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Public Speaking and Panic Attacks
from:It is often observed that many people's top ranking fear is
not death but having to speak in public. The joke is that these
people would rather be lying in the casket at the funeral than
giving the eulogy. Public speaking for people who suffer from
panic attacks or general anxiety often becomes a major source of
worry weeks or even months before the speaking event is to occur.
These speaking engagements do not necessarily have to be the
traditional "on a podium" events but can be as simple as an
office meeting where the individual is expected to express an
opinion or give verbal feedback. The fear of public speaking and
panic attacks in this case centers on having an attack while
speaking. The individual fears being incapacitated by the
anxiety and hence unable to complete what he or she is saying.
The person imagines fleeing the spotlight and having to make all
kinds of excuses later for their undignified departure out the
office window..
This differs slightly from the majority of people who fear
public speaking because their fear tends to revolve around going
blank while speaking or feeling uncomfortable under the
spotlight of their peers. The jitters or nerves of speaking in
public are of course a problem for this group as well, but they
are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the panic
attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.
So how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public
speaking?
Stage one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly
unnerving sensations are not going to go away overnight. In
fact, you are not even going to concern yourself with getting
rid of them for your next talk. When they arrive during a
speech/meeting, you are going to approach them in a new manner.
What we need to do is build your confidence back to where it
used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This
time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner,
allowing you to feel your confidence again. It is said that most
of the top speakers are riddled with anxiety before speaking,
but they somehow use this nervousness to enhance their speech. I
am going to show you exactly how to do this, although I know
that right now if you suffer from public speaking and panic
attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can ever
overcome it.
My first point is this and it is important. The average healthy
person can experience an extreme array of anxiety and very
uncomfortable sensations while giving a speech and is in no
danger of ever losing control, or even appearing slightly
anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it gets, you will
always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels very
uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any
way.
The real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and
panic attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in
danger and that the sensations will pass.
"I realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me."
What keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of
the fear-the fear that the next one will really knock your socks
off and you feel you were lucky to have made it past the last
one unscathed. As they were so unnerving and scary, it is your
confidence that has been damaged by previous anxiety episodes.
Once you fully understand you are not under any threat, then you
can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises while
speaking.
Defeating public speaking and panic attacks...
There is always a turning point when a person moves from general
anxiety into a panic attack, and that happens with public
speaking when you think to yourself:
"I won't be able to handle this in front of these people."
That split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline,
and the extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If,
however, when you feel the initial anxiety and you react with
confidence that this is not a threat to you, you will move out
of the anxiety rapidly. Using this new approach is a powerful
ally because it means it is okay to feel scared and feel the
anxiety when speaking-that is fine; you are going to feel it and
move with and through the sensations in your body and out the
other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often
before the talk has begun, that person may feel they have
already let themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point.
It is perfectly natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example
the worst of the sensations you have ever experienced in this
situation-be it general unease to loss of breath. You will have
an initial automatic reaction that says:
"Danger-I'm going to have an episode of anxiety here and I
really can't afford that to happen."
At this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must
be true because of all of the unusual feelings they are
experiencing. This is where your thinking can lead you down a
train of thought that creates a cycle of anxiety that produces a
negative impact on your overall presenting skills.
So let that initial "oh dear, not now" thought pass by, and
follow it up immediately with the attitude of:
"There you are-I've been wondering when you would arrive. I've
been expecting you to show up-by the way, I am not in the least
threatened by any of the strange sensations you are creating-I
am completely safe here."
The key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic
attacks is that instead of pushing the emotional energy and
excitement down into your stomach, you are moving out through
it. Your body is in a slightly excited state, exactly as it
should be while giving a speech, so release that energy in your
self-expression. Push it out through your presentation not down
into your stomach. You push it out by expressing yourself more
forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your advantage
by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more
alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the
anxiety drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a
quick thought off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure
you have between pieces), asking it for "more." You want more of
its intense feelings as you are interested in them and are
absolutely not threatened by them.
It seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking
to a group of people, but it is not really. You'd be amazed how
many different non-related thoughts you can have while speaking.
This approach is about adopting a new attitude of confidence to
what you might have deemed a serious threat up until now. This
tactic will truly help you with fear of public speaking and
panic attacks you have associated with them.
If your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by
a feeling of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in
some mental releases that can be prepared before the event. For
example, some meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the
attention back to the room to get feedback etc. from the group.
If possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in
your own mind before the engagements. This is not to say you
have to ever use them, but people in this situation often remark
that just having small opportunities where attention can be
diverted for the briefest of moments can make the task seem less
daunting. It my even be something as simple as having people
introduce themselves or opening the floor to questions. I
realize these diversions are not always possible and depend on
the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you
feel less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and
can help alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.
About the author:
Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His
informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety
attacks can be found here: target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.PanicPortal.com
Immediate anxiety relief a natural technique to stop panic attacks and general anxiety fast!
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