Facts and advice on speech anxiety
Speech anxiety involves discomfort in speaking in front of others and is a common type of social anxiety characterized by a perceived threat of evaluation from the audience.
Facts and advice about speech anxiety
It is estimated that around 15-20% of the adult population experience speech anxiety, which often means that you cannot do yourself justice in certain study situations. In addition, it is common to have extremely high self-imposed performance requirements in cases of speech anxiety. There is plenty of research showing a link between speech anxiety and perfectionist personality traits.
One of the difficulties with speech anxiety is that you find it difficult before and during the speech situation, and it is also common for you to ruminate or have a critical post-processing of your performance afterwards.
Tips for those who experience speech anxiety
Be tolerant of yourself and allow the difficult feelings to exist without placing a value on them. It is often when you think that the difficult thoughts should not be there that it becomes even more difficult. By enduring the discomfort, the brain begins to reorient itself and the discomfort will gradually diminish.
By figuring out the direction, why it is important for you to continue working on this, you can get hold of your motivation and thus enable you to "endure the discomfort" and take the step - to speak in front of others.
Experiment with alternative behaviours and try to find some kind of flexibility to speak in different situations. Practice having the courage to face the people you are speaking to, prepare adequately and take breaks instead of, for example, skipping parts or speaking quickly to get the situation over with.
When it is most difficult, use breathing exercises and conscious presence. As well as calming the body, the focus will be on the 'here and now' rather than the experience of discomfort and the anxiety it can bring.
The student health service offers
The student health service offers the course "Dare to speak" every semester. Contact kurator@ltu.se for more information about the course.
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