If someone asked you what the most common phobia was, what would you say?
Fear of heights? Of spiders? Of death?
No, it’s actually the fear of public speaking.
It affects around 40% of the population.
Public speaking anxiety, also known as glossophobia, is recognized as a bona fide social anxiety disorder.
For most people, the problem is that they’re afraid they’ll look foolish.
They’re anxious they’ll forget what they wanted to say or make lots of silly mistakes.
And if that happens, people might judge them harshly.
But being able to speak in public is an important skill, one that many people rely on in their jobs and careers.
It’s essential when giving a presentation, when attending a job interview, when putting your point across in a staff meeting and in dozens of other scenarios.
Yet the fear of public speaking can be so strong that it leaves you feeling nervous, tongue-tied and hoping the ground will open up and swallow you.
Thankfully, there’s hypnotherapy for public speaking.
Hypnosis has a long and distinguished track record of helping people conquer their fears and phobias.
It does that by encouraging relaxation and enabling communication with the unconscious mind.
This lets you change the way you think about your fear, turning negative thoughts into positive ones so you feel more secure in yourself and your abilities.
Before finding out more about the benefits of hypnotherapy, it makes sense to delve into the issue of public speaking anxiety in greater depth.
Understanding Public Speaking Anxiety
What is public speaking anxiety exactly?
As mentioned above, public speaking anxiety is a social anxiety disorder that has been classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
It’s a form of performance anxiety that can make it difficult or even impossible for someone to stand and speak in front of a group.
According to this online source, public speaking anxiety usually occurs when:
- You’re speaking in front of a group of people which often triggers nerves and vulnerability
- You’re afraid of how others might see and judge you
- Your fear causes distress levels out of proportion to the situation
In some cases the anxiety can be mild while in others it can be particularly severe. To make matters worse, this form of anxiety can have a serious negative effect on the way a person functions in day-to-day life, both professionally and personally.
For instance, it may prevent them from applying for a promotion if the new role requires chairing meetings or hosting presentations.
It might cause them to avoid giving speeches at a friend’s wedding, a child’s graduation or other notable milestones.
It could prevent them from making a contribution in the classroom knowing that once they speak, all eyes will be on them.
It’s important to remember, however, that public speaking anxiety can affect anyone at any age or at any stage of their career. Teachers, students, managers, lawyers, performers – no one is immune.
Even seasoned professionals who give speeches on a regular basis can suddenly find themselves doubting their abilities and worrying about what other people think.
The only difference is that these experts will have developed strategies to help them deal with the symptoms.
And speaking of symptoms…
Common Symptoms And Causes Of Public Speaking Anxiety
The causes and symptoms of public speaking anxiety or glossophobia are usually divided into two types: physical and psychological.
On the physical side, symptoms may include some or all of the following:
Also, it’s not unusual for the condition to lead to a full-on panic attack.
Psychologically speaking, symptoms may include:
- Feelings of dread
- Intense nervousness and excessive worry
- Unpleasant thoughts about your upcoming performance
Naturally, it’s likely that you’ll want to avoid situations that make you feel like this, even if those situations have the potential to further your career or provide you with some other major advantage.
>> If you’re interested in hypnotherapy or want to improve your practice, check out our live and online hypnosis training events.
Want to know more about hypnotherapy, but not sure what certification program is the right choice for you? Book a DISCOVERY CALL today to learn more about Hypnosis Training Academy’s hypnotherapy programs.
Importance Of Addressing Public Speaking Anxiety For Personal And Professional Growth
By now it should be fairly obvious that this specific form of social anxiety can seriously harm a person’s prospects.
If you can’t speak in public, then you won’t want to apply for that promotion.
You won’t volunteer for managing projects even if you’re qualified and perfectly capable.
You won’t participate in those personal events that result in so many memories for your circle of friends and family members.
You won’t speak up and “blow your own trumpet” even when you have the answer.
According to this article at Psych Central, the condition can affect you if you:
- Display certain personality traits such as being extremely shy or introverted
- Have experienced traumatic events
- Drink too much caffeine or other stimulants
- Are part of a family with a history of mental health conditions
No matter what the cause, there are plenty of things that can help you successfully manage public speaking anxiety, including hypnotherapy.
How Hypnotherapy Can Help
The problem with phobias is that you can’t control them consciously. That’s because the fear is related to some past negative incident which gets registered in your unconscious mind.
Most experts agree that public speaking anxiety is often the result of embarrassment you’ve experienced when speaking in front of your peers.
Hypnotherapy works by allowing you to communicate with your unconscious. It gives you the opportunity to find out where your phobia came from and when it started.
Then, using various hypnosis techniques, it’s possible to change the way you think and the way you feel about speaking in public.
As you probably realize, fear is a natural response to something that is either dangerous or that you consider to be dangerous. But when that fear is out of proportion to the situation, it’s considered to be irrational.
Another point to remember is that your unconscious mind can’t tell the difference between something you’ve actually experienced and something you imagine.
So you can be afraid of the dark, for example, even though you’ve never had a bad experience in the dark, but simply because you’re able to imagine bad things happening.
Fear fills your head with negative thoughts and makes you doubt yourself. That could be especially pertinent to public speaking if you’ve had unfortunate experiences in the past.
Hypnosis helps you release your anxieties by encouraging deep relaxation, and then using the power of suggestion to enable you to focus on the positive aspects of your public speaking abilities.
But what can hypnotherapy offer that other treatments cannot?
Benefits Of Hypnotherapy For Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety
Hypnotherapy is a completely safe, drug-free and non-addictive treatment. On top of that, it uses various techniques that deal directly with the issue instead of beating around the bush.
For instance, hypnotherapy can help you:
- Get to the root of the problem, unlike medication that just masks it
- Access your own inner resources to find solutions to the problem
- Recall a time when you were able to speak successfully in public, or a time when you failed but persevered
- Change the way you perceive public speaking so that it no longer holds any fear or trepidation for you
Whatever problem you’re experiencing, it’s your conscious mind that’s struggling with it. But your unconscious mind knows how to fix it.
All you need to do is move your attention away from your conscious mind and focus it on something outside your awareness. The simplest way to do that is by asking questions.
Questions force you to search inside your head for the answers. And when you start looking for answers, that’s when answers will start appearing.
Hypnotherapy Techniques & Strategies For Reducing Anxiety & Increasing Confidence
You might recognize the technique outlined in the previous section as the Non-Awareness Set. Here are a few other hypnosis techniques that will also be effective in helping you overcome public speaking anxiety.
Blitz
Your hypnotherapist might do a blitz around confidence so that you can identify times when you were confident in the past. The technique can also be used to help you identify with a hero or great leader whose public speaking skills you admire and can emulate.
Mind Bending Language
This technique works best when there is a problem and a solution. The problem here is fear of public speaking, and the solution is being able to manage that fear and speak confidently.
DMI
This stands for Dynamic Mental Imagery and involves taking you on a hypnotic journey to find symbols that will help you conquer your anxiety. Your unconscious mind responds well to symbols which give it something else to focus on so you can perform with greater confidence.
These are just a few of the many techniques at the hypnotherapist’s disposal. The techniques are not exclusive, however, so they may employ one or more at the same time to get the results you’re after.
To find out more about using hypnotherapy to overcome public speaking anxiety, take a look at this informative article:
Case Studies & Real-Life Examples Using Hypnotherapy To Conquer Public Speaking Anxiety
Daniel was shy, hated parties and had never been able to speak in front of a group. When his friend of 20 years asked him to give the best man speech at his wedding, Daniel knew he needed help.
He didn’t want to let his friend down, so he turned to hypnotherapy. The big day came and went, and Daniel was able to deliver his speech with confidence, even getting compliments from the guests.
In a second study, Sue’s boss told her she had to give a 20-minute presentation to colleagues about a new product line. The thought of it brought on a panic attack and led to Sue considering hurting herself so she would be in hospital for the day of the presentation.
After a few hypnotherapy sessions, however, her confidence grew, and she was able to deliver the presentation successfully.
Public speaking anxiety affects people of all ages and in all walks of life, including some very famous faces, such as:
- Princess Diana, who reportedly used hypnotherapy to help her speak in public with greater poise and confidence
- Leona Lewis, Mandy Moore, and former Spice Girl Mel B., who have all use hypnotherapy to help them overcome their stage fright
- Bruce Willis and James Earl Jones, who have both made use of hypnotherapy to cure their stuttering
In many cases, just a few sessions of hypnotherapy is all it takes. One way to keep yourself topped up between sessions is to learn how to do self-hypnosis.
Using Self-Hypnosis To Manage Public Speaking Anxiety
Self-hypnosis is a bit like meditation but taken a few steps further. The idea is to put yourself in a relaxed state where you can focus your thoughts inward.
It’s really just a question of taking your attention away from the everyday conscious world and directing it towards your unconscious mind.
As soon as you’re able to do that, you can use the power of suggestion (as well as any other hypnosis techniques) to address your public speaking concerns.
That’s because hypnosis (or self-hypnosis) is the perfect way to change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors.
It can be used to reduce or eliminate fear and anxiety, while at the same time working to boost your confidence and raise your self-esteem.
If you’re keen to try self-hypnosis, this article features a simple technique that will help you get into the right mindset:
Conclusion
Fear of public speaking is the most common fear of all, affecting almost 40% of the population.
In fact, public speaking anxiety is officially recognized as a social anxiety disorder.
Often associated with some past trauma, the condition makes it difficult for someone to speak in front of a group of people.
They get nervous, tongue-tied, forget what they want to say, sweat and feel embarrassed.
This anxiety is brought about by worry about how they will be perceived by others who they fear will judge them harshly.
Like other fears and anxieties, the reality is never as severe as the person imagined it to be.
The inability to speak in public can affect your personal and professional life so that you miss out on social events, avoid applying for promotions and fail to speak up even when you know the answer.
People with the complaint are often shy, coffee drinkers, have experienced some form of trauma and could come from a family with a history of mental health conditions.
If you suffer from severe public speaking anxiety and it is affecting the way you work or live, it’s important that you seek professional help from qualified specialists.
There are plenty of treatments available which your doctor can advise you about.
Hypnotherapy offers one of the fastest and most effective treatments that is completely safe, drug-free, non-invasive and non-addictive.
And while medication tends to mask the symptoms, hypnotherapy gets at the root of the problem and gives you the power to change it for the better.
>> If you’re interested in hypnotherapy or want to improve your practice, check out our live and online hypnosis training events.
Want to know more about hypnotherapy, but not sure what certification program is the right choice for you? Book a DISCOVERY CALL today to learn more about Hypnosis Training Academy’s hypnotherapy programs.
The post Hypnotherapy For Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety appeared first on Hypnosis Training Academy.
Source: Hypnosis Training Academy
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