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.
The Chairwoman of the local Institute made a short welcoming speech and then introduced the author and the ladies clapped. He rose slowly to his feet and approached the microphone."Ladies," he began, "On my way here tonight, only God and I knew what I was going to say. Now, only God knows!" And he promptly left the stage!Anxiety about making speeches is far more common than you would think.There are many strategies that can be used to help deal with anxiety caused by having to deliver a speech. One of the major reasons for anxiety is being under prepared.If you are going to paint a door, let's say, then to do a really good job, you must prepare the surface well by rubbing it down with sandpaper. Then perhaps you need to seal the wood before applying undercoat and then one or maybe two coats of the gloss or matte paint.
OK, so we understand what causes the anxiety but how can we overcome it? Below are a few tips to help you in your next public speaking experience:Hello Anxiety!We all get nervous and you will get nervous before your next speech. Welcome the anxiety! The feelings that you are experiencing is a fear of performance. Tell yourself that it is OK to be nervous and that we are able to function with it.
I should admit to you now that I have a serious, and at times, excessive fear of public speaking and am therefore in the "gray" zone between the 80% and 5% categories. Therefore, I know from experience what I am going to teach you will help the vast majority of everyone who has a fear of standing up and speaking in public. In addition, this information will also help those who do not really fear public speaking, but just want to give a better performance.This, of course, is a hard question to answer. For many of us the cause of a moderate to serious fear of speaking in public cannot be associated with anything in particular in our childhood. However for others, it can be traced back to a particular incident that has triggered the symptoms felt when faced with the necessity to speak in public. Some of us can vividly remember a particular incident in our lives where we became very self-conscious and embarrassed for some reason in front of a crowd of people. Often this incident occurred as far back as elementary school when our self-worth and self esteem were just beginning to develop and may not relate to actually speaking in public at all.
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.
Once you have your game plan prepared, imagine yourself giving the speech. Visualization is a technique that helps you become familiar with the event. Imagine you are giving the speech in front of a big group. The more you practice the material and the more you see yourself doing it, the less anxious you will be. It is alright to have an error or two. Many people, as mentioned before, think that every word or every sentence must be perfect. Keep in mind that your audience does not know what you have planned for them. If you omit a word or sentence, they will not notice it.
It doesn't matter why we react as we do to speaking in public and it doesn't matter if we remember a particular incident that triggered our anxiety or not. Since our fear is not based on an actual threat to us, we need only eliminate the symptoms of that fear to gain back our self-confidence and function as if we don't have fear. Intellectually, we know there is nothing really to fear when we speak in public, but our bodies act as if there is and it's completely out of our control.Without the symptoms of fear we can speak in public in a more thoughtful and relaxed manner than we ever thought possible. And if we can speak in public in a relaxed manner, guess what - WE CAN SPEAK IN PUBLIC!! PERIOD Really, it's just that simple.The symptoms of fear of speaking in public are curable specifically at the time you're put in a position to speak in public by taking a doctor-prescribed, safe, inexpensive and non-addictive medication. As I will explain, this medication allows us to control the cause of our symptoms exactly at the time when they are getting out of control. Therefore, what I am going to teach you will help those of us who have to routinely give presentations for our careers, those who need to only give several speeches a lifetime for wedding toasts, funerals, and the like, as well as those in show business who must be relaxed and confident enough to focus on their performance.
Straight forward physical explanations for how you feel will get rid of unwanted emotional reactions. Try to think of or remember any effects that anxiety has on your body and think of the reasons for them.When you have finished your speech, enjoy the applause. Remember that applause and use it to counteract any negative thoughts you may have later. If, during the days after the speech you start to worry about it not being right or something, bring back the memory of your audience clapping appreciatively.Activities that can help to dispel anxiety include the following:Breathe in slowly and deeply, hold your breath for the count of 5 and then breathe out slowly. Repeat for up to 40 breaths.Go for a brisk walk, or do some other physical activity.Always give your speech or talk some serious thought and prepare well before hand. Your speech making will only get better!
[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.
The Chairwoman of the local Institute made a short welcoming speech and then introduced the author and the ladies clapped. He rose slowly to his feet and approached the microphone."Ladies," he began, "On my way here tonight, only God and I knew what I was going to say. Now, only God knows!" And he promptly left the stage!Anxiety about making speeches is far more common than you would think.There are many strategies that can be used to help deal with anxiety caused by having to deliver a speech. One of the major reasons for anxiety is being under prepared.If you are going to paint a door, let's say, then to do a really good job, you must prepare the surface well by rubbing it down with sandpaper. Then perhaps you need to seal the wood before applying undercoat and then one or maybe two coats of the gloss or matte paint.
OK, so we understand what causes the anxiety but how can we overcome it? Below are a few tips to help you in your next public speaking experience:Hello Anxiety!We all get nervous and you will get nervous before your next speech. Welcome the anxiety! The feelings that you are experiencing is a fear of performance. Tell yourself that it is OK to be nervous and that we are able to function with it.
I should admit to you now that I have a serious, and at times, excessive fear of public speaking and am therefore in the "gray" zone between the 80% and 5% categories. Therefore, I know from experience what I am going to teach you will help the vast majority of everyone who has a fear of standing up and speaking in public. In addition, this information will also help those who do not really fear public speaking, but just want to give a better performance.This, of course, is a hard question to answer. For many of us the cause of a moderate to serious fear of speaking in public cannot be associated with anything in particular in our childhood. However for others, it can be traced back to a particular incident that has triggered the symptoms felt when faced with the necessity to speak in public. Some of us can vividly remember a particular incident in our lives where we became very self-conscious and embarrassed for some reason in front of a crowd of people. Often this incident occurred as far back as elementary school when our self-worth and self esteem were just beginning to develop and may not relate to actually speaking in public at all.
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.
Once you have your game plan prepared, imagine yourself giving the speech. Visualization is a technique that helps you become familiar with the event. Imagine you are giving the speech in front of a big group. The more you practice the material and the more you see yourself doing it, the less anxious you will be. It is alright to have an error or two. Many people, as mentioned before, think that every word or every sentence must be perfect. Keep in mind that your audience does not know what you have planned for them. If you omit a word or sentence, they will not notice it.
It doesn't matter why we react as we do to speaking in public and it doesn't matter if we remember a particular incident that triggered our anxiety or not. Since our fear is not based on an actual threat to us, we need only eliminate the symptoms of that fear to gain back our self-confidence and function as if we don't have fear. Intellectually, we know there is nothing really to fear when we speak in public, but our bodies act as if there is and it's completely out of our control.Without the symptoms of fear we can speak in public in a more thoughtful and relaxed manner than we ever thought possible. And if we can speak in public in a relaxed manner, guess what - WE CAN SPEAK IN PUBLIC!! PERIOD Really, it's just that simple.The symptoms of fear of speaking in public are curable specifically at the time you're put in a position to speak in public by taking a doctor-prescribed, safe, inexpensive and non-addictive medication. As I will explain, this medication allows us to control the cause of our symptoms exactly at the time when they are getting out of control. Therefore, what I am going to teach you will help those of us who have to routinely give presentations for our careers, those who need to only give several speeches a lifetime for wedding toasts, funerals, and the like, as well as those in show business who must be relaxed and confident enough to focus on their performance.
Straight forward physical explanations for how you feel will get rid of unwanted emotional reactions. Try to think of or remember any effects that anxiety has on your body and think of the reasons for them.When you have finished your speech, enjoy the applause. Remember that applause and use it to counteract any negative thoughts you may have later. If, during the days after the speech you start to worry about it not being right or something, bring back the memory of your audience clapping appreciatively.Activities that can help to dispel anxiety include the following:Breathe in slowly and deeply, hold your breath for the count of 5 and then breathe out slowly. Repeat for up to 40 breaths.Go for a brisk walk, or do some other physical activity.Always give your speech or talk some serious thought and prepare well before hand. Your speech making will only get better!
No comments:
Post a Comment