Stage fright or fear of public speaking is something I feel everyone would have experienced in their lives or even some are still trying to get over this fear. Stage fear is normal and many people face this problem those who are new to public speaking and even those who have performed on the stage for years. Introverts face this problem more because of their lack of social interactions.
Definition
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially (for example, when performing before a camera).
My experience During school, I also had a big fear of public speaking and somewhere this problem reduced my confidence at an early age due to which I used to avoid cultural and social activities in school. Most kids have social anxiety and social awkwardness in primary school and slowly their fear reduces and they gain confidence but it was not the same for me. I was a bit introverted at the start but was otherwise friendly and loved to make friends or meet new people and never had this problem of social anxiety or stage fear. I was also a compere in our school annual day in 4th grade so basically, I was a confident child but it changed afterward as I grew up I started feeling anxious even if I had to speak in front of my classmates I was not able to do that properly. I started thinking negatively rather than concentrating on what I should speak. I used to have all the negative thoughts like what my friends will say if I stammer or will they laugh at me or what they would be thinking now about me or what if I go blank. All these questions used to fill my whole mind and due to this everything which I feared about used to happen. Such things reduce your confidence drastically if you are young it will remain for a long time. I naturally became more introverted and started living within myself. I had used to become anxious while public speaking because I had started to give more importance to others' opinions. What the others feel about me mattered the most for me.
Solution
I think the only solution to this problem will be neglecting thoughts of self-doubt and low confidence. Rather than concentrating and thinking about what people will say we should concentrate more on the topic, we will be speaking about. Looking confident will help you in engaging the audience more nicely because if you will not look confident people will get bored and will pay less attention to what you are saying which will again make you nervous. If you want to think less about what people will say or think then you should stop being an attention seeker because if you are an attention seeker you care more about other's opinions. I think the best way to tackle a problem is to accept the problem and run behind it rather than running away from it fearing the consequences. One of my school teachers used to say if you will run away from your fear one or the other day you will have to face it and at that time there will be no escape route and that problem would have turned much bigger so it's better to face it on your own will rather than forcibly doing it.
Conclusion I think to speak confidently it's important to think less about other things. The second most important thing is preparation, if you are prepared nicely it will boost your confidence and you will be able to speak nicely. The third thing is if you are introverted or socially awkward you should come out of that small world and start interacting with people as it will help you develop your personality and will reduce your fear. Stage fright is normal and everyone faces this problem so no need to worry about it if you will try slowly the fear will perish.
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