Chapter 2

 When is your anxiety strongest? ▪ Right before the speech ▪ Usually strongest ▪ When the assignment is given ▪ Usually second strongest point of anxiety  Anxiety often decreases once speech begins ▪ Nerves often appear before big activity ▪ Sports competitions ▪ Weddings ▪ Moving

 Psychology affects biology ▪ Anxiety created by  View of speaking assignment  Perception of your own skill  Level of self esteem

 Understand Nervousness ▪ Anxiety is created by  Fear of humiliation  Not being prepared  Worry about looks/appearance  Pressure to perform ▪ Other causes of anxiety  Fear of being boring  Lack of experience  Fear of mistakes  Fear of failure

 4 styles of communication apprehension ▪ Average – Positive approach to communicating in public ▪ Insensitive – Often associated with experienced speakers ▪ Inflexible – Continuous increased heart rate when speaking publicly ▪ Confrontational – High heart rate that goes down during speech  Knowing communication style helps manage anxiety

 How you look vs how you feel  You are going to feel more nervous than you look ▪ What are some symptoms of speech anxiety? ▪ Are all these symptoms visible to your audience?

 How to build your confidence as a speaker ▪ Things you can do to manage speech anxiety  Before speech ▪ Don’t procrastinate in preparing speech ▪ Leads to “Self fulfilling prophecy” ▪ Know audience ▪ Familiarity with audience will help reduce anxiety

 How to build your confidence  Select appropriate topic ▪ Familiar/comfortable topics reduce anxiety ▪ What are things you are interested in? ▪ Is it easier to talk about them?  Be Prepared (Think about speech in advance) ▪ More preparation = less anxiety ▪ Create a well organized outline ▪ Practice, Practice, Practice!

 Building confidence  Develop & deliver well-organized speech ▪ Speeches have a Beginning, Middle, & End  Should follow a logical outline pattern  Know intro & close ▪ Anxiety often at the beginning ▪ Know opening to help start strong ▪ Conclude with a lasting/final thought  Start Strong / End Strong

 How to build confidence  Re-create speech environment during practice ▪ You want practice to be as close to presentation as possible  Use deep breathing techniques ▪ To balanceth e changes in breathing and heart rate that occur when you get nervous ▪ Also helps to relax

 How to build your confidence  Channel your nervous energy ▪ Adrenaline can cause nervous movement ▪ Use movement to channel nervous energy  Visualize your success ▪ Control anxiety by imagining success ▪ Visualizing stages in speech beforehand  To help as you reach them

 How to build your confidence  Give yourself a mental pep talk ▪ Self reassurance can work wonders for confidence ▪ Positive self talk ▪ Negative Self Talk  Focus on message not on fear ▪ More thoughts about nervousness ▪ Increases anxiety ▪ Think about what’s coming up ▪ Not about how you feel

 How to build confidence  Look for positive listener support ▪ Positive feedback helps reduce anxiety ▪ Negative feedback may increase anxiety  Seek Speaking opportunities ▪ More speaking = more comfort ▪ Become a better more seasoned speaker

 How to build your confidence  After speech, ▪ Focus on accomplishment, not on you anxiety ▪ Reviewing the speech based on your successes ▪ Will create a positive memory of the experience