Professor relieves speaker’s anxiety
by Laurie Mansfield, reporter

    Students can become successful at public speaking once they understand how speaking anxiety develops and what steps they need to take to reduce their anxiety, a NW Campus professor said last week.

   Communication apprehension is an individual’s fear associated with real or anticipated communication, Dr. Bobbi Stringer, speech professor, said.

   Stringer spoke at the Counseling Personal Enrichment Workshop, a series presented during the month of February. Each workshop is designed to help students achieve greater personal and/or career awareness.

   “More people are afraid of speaking in public than of dying,” she said.

   This fear affects one’s level of comfort in communicating. It affects one’s attitude about one’s self, Stringer said. It can also have a negative impact on academic achievement.

   Knowing the facts about public speaking anxiety can help students overcome their fear, Stringer said.

   “The better prepared you are, the better you can cope when speaking,” she said.

   Take time to prepare fully for the speech, Stringer said. Knowing one’s subject gives one confidence.

   Visualizing a positive speech experience is another suggestion to calm the speaker’s fears, Stringer said.

   “The body does not distinguish physiologically between visualizing giving a speech and actually giving it,” she said.

   She encouraged the students to seek out opportunities to speak publicly. She recommended joining organizations like Toastmasters to gain experience.

   “Experience breeds confidence in public speaking,” Stringer said.

   Often a previous bad experience as a child may cause a fear of speaking in public.

   “The mind is like a tape recorder. One can’t go back in time to re-tape a past experience, but one can tape over it,” she said.

   Using cognitive restructuring exercises (changing negative self-talk into positive self-talk), students can break out of negative thinking ruts to view a situation in a positive light, Stringer said.

   A speaker can learn to channel nervousness and make it work positively, Stringer said. Learning how one’s body responds to stress will help one to control nervousness.

   “Another way to conquer fear is through using the biofeedback machines available to all students at TCC in the counseling and testing center,” she said.

   “Everyone experiences butterflies in their stomach before speaking. Butterflies are the adrenaline. Adrenaline can work for or against you. Preparation goes a long way in helping the butterflies fly in formation instead of flying chaotically,” she said.