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This
differs slightly from the majority of people who fear public speaking
because their fear tends to revolve around going blank while speaking or
feeling uncomfortable under the spotlight of their peers. The jitters or
nerves of speaking in public are of course a problem for this group as
well, but they are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the
panic attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.
So
how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public speaking?
Stage
one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly unnerving
sensations are not going to go away overnight. In fact, you are not even
going to concern yourself with getting rid of them for your next talk.
When they arrive during a speech/meeting, you are going to approach them
in a new manner. What we need to do is build your confidence back to
where it used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This
time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner, allowing you
to feel your confidence again. It is said that most of the top speakers
are riddled with anxiety before speaking, but they somehow use this
nervousness to enhance their speech. I am going to show you exactly how
to do this, although I know that right now if you suffer from public
speaking and panic attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can
ever overcome it.
My
first point is this and it is important. The average healthy person can
experience an extreme array of anxiety and very uncomfortable sensations
while giving a speech and is in no danger of ever losing control, or
even appearing slightly anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it
gets, you will always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels
very uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any
way.
The
real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and panic
attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in danger and
that the sensations will pass.
“I
realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me.”
What
keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of the fear—the
fear that the next one will really knock your socks off and you feel you
were lucky to have made it past the last one unscathed. As they were so
unnerving and scary, it is your confidence that has been damaged by
previous anxiety episodes. Once you fully understand you are not under
any threat, then you can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises
while speaking.
Defeating public speaking and panic attacks...
There
is always a turning point when a person moves from general anxiety into
a panic attack, and that happens with public speaking when you think to
yourself:
"I
won’t be able to handle this in front of these people."
That
split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline, and the
extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If, however, when you
feel the initial anxiety and you react with confidence that this is not
a threat to you, you will move out of the anxiety rapidly. Using this
new approach is a powerful ally because it means it is okay to feel
scared and feel the anxiety when speaking–that is fine; you are going to
feel it and move with and through the sensations in your body and out
the other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often before
the talk has begun, that person may feel they have already let
themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point. It is perfectly
natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example the worst of the
sensations you have ever experienced in this situation—be it general
unease to loss of breath. You will have an initial automatic reaction
that says:
“Danger–I’m going to have an episode of anxiety here and I really can’t
afford that to happen.”
At
this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must be true
because of all of the unusual feelings they are experiencing. This is
where your thinking can lead you down a train of thought that creates a
cycle of anxiety that produces a negative impact on your overall
presenting skills.
So
let that initial “oh dear, not now” thought pass by, and follow it up
immediately with the attitude of:
“There you are–I’ve been wondering when you would arrive. I’ve been
expecting you to show up—by the way, I am not in the least threatened by
any of the strange sensations you are creating—I am completely safe
here.”
The
key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic attacks is
that instead of pushing the emotional energy and excitement down into
your stomach, you are moving out through it. Your body is in a slightly
excited state, exactly as it should be while giving a speech, so release
that energy in your self-expression. Push it out through your
presentation not down into your stomach. You push it out by expressing
yourself more forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your
advantage by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more
alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the anxiety
drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a quick thought
off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure you have between
pieces), asking it for “more.” You want more of its intense feelings as
you are interested in them and are absolutely not threatened by them.
It
seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking to a group
of people, but it is not really. You’d be amazed how many different
non-related thoughts you can have while speaking. This approach is about
adopting a new attitude of confidence to what you might have deemed a
serious threat up until now. This tactic will truly help you with fear
of public speaking and panic attacks you have associated with them.
If
your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by a feeling
of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in some mental releases
that can be prepared before the event. For example, some
meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the attention back to the room
to get feedback etc. from the group.
If
possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in your own mind
before the engagements. This is not to say you have to ever use them,
but people in this situation often remark that just having small
opportunities where attention can be diverted for the briefest of
moments can make the task seem less daunting. It my even be something as
simple as having people introduce themselves or opening the floor to
questions. I realize these diversions are not always possible and depend
on the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you feel
less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and can help
alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.
Learn
more:
http://www.panicportal.com
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site
on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here:
http://www.panicportal.com
This article is copywritten material (Reprinted with permission)
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