Coping with Glossophobia

This time, I’ll be sharing a few insights on the theme of improving communication skills, and I will focus specifically on the topic of how to cope with glossophobia!

Now, you may be wondering what exactly is glossophobia? After all, it’s not a word that we hear every day. And so I’ll begin with a definition.

The word, coming from the Greek, breaks down into “glosso” meaning tongue and “phobos” meaning fear or dread. As a result, glossophobia refers to speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking.

Thankfully, I don’t suffer from this, even though I felt very intimidated and nervous when I gave my first real presentation as a student. Basically, I read my text, stopping when people laughed, and looked at the exit sign at the back of the room… I was too scared to look directly at the public.

I know that a lot of people do have problems speaking in public (and some of them come to me for coaching on this). But I was surprised to read in the British press that speaking in public came third in a list of things people are afraid of. Only losing family members or being buried alive are considered more frightening by the 2,000 people who were polled – while dying is considered less frightening!

Now, you may find this hard to believe, and I certainly did; but on the other hand, it does reinforce the idea that public speaking is not easy for everybody.

There are many magazine articles, self-help manuals and YouTube videos that offer advice and assistance regarding public speaking already, but I will endeavour to focus on the key themes that should allow you to overcome (or, at least, come to terms with) your fear, nervousness or preoccupation about speaking in public. In time, this should allow you to subsequently survive in this situation and ultimately to thrive there.

As the topic is so vast, rather than focusing on everything in just one article, I will devote a number to different aspects of public speaking. In this first one, I will talk about WHAT and WHO – WHAT are you afraid, nervous or preoccupied about, and WHO will you be talking to – a formal assembly, to colleagues during a meeting, or over lunch with future clients… and so on.

First of all, then… WHAT – it’s probable that your presentation will be linked to an aspect of your job, and, almost certainly, an aspect of your job that you both understand and master. Otherwise, you would not have been asked to give a presentation on the subject! It is highly unlikely that you will be asked to talk about, for example, why Scottish whisky is better than Japanese, why London’s third airport should be built in Manchester or which design New Zealand should choose for their new flag!

In other words, you know the subject, and given that you know the subject, that should be a way of removing some of the nervous stress associated with speaking in public.

Another aspect of the WHAT can be the answer to this question – what message do people want to take home with them? Are you going to explain a complex process, offer a new service or product, or provide an update on something?

As soon as you have the answer to this question, you may be able to focus on the conclusion first and work backwards, breaking down what you intend to say into small segments or chapters. In this way, it should be easier for your public to follow your train of thought and understand your conclusion…indeed, if all goes well, they might be able to anticipate what you are going to say since your conclusion will be the logical consequence of what you have already been saying.

I’ll turn now to the second big question… WHO! In short, will you be speaking to people who have the same amount of knowledge on the subject as you, or do they have less? Either way, if they have come to listen to you, that means that you have some knowledge which they don’t… and that should put you in a position of superiority.

You may also know if the audience is likely to be very serious or quite relaxed. This can also be useful in overcoming your stage fright since you have a better idea of what to expect. As a result, you may be able to prepare yourself so you can adapt accordingly.

It’s also important to point out that the vast majority of the people listening to you will NOT be hostile. They are not your enemies; nor are they teachers who will give you a bad mark and/or write a nasty comment about you in red ink! At worst, they may appear bored, switch off during your presentation and/or turn their attention to a mobile device instead!

Many other things need to be said about coping with glossophobia, including breathing techniques for combatting the last minute nerves, NLP techniques for creating a favourable environment as well as methods for better using PowerPoint slides or coping with difficult questions. I will focus on these subjects – and others too – in later editions.

For the moment then, if you are nervous about speaking in public, try to take on board the advice of coping with WHAT and WHO… and that should be a good start.