Fear Of Public Speaking
Fear of Public Speaking Hardwired
Speech Anxiety Worse for Some, but Most Can Overcome It
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Amal Chakraburtty, MD
April 20, 2006 -- Fear of public speaking strikes some people harder -- and differently -- than others, according to a new study.
The study shows that those who suffer most over speaking in public get more anxious -- not less anxious -- as their presentation gets under way. And when it's over, instead of feeling relief, they feel even more anxious.
If speaking in public scares you, you aren't alone, says Paul L. Witt, PhD, assistant professor of communication studies at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth.
"It is even scarier than rattlesnakes," Witt tells WebMD. "The idea …show more content…
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Getting a little keyed up may help us focus and pay better attention. It happens to almost everybody who gets ready to make a presentation, Witt and colleagues find.
Sensitizers vs. Habituaters
Witt and colleagues studied 48 male and 48 female college students enrolled in a beginning public speaking class. The speakers underwent a battery of psychological tests before and after making a five-minute assigned presentation. The tests included a self-report inventory of gastrointestinal symptoms.
To nobody's surprise, people who are anxious by nature -- what psychologists call high-trait anxiety -- had the most symptoms when speaking in public.
What was surprising was the anxiety pattern. People with low-trait anxiety get nervous before speaking but begin to relax once they get started. People with high-trait anxiety, however, are anxious when they start speaking and get more anxious as they go on.
"We hear this comment a lot from speakers: 'I was so nervous when I started but by the time I finished it wasn't so bad. I even wished I had more time,'" Witt says. "What happens is we have habituated -- we have gotten used to the context of public
Speech Anxiety Worse for Some, but Most Can Overcome It
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Amal Chakraburtty, MD
April 20, 2006 -- Fear of public speaking strikes some people harder -- and differently -- than others, according to a new study.
The study shows that those who suffer most over speaking in public get more anxious -- not less anxious -- as their presentation gets under way. And when it's over, instead of feeling relief, they feel even more anxious.
If speaking in public scares you, you aren't alone, says Paul L. Witt, PhD, assistant professor of communication studies at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth.
"It is even scarier than rattlesnakes," Witt tells WebMD. "The idea …show more content…
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Getting a little keyed up may help us focus and pay better attention. It happens to almost everybody who gets ready to make a presentation, Witt and colleagues find.
Sensitizers vs. Habituaters
Witt and colleagues studied 48 male and 48 female college students enrolled in a beginning public speaking class. The speakers underwent a battery of psychological tests before and after making a five-minute assigned presentation. The tests included a self-report inventory of gastrointestinal symptoms.
To nobody's surprise, people who are anxious by nature -- what psychologists call high-trait anxiety -- had the most symptoms when speaking in public.
What was surprising was the anxiety pattern. People with low-trait anxiety get nervous before speaking but begin to relax once they get started. People with high-trait anxiety, however, are anxious when they start speaking and get more anxious as they go on.
"We hear this comment a lot from speakers: 'I was so nervous when I started but by the time I finished it wasn't so bad. I even wished I had more time,'" Witt says. "What happens is we have habituated -- we have gotten used to the context of public