Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSpeech Anxiety and SADSymptomsCausesDiagnosisTreatmentHow to Prepare for a Speech

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Speech Anxiety and SAD

Symptoms

Causes

Diagnosis

Treatment

How to Prepare for a Speech

Close

Public speaking anxiety, also known asglossophobia, is one of the most commonly reported social fears.

While some people may feel nervous about giving a speech or presentation if you havesocial anxiety disorder (SAD), public speaking anxiety may take over your life.

The Best Online Therapy for Anxiety, Tried and Tested

Public speaking anxiety may also be called speech anxiety or performance anxiety and is a type of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Social anxiety disorder, also sometimes referred to as social phobia, is one of the most common types of mental health conditions.

Public Speaking Anxiety Symptoms

Symptoms of public speaking anxiety are the same as those that occur for social anxiety disorder, but they only happen in the context of speaking in public.

If you live with public speaking anxiety, you may worry weeks or months in advance of a speech or presentation, and you probably have severe physical symptoms of anxiety during a speech, such as:

Causes of Public Speaking Anxiety

These symptoms are a result of thefight or flight response—a rush of adrenaline that prepares you for danger. When there is no real physical threat, it can feel as though you have lost control of your body. This makes it very hard to do well during public speaking and may cause you to avoid situations in which you may have to speak in public.

What Causes Social Anxiety Disorder?

How Is Public Speaking Anxiety Is Diagnosed

Public speaking anxiety may bediagnosed as SADif it significantly interferes with your life. This fear of public speaking anxiety can cause problems such as:

Public Speaking Anxiety Treatment

Fortunately, effective treatments for public speaking anxiety are avaible. Such treatment may involve medication, therapy, or a combination of the two.

Therapy

Short-term therapy such assystematic desensitizationand cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can be helpful to learn how to manage anxiety symptoms and anxious thoughts that trigger them.

Ask your doctor for a referral to atherapistwho can offer this type of therapy; in particular, it will be helpful if the therapist has experience in treating social anxiety and/or public speaking anxiety.

Research has also found that virtual reality (VR) therapy can also be an effective way to treat public speaking anxiety. One analysis found that students treated with VR therapy were able to experience positive benefits in as little as a week with between one and 12 sessions of VR therapy. The research also found that VR sessions were effective while being less invasive than in-person treatment sessions.

Get Help NowWe’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of thebest online therapy programsincluding Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.

Get Help Now

We’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of thebest online therapy programsincluding Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.

Medication

If you live with public speaking anxiety that is causing you significant distress, ask your doctor about medication that can help. Short-term medications known as beta-blockers (e.g., propranolol) can be taken prior to a speech or presentation to block the symptoms of anxiety.

Other medicationsmay also be prescribed for longer-term treatment of SAD, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). When used in conjunction with therapy, you may find the medication helps to reduce your phobia of public speaking.

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In addition to traditional treatment, there are several strategies that you can use to cope with speech anxiety andbecome better at public speaking in general. Public speaking is like any activity—better preparation equals better performance. Being better prepared will boost your confidence and make it easier to concentrate on delivering your message.

Even if you have SAD, with proper treatment and time invested in preparation, you can deliver a successful speech or presentation.

16 Public Speaking Tips for Students

Pre-Performance Planning

Taking some steps to plan before you give a speech can help you better control feelings of anxiety. Before you give a speech or public performance:

Practice and Visualization

Even people who are comfortable speaking in public rehearse their speeches many times to get them right. Practicing your speech 10, 20, or even 30 times will give you confidence in your ability to deliver.

If your talk has a time limit, time yourself during practice runs and adjust your content as needed to fit within the time that you have. Lots of practice will help boost yourself-confidence.

How to Be More Confident: 9 Tips That Work

Setting Goals

Put things into perspective. If you find that public speaking isn’t one of your strengths, remember that it is only one aspect of your life. We all have strengths in different areas. Instead, make it a goal simply to be more comfortable in front of an audience, so that public speaking anxiety doesn’t prevent you from achieving other goals in life.

A Word From Verywell

In the end, preparing well for a speech or presentation gives you confidence that you have done everything possible to succeed. Give yourself the tools and the ability to succeed, and be sure to include strategies for managing anxiety. These public-speaking tips should be used to complement traditional treatment methods for SAD, such as therapy and medication.

Living With Social Anxiety Disorder

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Crome E, Baillie A.Mild to severe social fears: Ranking types of feared social situations using item response theory.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(5):471-479. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.002Pull CB.Current status of knowledge on public-speaking anxiety.Curr Opin Psychiatry.2012;25(1):32-8. doi:10.1097/YCO.0b013e32834e06dcGoldstein DS.Adrenal responses to stress.Cell Mol Neurobiol.2010;30(8):1433-40. doi:10.1007/s10571-010-9606-9Anderson PL, Zimand E, Hodges LF, Rothbaum BO.Cognitive behavioral therapy for public-speaking anxiety using virtual reality for exposure.Depress Anxiety.2005;22(3):156-8. doi:10.1002/da.20090Hinojo-Lucena FJ, Aznar-Díaz I, Cáceres-Reche MP, Trujillo-Torres JM, Romero-Rodríguez JM.Virtual reality treatment for public speaking anxiety in students. advancements and results in personalized medicine.J Pers Med. 2020;10(1):14. doi:10.3390/jpm10010014Steenen SA, van Wijk AJ, van der Heijden GJ, van Westrhenen R, de Lange J, de Jongh A.Propranolol for the treatment of anxiety disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis.J Psychopharmacol (Oxford).2016;30(2):128-39. doi:10.1177/0269881115612236

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Crome E, Baillie A.Mild to severe social fears: Ranking types of feared social situations using item response theory.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(5):471-479. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.002Pull CB.Current status of knowledge on public-speaking anxiety.Curr Opin Psychiatry.2012;25(1):32-8. doi:10.1097/YCO.0b013e32834e06dcGoldstein DS.Adrenal responses to stress.Cell Mol Neurobiol.2010;30(8):1433-40. doi:10.1007/s10571-010-9606-9Anderson PL, Zimand E, Hodges LF, Rothbaum BO.Cognitive behavioral therapy for public-speaking anxiety using virtual reality for exposure.Depress Anxiety.2005;22(3):156-8. doi:10.1002/da.20090Hinojo-Lucena FJ, Aznar-Díaz I, Cáceres-Reche MP, Trujillo-Torres JM, Romero-Rodríguez JM.Virtual reality treatment for public speaking anxiety in students. advancements and results in personalized medicine.J Pers Med. 2020;10(1):14. doi:10.3390/jpm10010014Steenen SA, van Wijk AJ, van der Heijden GJ, van Westrhenen R, de Lange J, de Jongh A.Propranolol for the treatment of anxiety disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis.J Psychopharmacol (Oxford).2016;30(2):128-39. doi:10.1177/0269881115612236

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Crome E, Baillie A.Mild to severe social fears: Ranking types of feared social situations using item response theory.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(5):471-479. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.002Pull CB.Current status of knowledge on public-speaking anxiety.Curr Opin Psychiatry.2012;25(1):32-8. doi:10.1097/YCO.0b013e32834e06dcGoldstein DS.Adrenal responses to stress.Cell Mol Neurobiol.2010;30(8):1433-40. doi:10.1007/s10571-010-9606-9Anderson PL, Zimand E, Hodges LF, Rothbaum BO.Cognitive behavioral therapy for public-speaking anxiety using virtual reality for exposure.Depress Anxiety.2005;22(3):156-8. doi:10.1002/da.20090Hinojo-Lucena FJ, Aznar-Díaz I, Cáceres-Reche MP, Trujillo-Torres JM, Romero-Rodríguez JM.Virtual reality treatment for public speaking anxiety in students. advancements and results in personalized medicine.J Pers Med. 2020;10(1):14. doi:10.3390/jpm10010014Steenen SA, van Wijk AJ, van der Heijden GJ, van Westrhenen R, de Lange J, de Jongh A.Propranolol for the treatment of anxiety disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis.J Psychopharmacol (Oxford).2016;30(2):128-39. doi:10.1177/0269881115612236

Crome E, Baillie A.Mild to severe social fears: Ranking types of feared social situations using item response theory.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(5):471-479. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.002

Pull CB.Current status of knowledge on public-speaking anxiety.Curr Opin Psychiatry.2012;25(1):32-8. doi:10.1097/YCO.0b013e32834e06dc

Goldstein DS.Adrenal responses to stress.Cell Mol Neurobiol.2010;30(8):1433-40. doi:10.1007/s10571-010-9606-9

Anderson PL, Zimand E, Hodges LF, Rothbaum BO.Cognitive behavioral therapy for public-speaking anxiety using virtual reality for exposure.Depress Anxiety.2005;22(3):156-8. doi:10.1002/da.20090

Hinojo-Lucena FJ, Aznar-Díaz I, Cáceres-Reche MP, Trujillo-Torres JM, Romero-Rodríguez JM.Virtual reality treatment for public speaking anxiety in students. advancements and results in personalized medicine.J Pers Med. 2020;10(1):14. doi:10.3390/jpm10010014

Steenen SA, van Wijk AJ, van der Heijden GJ, van Westrhenen R, de Lange J, de Jongh A.Propranolol for the treatment of anxiety disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis.J Psychopharmacol (Oxford).2016;30(2):128-39. doi:10.1177/0269881115612236

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