Public speaking is one of the problems that comes up
most often for people with social anxiety.
And if you think about it, if a person suffers from social anxiety,
if I have social anxiety, I'm greatly concerned about how other people view me.
And there I am in front of a group of people
and I'm in the spotlight, I'm literally in the spotlight
and so how how can I manage that?
Well, a couple things that we recommend: One is
to consider those things that I might ordinarily do to
to try to make myself feel comfortable... and not do them.
I might be tempted to over-prepare,
over-polish what I'm gonna say. And ultimately that
makes me more afraid. That's a barrier to me really getting past my social anxiety.
I might be tempted to look above their heads
and not make contact with my audience,
but ultimately that produces a worse experience for me, and for them.
I can't see the people who are smiling at me or nodding as they understand
what I'm saying and appreciating it. I put a greater distance between myself and them
when I avoid them. Or if I rush through my public speaking,
what happens then is that
I start breathing faster. When I breathe faster,
I actually become more anxious and when I become more anxious
then it's less easy for me to be the kind of public speaker it could be,
and I'm actually a little less pleasant to listen to.
So few basic things a person can focus on.