Public Speaking: The Truth About Our Fears

Lorraine Gleeson, Hypnotherapy Courses in Hampshire March 29, 2013

It seems to me that more of us find it necessary to do some form of public speaking today particularly within our working life. We seem to be required to have regular meetings at work for assessments and how we are performing within our roles. Public speaking does not necessarily mean standing up in front of a lot of people, it can be with a couple of people who will focus their attention on you and ask you questions and we naturally can feel apprehension a little worried, what if I do not know the answer? I might stutter or lose my train of thought! How do I look, sound? And so on.

Fear is mainly concerned with the future our imagination is involved what if I do something silly or stupid. Our imagination is very good at growing things so if we start thinking in a negative way and imagining horrible things happening we can become more concerned and find ourselves on a cycle of worrying. Before we know it we have developed a communication problem and find ourselves avoiding social situations and something as simple as meeting someone new can become a problem to us and cause us anxiety.

Fear is a natural human emotion it is there to protect us makes us proceed with caution. There are different levels of fear:

• Apprehension

• Anxiety

• Anxiety reaction

• Phobia

Things that are said to us have a great impact on our characters and we all have our own filters and hear in a different way, have you ever done something really well and you know that you are good at it however; someone may just make an innocent remark which you thought of as a criticism! And all the good feelings suddenly shift and you will focus on that one innocent remark which in turn knocks your confidence in that area.

As a trainer of hypnotherapist we teach different techniques and just like any other job when you go out into the wide world you are learning your trade and everything will go fine and you help lots of different people overcome their problems and suddenly the technique does not work with one client! Some therapists lose their confidence and start focusing on the one client they couldn’t help and they start doubting their skill forgetting how many people the techniques helped. This doubt continues and can affect their confidence in the techniques which as humans we can sense when we meet a therapist if they are confident which in turn can hinder you and before you know it you can be looking for another career or doing more training.

Ideas of how to overcome fear of public speaking all of us have a model of our world and we use the five senses which are pictures, sounds, feelings taste and smell. Take the time to sit down and remember the last time you talked publicly now does a picture come to mind? Maybe you noticed a feeling for example your hands became sweaty or butterflies in your stomach. Or you heard an internal voice? If so what did it say? Now write down the whole of that experience remembering to use all of your senses. Then think back to the last time you felt good happy and confident we also have a model of these senses, did a picture come to mind? If so was there anybody else there? Did you become aware of a feeling and notice how happy, confident feelings feel for you? What does your internal voice say and does it sound different, if so notice that too. Now write this down as well and compare the two see how they differ.

Now tear up the negative picture and start focusing more on all your good feelings, thoughts and pictures. Take deep breath and allow all the good feelings to come through. Practice this and whenever you start to think negative take a deep breath and remember your good picture.

The next time you find the need to stand up or be heard take a deep breath and get in contact with your good feelings. It seems to me that more of us find it necessary to do some form of public speaking today particularly within our working life.

Sometimes however we do need to seek therapy to help us overcome our fears and as fear is mainly involved with our imagination the future and hypnotherapy is working with your imagination and what can be achieved in my opinion it is one of the most effective therapies to help you move forward from your fear.