Why are people afraid of Public Speaking?

It's an often quoted statistic that you may have heard: The number one fear people have is public speaking. 

A lot of people find public speaking really scary! Why is that so? Where did this fear of speaking in front of others come from? Here are some brief thoughts on the subject, based on my own personal experience and the experiences of others.

Usually, for many people the fear of public speaking can be linked back to a negative speaking experience early in their life. They may have been required to stand up in front of the class in school and share a piece of news, and the feeling of nervousness got the better of them, and led to an experience they didn’t enjoy or perform well at. Having a bad experience then caused them to dread further opportunities that arose, and to try to avoid such experiences at all costs. Then, because avoiding the thing you fear leads to even greater fear, public speaking becomes an insurmountable obstacle that people refuse to participate in.

On the flipside, this is how the people who enjoy public speaking become ‘naturals’ at it.

Early positive experiences encourage them to continue trying it, which then leads to further positive reinforcement and enjoyment, and so they continue to do it, growing better because of the continual practice they have with the opportunities they say yes to. Fast forward their progress over a number of years and you have a ‘gifted’ public speaker.

What complicates things further is that public speaking is an activity closely linked to your sense of self-worth. Success or failure is deeply personal and makes you feel better or worse for the experience. It doesn’t help too, that it is an activity that happens in front of others. This has an amplifying effect on our performance for good or for bad. Bottom line is that success or failure in public speaking then becomes something that has links to our very identity, and is one of the reasons why the fear of public speaking is quite overwhelming in many peoples’ lives. This is also why one of the key tenets of my confident speaking framework is the emphasis on people believing and growing in their identity in Christ.

The good news is that the fear of public speaking can be overcome. Regardless of how it came to be, it doesn’t have to be the dominant factor that defines your public speaking story. You can change and grow to overcome this fear. I know this because I once was incredibly fearful of public speaking but now really enjoy the opportunity to do it. If a shy, introverted country kid can overcome it, then you can too.