want to cover are included and then arrange that material in an understandable way, your speech will be a disaster. Without that preparation, your task on the day will be immeasurably more difficult.But with all that preparation behind you, your confidence in your own ability with regard to the accuracy of the information should be OK.Your next task, of course, is the delivery of the speech and your preparation for your delivery should be just as thorough as your preparation of the content of the speech.So, what are the ways in which you can prepare yourself for delivery of your speech?During your preparation, find time to practise the speech. Read it through several times and you'll get a feel for how it sounds. If you can, record the speech as you hope to deliver it and listen to the playback carefully. Note down anything which didn't sound quite right so that you can change it at the end.
This approach can be accomplished by "breaking the ice" comments. Some people may engage in small talk prior to the official presentation to reduce anxiety.Know the Material.Out of all the tips, this one is crucial. Knowing what you are talking about will help you reduce anxiety. It is recommended to practice your speech. This exercise helps build confidence, and confidence will help reduce anxiety. Practice in front of a mirror if necessary.
One of the things which can always relieve tension in any activity is an injection of some humour. Distractions are a well-known way of relieving tension and a humorous thought or mind picture can certainly play a very good part in distracting you away from your nervousness just before and even during your speech.Various silly suggestions have been put forward as to what would be a good distraction such as imagining the audience sitting there completely naked or looking like rows of carrots or other vegetables. Silly is used here in the sense of being something to laugh at. If you can do this, without actually laughing, it could be a way for you to ease your own tension.
Luckily for us, understanding the true source of our fear doesn't really matter. For some reason our brains have created a connection/link between standing up in front of people and speaking with a "threatening situation" of intense vulnerability.And let me say this now - our fears are completely independent of our intelligence. In fact, I believe those with higher IQ's may actually be more susceptible to fears brought about by childhood events than those of lower intelligence.Realistically, a deep-seeded fear may not be "curable" (in the clinical sense of the word). This is because it is a result of our genetic makeup and our external & internal conditioning which is a result of one or more of those incidents I mentioned that created our feelings of anxiety in the first place. But, as I'll explain in a moment - you do not have to cure your fear; you need only to cure the symptoms of that fear in order to be able to function without fear.For those of us with a serious fear of speaking in public our minds create what I'll call a "malfunction" of our natural defense system. It is our natural defense system that identifies a "threatening situation" that may confront us and creates the "fight or flight" response in our bodies. For us, when put into a position to speak in public our body's natural "fight or flight" response initiates the over-creation of adrenaline because we perceive speaking in public as a very serious "threatening situation."Therefore, the bad news in this discussion is the fact that our minds cause our bodies to create exorbitant amounts of adrenaline completely out of our control. And it is adrenaline that creates all of the symptoms that make us look and feel frightened.This understanding that it is the over-creation of adrenaline that creates my symptoms exactly at the time when I must speak in public was the key to finding a cure to my speech anxiety. And I promise you - it is the key for you as well.
Remember that public speaking anxiety is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think the speech will go wrong, you will seek for validation of errors. Additionally, if you use visual aid make sure that if it does not work, you are prepared. That is why it is recommended for you to know the material. I have seen many presentations where the presenter relies heavily on the visual aid. Remember, the message is what is important. Everything else supplements your message.
As I mentioned, it is adrenaline that creates our symptoms of fear and anxiety completely out of our control. But what if you could control the adrenaline your body creates- then you would be in control!! That is what my research discovered and that is what I can show you how to do - control the adrenaline your body creates by taking a safe, inexpensive and non-addictive medication. And once I show you, you can do it anytime you want, on demand - just 15 minutes before a speaking engagement or performance.No you don't and here's why - Taking the medication during public speaking engagements over a period of time, allows the brain to re-think how it feels about speaking in public. With the medication, each public speaking event will increase your confidence as you realize you don't look or feel frightened. Your brain will eventually understand that public speaking is not the threatening situation that it has assumed. The medication can make it much easier to transition through the period of fearing to speak in public and being confident to speak in public. Because of this, the medication should not be considered a "crutch", but rather a "training aid" that will allow you to re-train your brain to understand that speaking in public does not require an overabundance of adrenaline in order to survive.
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