Defeating Glossophobia

It is said that over 70 percent of the population suffer from glossophobia (feae of pubic speaking). Although the degree or extent vary from one person to the next. You would be surprised to know that a lot of iconic figures like mark twain, Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley have all experienced stage fright at one point or the other in their lives.

It is common knowledge that introverts pass through stage fright more than extroverts . An extrovert would find it way easier to interact and flow with the crowd than a loner. When I was growing up, there was this kid in my neighbor who despite being a stammerer was also an extrovert. He never cared if other kids ridiculed him whenever he was having difficulties in his speech. He continued to express his opinions strongly at any given opportunity when he's in a crowd. Soon, everyone got tired of laughing at him. We all admired his courage and self esteem.

I would also suffer from stage fright if I were asked to speak in front of a crowd. This usually happens to me in the first few seconds which is quite normal, then i regain my composure afterwards and start to be at ease with my audience. So, long as I have a good knowledge of the subject and also rehearsed my speech, then I am good to go.

Sometimes,i might become frightened when the population of my audience turn out to be higher than anticipated, especially when it is an unknown audience filled with older faces. In this situation, my way out would be to scan through the audience for easy and friendly faces . Faces that seem interested and attentive in what I have to say. As I focus on these faces while I speak, I would feel proud that I am making sense and there wouldn't be any reason to be nervous anymore, instead I become inflamed. This was one of the techniques I used t overcome stage fright. I have never read any book on public speaking.

When I was in federal government girls college (FGGC), a friend in my class who was very brilliant sufferrd from acute stage fright whenever she was called upon for a presentation, debate or quiz. Her legs would quake, her hands would tremble, her voice would shake and she would begin to stutter in front of her fellow students. And as you would expect, everyone would laugh at her and some bullies would even taunt and scoff at her for days.

She felt very humiliated and with a deflated spirit, she would run to the toilet to cry. As a result o this phobia and in order to prevent another round of embarrassment, she would risk punishment by deliberately arriving late to the assembly ground,or skip assembly completely whenever her name was among the presenters or news casters list for that week.

I noticed her continual absenteeism in our morning assembly. I asked her tge reason and she opened up to me. I made her realize that it makes no sense running away from your fears and she would come to realize this too in the future.

"You can only run, but you cannot hide. This is something that other girls are doing, so why would you be afraid to do it, its not as if others have two heads. Come to think of it, you are one of the most brilliant girls in the school. Its not as if anybody would shoot or bite you when you start to speak in front of others. So, why the fear?" I would say to her.

This is a girl that wants to be a lawyer tomorrow .I found this very funny. Have you ever seen a lawyer who trembles when speaking in court because he is afraid of the jury? How would you defend your client? How would you become a successful lawyer? I asked her these questions . She ruminated on what I just said for a while. Then suddenly I saw determination in her eyes and she vowed to fight and defeat this fear now, before it ruined her. And of course I promised to help her.

whenever she's about to go on stage, we both would agree to a plan. As soon as she starts speaking, she was to focus on my face only and forget everyone else . The idea was that if she was afraid of the fixed gaze of others, she wouldn't be afraid of mine. This helped in calming her nerves and she began to improve steadily and her blemishes were not as pronounced as before.

This strategy proved very effective, but ofcourse she didnt stop here since we Can't be together all the time or forever. What if she finds herself standing in front of an unknown crowd tomorrow.

She was later advised by her pastor to join the choir at the church. She was to be in the first row and in the middle of other Choirsters where everyone would see her whenever they are performing for the church audience. Within a short time, she progressed tremendously to the extent that she became one of the lead singers in her choir.

In bible classes, she never failed to give valuable contribution and would even stand up most times to give a commentary about her understanding of a particular verse. In no time, she started exploring other avenues for opportunity to speak up in front of others. She even registered in acting classes. Today she has totally conquered the fear of public speaking and I am very confident that she would be a highly successful lawyer tomorrow.

Conclusion

Fear of public speaking is a psychological thing. It is fear that only exists in your mind. Frank Herbert once said " I must not fear, fear is a mind killer. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I would turn the inner eye to see its path where the fear has gone, and there will be nothing, only I will remain".

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