How many times have you heard someone – maybe yourself – say, “I’m afraid to speak in front of a group”? Probably too many times to count. Well – let me put this as simply as I can:
That person – maybe you- are a liar.
OK, so maybe not the no-officer-I-have-no-idea-where-that-body-in-my-basement-came-from kind of liar, but a liar nonetheless. In fact, you may not even realize you’re lying. And worst of all, you’re lying to yourself. Claiming that fear is keeping you from being a world-class presentation star is simply incorrect. Sure your hands may be shaky and your brow may be sweaty and you may be having trouble sleeping as you lay awake at night pondering everything that can go wrong with your PowerPoint, but you’re not afraid.
You’re just anxious.
Fear Are you being chased by a lion? Is there an armed man in a William Shatner mask inquiring as to the whereabouts of your wallet on a dimly lit street in the middle of the night? Is your girlfriend about to dump you because she has been having a torrid affair with your sworn enemy? Have you just been pushed from an airplane by your best-friend-for-life?
Trust me, brother. You are terrified!
This is fear: A negative emotional reaction in the face of immediate danger. It builds quickly to help organize a response to environmental threat. Fear protects you from outside threats. You need fear to choke that lion into submission and to MacGyver your windbreaker into a working parachute before you go splat! However, a lecture hall isn’t your two-timing girlfriend or a Captain Kirk wannabe. It’s just a lecture hall, and what you’re feeling is coming from inside.
Anxiety
This is anxiety: Anxiety can refer to a mood or a clinical syndrome. Anxiety anticipates future problems, involves pessimistic thoughts and feelings, and has a sense of uncontrollability. It involves self-focus or self-preoccupation. Assuming you aren’t actually suffering from a psychological malady, the “fear” that has you climbing the walls as you anticipate your presentation is something that you are creating. It’s built on your worries, and it’s lashed together with your insecurities.
Don’t get me wrong. I know you’re freaking out! I’m just saying, there’s no reason too.
To a large degree, anxiety is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The first step in stopping this poisonous cycle is knowing that there are no real threats, and therefore, there is nothing to fear. And like they used to say in the G.I. Joe cartoons, “Knowing is half the battle!”
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