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CHAPTER 14 Understanding Speech Anxiety Explain how the following principles can

ID: 3446395 • Letter: C

Question

CHAPTER 14 Understanding Speech Anxiety Explain how the following principles can help to reduce speech anxiety excess tension by taking a deep breath and taking a few steps away from the lectern 2 Focus on the topic by thinking about what you are sharing with the audience. 3 Remember that you are not alone and that others can understand your nervousness. Develop a positive attitude by remembering that you have something unique and interesting to share. 4 S How does this activity strengthen your confidence as a public speaker? 477

Explanation / Answer

Breathing deeply helps calm the mind of a person, with reducing the heart rate and relaxing of muscles. By taking a minute out, the mind would slow down and would be able to be in the present moment. Anxiety reduces as a result of this, and stepping back allows the person to come around from the anxious anticipation. It is important that the topic that has to be delivered has to be prepared well. For this, it is important that a person should find the guidelines of their speech, such that things will be more in control. It is very easy to lose focus when delivering a speech. But in such a situation, the guidelines will help to get back in the line of delivering the speech. It is important to realise that you are not alone and that many people have the fear of speaking in public. This condition is referred to as glossophobia. Almost 80% of the average population has this condition where people do feel nervous, with having clammy hands, feeling jittery and the feeling that the heart is racing. Others feel this as well since others have faced this as well. This experience may be an uncomfortable experience and that people do feel it . It is important that positive attitudes be developed in a person. For this, it is important that the negative inner thoughts of a person will be decreased. If there is an increase in negative thoughts, there will be an increase in anxiety. This could be done by getting the inner critic quite. Positive thoughts would increase the self confidence and this would be passed on to the audience as well. This would strengthen my confidence as a public speaker as with a reduction in anxiety there would be a reduction in nervousness of a person. With reduced anxiety and nervousness, there would be less stumbles and hence, an increase in confidence.