How to Beat Speech Anxiety and Other Common Fears

Speech Anxiety can be paralyzing, there’s no doubt. Other fears such as flying anxiety and health anxiety can make significant impacts on your life.

It is possible to overcome communication anxiety, and also beat your public speaking anxiety! This article will explain how.

When you suffer from anxiety, there are usually one or more things that trigger it. That thing could be flying, it could be getting up in front of a room full of people to give a speech, it could be anxiety over having to take a test, anxiety over your health or it could be something severe such as the fear of going outside.

Whatever causes your anxiety, you tend to want to stay away from that thing. For instance, if flying causes you anxiety you will do anything you can to prevent having to get into an airplane. And if public speaking is the cause of your anxiety, you will avoid getting up in front of people at any cost. However, there's one type of anxiety that most people cannot avoid even though it causes them immense amounts of anxiety each and every time they encounter it. This affliction is called speech anxiety.

Speech anxiety isn't just getting up in front of other people. It's not just making speeches. It really covers every aspect of speech. Really, it's about communicating in general. For the person who suffers from this type of anxiety, speaking or communicating to another person is downright terrifying. Their faces become flushed, their hearts begin to race, their hands get sweaty, and people who get this type of anxiety typically stutter when they talk.

Speech anxiety sufferers may not stutter all the time, but they do stammer over their words constantly. They are awkward speakers. This is usually because they feel that others are judging what they're going to say, or how they're going to say it. So they agonize over their speech to such a degree that it inhibits the thought they're attempting to communicate. It's torture for the sufferer and for those around the person, it's just downright uncomfortable.

You don't have to live this way, however. You can beat common fears that cause anxiety by simply working on it. You need to find things that give you confidence. This could be a picture, a thought, or it could be some other physical object that reminds you of a time when you were super confidence. Carry this picture or object with you (if it's small enough) and touch it or take it out whenever you feel that speech anxiety coming on. You can also practice closing your eyes when you feel the symptoms coming on so that you can picture a place you'd rather be such as on the beach during a beautiful sunset; whatever it takes to stop the anxiety symptoms before they fully take effect.

Another great way to beat speech and other types of anxiety is to practice deep breathing exercises. Whenever you feel your face begin to feel flushed, or whatever initial symptoms you continuously experience, breathe as deeply and as slowly as you can. Do this ten times, or until your anxiety subsides.

These techniques really do work, you just have to practice. It's not going to be easy. But soon, with enough work, you will be able to live your life anxiety-free without the fear of speaking, flying, taking tests or even public speaking.

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