What is public speaking apprehension?

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From the course by University of Washington

Introduction to Public Speaking

385 ratings

University of Washington

Introduction to Public Speaking

385 ratings

Course 1 of 4 in the Specialization Dynamic Public Speaking

This course gives you a reliable model for preparing and delivering effective presentations. In business, in school, and in public life, we are often called upon to “make a few comments.” Often, people tasked with such speeches become flummoxed. They might not know what to talk about, or ramble without making a point, or simply be confusing to listen to. This course is designed to help you shine where others falter. We’ll learn how organize talks clearly, write them memorably, and deliver them confidently. By the end of the course, you should be able to significantly reduce your fear of public speaking, use rehearsal techniques to develop a strong, vibrant speaking voice, and perform speeches with dynamic movement and gestures. The speech model that we’ll practice is useful for briefings, elevator talks, interviews, and even as a structure for hour-long presentations. If you’re a beginner, this course will help you quickly master the fundamentals of speaking. If you’re a seasoned speaker, this course will help you better understand public speaking and push you to the next level.

From the lesson

Week 4: Overcoming your fear of public speaking and developing great delivery

This week, we'll discuss speech apprehension and delivery. I know the fear of public speaking is a pressing topic for many. Why didn’t we start the course with this? Because I think many delivery concerns go away if the invention and arrangement are good. However, invention and arrangement are just part of the equation - now we can supercharge our delivery. By the end of this week, you’ll have some techniques for combating those butterflies and speaking confidently. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload a practice key point speech for peer review.

What is public speaking apprehension?6:44

The causes of public speaking apprehension6:27

Reducing your public speaking apprehension5:32

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Matt McGarrity
Principal Lecturer
UW Department of Communication

In this video, we'll define public speaking apprehension and

talk about how we experience it.

But before we get into that, let me tell you a story and this story is not mine.

This comes from another speech teacher,

Richard who used to teach at Chapman University.

And it just sort of shows how bad public speaking apprehension can be and

how much it can hurt.

So anyway, he was teaching an introduction to public speaking course and

it was his first day.

Now typically on the first day what you do is ask the students to do

introductory speeches, here's who I am, here's what I do, so on and so forth.

And in this class we had about 25 students.

Now the majority of these students are what we would call traditional age

students, so they'll probably be between 18 and 21 years old.

But he did have one woman who was returning to school

after a couple of decades in the workforce.

So she is coming back to get her degree.

And so first day stuff.

He's having people come up and do their speeches.

Now this class just happened to be in a piano recital room.

So there were seats, there was a stage, and there was a piano up on the stage.

So he was having students go up, deliver their speech on the stage, and be done.

So it comes time for this woman who's probably in her mid-40s to come up and

do the speech.

So she goes up there and she's very nervous, that's obvious, and

she starts doing this speech and then just freezes, just stops talking.

This is totally common.

Speech teachers see this all the time.

So, Richard does what a lot of people do.

He's like no, that's fine.

Go ahead, take a moment,

whenever you're ready just tell us what you're interested in.

That sort of stuff.

None of that's working.

All the standard tricks just not working to get her to talk again, and so

finally she just kind of, it's been going on for so long, she just kind of snaps and

she crawls under the piano.

Now remember, it's elevated stage, so you can still see her.

It's not like she disappeared all of a sudden.

So, she crawls under the piano, and so teacher's like, well this is a new one.

Not experienced this before.

So, he goes up and he's trying to coax her out from underneath the piano.

He's like, yeah, come on, it's fine.

We're all just, we're curious to hear what you have to say.

So nothing's working.

So, his mind racing and he says, okay, well, here's what I'll do.

He dismisses the class.

So he says, okay, we're going to be done for today.

So all the other students leave.

So that just leaves the teacher and the woman on the piano.

And he's still trying to get her to come out.

Nothing. She's not saying a word.

So he runs out of ideas and he's like maybe I can just make it easier for

her to get out of there.

And he goes and he turns off the lights and he leaves.

And then he never sees her again.

She never comes back to class.

Nothing.

And it's awful, that's an awful story.

That tears at your heartstrings.

But it shows how bad public speaking apprehension can be.

It's an awful story and it's a little funny, it's tiny bit funny.

I mean it's kind of funny.

It's not a healthy funny, it's like when you laugh at each other like,

that's hilarious and I'm broken inside, why am I laughing at that?

But it shows that apprehension hurts, okay?

And everyone asks the same question.

Why do I fear public speaking?

And the answer is, because you're human.

You experience apprehension before, during,

and after a speech because that's kind of the right reaction.

Speaking publicly is a potentially face-threatening act.

Now, when you speak, your body is quickly assessing the threat, and

getting ready to respond.

This is fight or flight type stuff.

And it's the same basic reaction you would have if you had just

wandered across an angry bear in the woods.

Are you going to stand there and fight the bear?

Or are you going to run away, and

hope that your trail of fear pee doesn't lead him right back to you?

So I hope your next speech has a relatively low chance of disembowelment.

But in some ways your body doesn't know that.

We call the fear of speaking, public speaking apprehension.

And it's a communication-based anxiety where speakers in response to an actual or

just an expected presentation, experience physiological, cognitive, and

behavioral responses.

So let's talk about each one of those.

When you get apprehensive about a speech your physiological system kicks in

because your body wants to prepare for fight or flight.

So you have a cardiovascular response.

Your heart rate might go up.

Your blood pressure might go up.

You can have increased electrodermal activities.

That means you get sweaty palms.

There's also a cognitive response, so your mind starts processing and

interpreting all these physiological systems.

Basically, this is you inner voice categorizing and

experiencing everything that's going on at that moment.

So in your head, you're like, God, God, I'm failing,

they can see my pit stains, they can't, they can't see inside your head.

Despite what you think at that moment,

the audience can't actually see your heart beating, they can't read your mind.

But now your behavioral response is what they actually can see.

And these are things like trembling, or fiddling with a pen, or nervous itching,

or whatever.

So public speaking apprehension gets you on all fronts, physiological,

cognitive, and behavioral.

But we all experience it differently, and that's because

public speaking apprehension can show up as a trait and a state.

Now a trait means that some people have more public speaking apprehension

than others.

It's a trait that makes up their personality.

Some would argue that maybe there's some genetic aspects to speech apprehension but

the trait itself is not purely inborn.

It's not like the color of your eyes.

But you can develop a trait for

speech apprehension like you would any other fear.

So if you had a really traumatic experience on a plane,

you might develop a fear of flying.

Now a state fear of public speaking means that your

apprehension shows up more in certain situations or in certain states.

So for example,

even the most seasoned airplane traveler is probably going to get a little sweaty

when the really bad turbulence sets in, because that's a natural reaction.

So trait and state are not opposites, people with trait

based speech apprehension will probably feel more state based apprehension.

So if you fear speaking in general then yeah probably

each speech is going to be pretty nerve-racking.

But people who experience some state based apprehension don't necessarily develop

strong trait based fears.

So just because you had one bad speech doesn't mean all the sudden you're going

to fear every single speech.

But ultimately everyone experiences some type of speech apprehension.

It's not just you.

Some people experience it more than others, but

almost everyone experiences it more in particular types of situations.

Speech apprehensions will always be a factor.

But thankfully with a little bit of training it's a completely manageable one.

[MUSIC]

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