WEBVTT - Can the Fear of Public Speaking Be Conquered?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam. Here, your minutes away from presenting a speech,

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<v Speaker 1>your heart quickens, your hands turned clammy, and your brain

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<v Speaker 1>dissolves into oatmeal. Those killer opening lines that you had planned,

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<v Speaker 1>they've all but vanished, with no evidence that they ever existed,

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<v Speaker 1>just like your all day deodorant in any sense of

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<v Speaker 1>cool that you might have temporarily summoned. And all those

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<v Speaker 1>people around the table in the conference room or classroom

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<v Speaker 1>or auditorium are doing the absolute worst thing that they

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<v Speaker 1>could do right now. They're staring and waiting and waiting

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<v Speaker 1>and waiting for you. I just want to run and hide.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you say to yourself, this is not going well.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to bomb. According to both my own personal

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<v Speaker 1>experience and one Scott Compton, a professor in psychiatry and

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<v Speaker 1>behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, that's

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<v Speaker 1>exactly what those with a fear of public speaking are thinking,

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<v Speaker 1>and that anxiety, of course, is exactly the problem. The

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<v Speaker 1>fear of public speaking is seriously real. It's a type

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<v Speaker 1>of social anxiety disorder, which is a term first coined

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

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<v Speaker 1>Mental Disorders, the d s M from the National Institute

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<v Speaker 1>of Mental Health, quote, people with social anxiety disorder have

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<v Speaker 1>a general intense fear of or anxiety toward social or

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<v Speaker 1>performance situations. They worry that actions or behaviors associated with

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<v Speaker 1>their anxiety will be negatively evaluated by others, leading them

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<v Speaker 1>to feel embarrassed. This worry often causes people with social

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<v Speaker 1>anxiety to avoid social situations. Social anxiety disorder affects a

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<v Speaker 1>whopping fifteen million American adults. Among the many subsets of

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<v Speaker 1>the disorder, the fear of public speaking, sometimes called glossophobia,

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<v Speaker 1>is king. As many as seven out of ten Americans

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<v Speaker 1>may grapple with some degree of glossophobia. Jerry Seinfeld once equipped.

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<v Speaker 1>According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking.

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<v Speaker 1>Number two is death. This means, to the average person,

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<v Speaker 1>if you go to a funeral, you're better off in

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<v Speaker 1>the casket than doing the eulogy, and this fear is

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<v Speaker 1>way more serious than sweaty palms and a tied tongue.

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<v Speaker 1>Those with severe glossophobia worried so much about how they

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<v Speaker 1>act or appear in public that they often avoid public

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<v Speaker 1>settings altogether, and that can be harmful to their personal

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<v Speaker 1>and professional well being. And the Anxiety and Depression Association

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<v Speaker 1>of America warns that things can get even more serious. Quote.

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<v Speaker 1>People with social anxiety disorder are also at an increased

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<v Speaker 1>risk for developing major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorders.

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<v Speaker 1>The Andrew Cukees Foundation for Social Anxiety lays it out

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<v Speaker 1>in stark terms. The name may sound harmless, but the

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<v Speaker 1>disorder is complex, cruel, and anything but simple. Social anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>is far more than shyness and a fear of public speaking.

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<v Speaker 1>It's an addiction to avoidance and a disease of resistance.

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<v Speaker 1>So what's happening here? A Social anxiety disorders, including glossophobia,

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<v Speaker 1>are defined by extreme fear and worry. They are the

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<v Speaker 1>most common mental disorders in the US. The signs that

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<v Speaker 1>someone may be experiencing an anxiety disorder may include feeling nervous, irritable,

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<v Speaker 1>or on edge, having a sense of impending danger, panic,

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<v Speaker 1>or doom, having an increased heart rate, breathing rapidly, sweating

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<v Speaker 1>and or trembling, feeling weaker, tired, difficulty concentrating, having trouble sleeping,

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<v Speaker 1>and or experiencing guests, or intestinal problems. The anxiety is

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<v Speaker 1>thought to be centered in the amygdala, a part of

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<v Speaker 1>the brain associated with emotions. The idea is that the amygdala,

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<v Speaker 1>acting on bad memories or false ideas of what could happen,

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<v Speaker 1>releases fight or flight hormones that put the body in

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<v Speaker 1>a stressed state, thus the sweaty palms, racing heart, and

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<v Speaker 1>the desire to get away. The disorders often start in

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<v Speaker 1>young people. Psychiatry professor Compton says a shy child who

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<v Speaker 1>won't participate in class even though he or she knows

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<v Speaker 1>the answers, or who's afraid on play dates, or who

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<v Speaker 1>won't join a sports team for fear of messing up,

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<v Speaker 1>and grow as the child becomes an adult. Compton said

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<v Speaker 1>most of the anxiety disorders start in early childhood and

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<v Speaker 1>go untreated and unrecognized. People end up developing some pretty

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<v Speaker 1>maladaptive sort of coping strategies. The go to strategy seems

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<v Speaker 1>to be avoidance. Of Those who have been dealing with

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<v Speaker 1>social anxiety for years, including the fear of public speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>simply avoid stressful situations whenever they can, and that's about

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<v Speaker 1>the worst thing they can do when it comes to

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<v Speaker 1>conquering their fears. Compton said, the more you avoid, the

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<v Speaker 1>worse It becomes. My motto and therapy is you need

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<v Speaker 1>to avoid avoidance. It's almost like, if something causes you anxiety,

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<v Speaker 1>you need to do the exact opposite of what your

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<v Speaker 1>history is telling you to do. Therapy can help a

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<v Speaker 1>fear of public speaking and many other social anxiety disorders.

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<v Speaker 1>Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy talking things

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<v Speaker 1>through that is widely used to treat social anxiety by

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<v Speaker 1>many mental health professionals. Compton said, in therapy, you start

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<v Speaker 1>with kind of small things. I know you don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to go to a conference and be a keynote speaker,

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<v Speaker 1>but would you be willing to give a talk in

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<v Speaker 1>front of one other person? Start small, build up some

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<v Speaker 1>confidence and success, and then turn the heat up in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of making the situation gradually more anxiety Provoking anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>listening medication is a possibility too, but the first step

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<v Speaker 1>may simply be practicing a speech in front of a

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<v Speaker 1>mirror or with a friend or so low in an

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<v Speaker 1>empty room. Also, learn to slow down and breathe and

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<v Speaker 1>try to buy into the idea that your life will

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<v Speaker 1>be better if you overcome your fear, Compton said, when

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<v Speaker 1>they can make the step of being willing to do

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<v Speaker 1>that thing, even though their history is sort of saying,

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<v Speaker 1>oh my gosh, this is going to be awful, those

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<v Speaker 1>are the ones that kind of get over their fear

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<v Speaker 1>of public speaking. For those facing the scary prospect of

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<v Speaker 1>making a public speech or being in any public setting

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<v Speaker 1>where you may have to talk, the National Social Anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>Center has loads of tips. One is to decatastrophize the

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<v Speaker 1>brain freeze, that public speaking blackout that often happens with glossophobia.

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<v Speaker 1>From personal experience. Again, the audience wants you to do well,

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<v Speaker 1>and we'll forget about any mistakes you make quickly and

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<v Speaker 1>even if you completely bomb. One of the best lessons

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<v Speaker 1>about performing that I ever got was from one Chuck Bryant.

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<v Speaker 1>As he was getting off stage after coping with a

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<v Speaker 1>particularly tough crowd of middle schoolers. He shrugged and said,

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<v Speaker 1>there's always next time. Today's episode was written by John

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<v Speaker 1>Donovan and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other calming topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com.