When you begin to give any presentation, have you ever noticed a physical reaction from your body due to your speech anxiety? You may have experienced cold, clammy hands, shiny sweat on your forehead, or tapping, restless feet. You might have felt your heart race or your mouth get dry.
Though it isn’t easy to overcome the nervousness that comes with public speaking, it is important to note that this experience is perfectly natural and extremely common. Some scientists, including Purdue University professor Kipling Williams have suggested that part of the reason our bodies resist public speaking is because of a need to be accepted. Our fear of being ostracized (excluded from a group) may cause the experience of speaking vulnerably in front of a crowd to register in our brains as genuinely painful. It isn’t fair to say that fearing public speaking is a fully evolutionary trait because not all people experience it in the same way, and some even claim not to experience it at all. But it is still important to recognize the ways in which this fear is reasonable and the power you have to overcome it.
Personally, I never liked speaking up as a kid. Instead of having loud karaoke or big party games, my birthday parties involved making bracelets together and watching movies while whispering and laughing quietly. Though I was a classic introvert at the time, I evolved into more of an ambivert as I grew up. I didn’t try to get rid of my introvert tendencies; instead, I focused on learning new skills that would help me improve at giving presentations in school and connect with others in new ways. It’s important to realize that embarking on your public speaking journey doesn’t have to mean you’ll end up being a completely new person on the other side! It just means you’re stretching your horizons, giving yourself enough room to grow that you can take on an important new skillset.
One of my biggest secrets in my public speaking journey was joining a Gavel Club. If you’ve never heard of Toastmasters, it is an international public speaking organization with thousands of clubs across 148 countries (which represents over 75% of the world, if you were wondering!). Their youth chapters, Gavel Clubs, can be a powerful tool for you because they can connect you with a community of kids who are trying to pursue the same mission as you. You can read more about my experience with Toastmasters before joining a Gavel Club and about visiting Toastmasters and Gavel Clubs in some of my previous blog posts. If you’d like to get some more details about my personal Gavel Club, feel free to leave a comment with your email address so I could contact you about it. (The only requirements are being between ages 10-18, speaking English, and having access to a device to join meetings every week!)
One final tip I would like to share is the ability to take constructive criticism. It’s pretty common for people to get defensive when being given feedback because it can feel like an attack: You’re telling me what I did WRONG? And you expect me to be happy about it?? But in reality, learning how to take feedback graciously and truly implementing changes can transform your public speaking proficiency. This is why in Toastmasters, we focus on evaluations after every speech as an opportunity to learn and grow. If you’re interested in learning more about how to take constructive criticism, I suggest you check out this blog post.
In the end, there is no magic bullet (grand solution) for speaking anxiety. Different things will work for different people, and that’s okay! But recognizing the origins of your speaking anxiety, finding a community or safe space, and learning how to incorporate feedback into your future speeches are all great first steps to take. Soon enough, you might even be on your way to the TED stage! 😉
