Public Speaking

Treatment For

Let's Feel Comfortable with Public Speaking.

Having a fear of public speaking is common; the thought of getting up in front of a crowd and talking is enough to make most of us break out in a sweat. For some people, this anxiety develops into a phobia – known as glossophobia. Here we will look at how hypnotherapy for public speaking anxiety and glossophobia can help you build confidence.

More and more of us are utilising email, social media and texting to communicate, meaning there’s rarely a need to speak in front of an audience. This can mean that when public speaking situations do come up, we can feel anxious.

Public speaking may be avoidable for some, but for others, it’s not. We may need to give presentations at work, give speeches at events or even attend interviews. Public speaking can be a great way to share ideas, so many of us want to feel less fearful of doing it.

Fear and your mind

When we experience fear, our minds tend to work against us. We have an influx of automatic, negative thoughts that feed into our sense of self-doubt. Becoming more aware of these thoughts and speaking to yourself with kindness is a great first step to managing your fear of public speaking. Fear makes our minds behave differently, to a point where logic and reason are all but forgotten. It does this by distorting reality and fixating on the negative.

Reality distortion

Fear has a habit of distorting reality. You may think “If I forget my words, everyone will laugh at me and I’ll lose their respect.” In reality, however, it is highly unlikely that this would happen. If you were to lose track of what you were saying, it is far more likely that everyone would simply wait for you to remember. And even if some people did judge you, this wouldn’t really affect your life.

This fear and anxiety can cause us to lose our perspective, thinking our lives will be over if it doesn’t go perfectly. Try to challenge this way of thinking by asking yourself, “Will this situation matter in five, 10 or 20 years’ time?”.

Fixating on the negative

Another common behaviour of the mind when it feels fear is to focus on the negative. This can lead us to think back to times in our lives when public speaking hasn’t gone to plan. It can also cause us to fixate on the physical sensations that are frightening us, like an increased heart rate or a tight chest. Recognising this is helpful as you can re-direct these fixations onto something more positive.

How can hypnotherapy help you with public speaking?

Experiencing a little anxiety when asked to speak in public is to be expected. If you don’t know why you have a fear of public speaking, hypnotherapy can help. Once you are in a deeply relaxed state, your hypnotherapist can talk to your unconscious and help to uncover the situation or event that triggered your glossophobia. Much of the time, the event is seemingly insignificant, but over time it grows in our mind to become something we can no longer control.

Once the root cause is revealed, your hypnotherapist can use suggestive language to change the route of your thoughts. The aim here is to promote positive thinking and a sense of calm when faced with public speaking, instead of the previous flood of negativity.

But if your anxiety overwhelms you this is when hypnotherapy can help to work with your unconscious to find out where the root of your anxiety comes from. Typically it comes from misinformation gathered from past experience. Then positive suggestive techniques can be used, ensuring you feel calm and collected when speaking in public.