Speaking, stigma, and shame: Public speaking anxiety is something organizations shouldn't ignore
Public speaking is the number one fear people have. So why is it so hard to talk about?
Public speaking is the number one fear people have. Even if you don’t experience it yourself, chances are that there’s someone on your leadership team, in your company, or in your social circle who does—and it’s time to start talking about it.
One of the questions I ask all new clients struggling with public speaking anxiety is, “do you feel like you need to conceal this problem?”
The answer is almost always yes. People usually talk about the judgment they anticipate having to face—the kind that can result in pity, discomfort, negative evaluations and even demotions. These people are deeply concerned about the lack of understanding and support they will receive from their teams and leaders if they choose to share the ‘dark secret’ of their public speaking anxiety. The problem is, public speaking anxiety isn’t all that rare.
Fear around public speaking is common—but talking about it isn’t.
This silence is a problem for organizations, especially when it comes to their employee’s mental health. Public speaking is the number one fear people have, so even if you don’t experience this yourself, chances are there’s someone on your leadership team, in your organization, or in your social circle who does.
A fear of public speaking isn’t just sweaty palms in front of a crowd. It’s the feeling of intense panic and dread during the period leading up to a speaking scenario. This could include finding excuses to avoid speaking in public, spending sleepless nights the week of a presentation, clamming up before a job interview, being unable to focus at work, or relying on pharmaceutical aids or substances to get through. Despite how debilitating these symptoms can be, people tend to put the blame back on themselves:
“They’re expecting more from me.”
“I shouldn’t have this problem, I’m 45 years old.”
“I have a PhD, I should have figured this out by now.”
“I’m in a global leadership role, this is almost silly!”
No matter how educated someone is, how long they’ve been in their job, or how senior they are, they can still be anxious about speaking in public. This often leads to shame, stigma, or the feeling of not measuring up. While many organizations have embraced the idea of speaking up about mental health, public speaking anxiety is rarely on the agenda—but maybe it should be! More often than not, people who struggle with public speaking anxiety see their fear as a major deficit, one they believe their leaders and teams won’t understand. They worry other members of their organization will think less of them, which leads them to conceal their worries and suffer alone.
Speaking up about public speaking
There’s a difference between a case of the jitters and total panic at the thought of speaking in front of others. Professionals of all walks of life face the impact of this fear, and it can take a mental, physical and emotional toll.
According to Janet Esposito, the author of In the Spotlight, most people experience some degree of stage fright—but there’s a big difference between the typical case of butterflies and feeling terror or intense fear. For people with a fear of public speaking, this fear often gets worse, not better, as we do more speaking over time.
“The old advice of “Just be well prepared and you will do fine” does not work for us. It makes us feel even more alone and misunderstood. You are definitely not alone. Most of us who have this high level of fear go to great lengths to try to hide it because we feel so ashamed of it.” — Janet Esposito
This is where the fear of public speaking can become a mental health issue. In a study conducted at the University of Connecticut, first year psychology students were asked if they had an ‘identity that they regularly kept secret from others’, and whether this identity was something they thought their peers would respond negatively to. Based on participants who met these two criteria, the authors found that stigma around a concealable mental health issue was shown to cause psychological distress and negative outcomes. Anticipated stigma (’what would happen if someone found out?’) was a category of its own. Despite experiencing little discrimination directly, the level of participants' fear over their condition being exposed to others was a direct predictor of both poorer health outcomes and psychological symptoms like depression or anxiety.
The stigma around being afraid of public speaking makes many professionals see it as something they need to conceal. Since it’s rarely talked about within organizations, many of the same professionals think their co-workers or colleagues aren’t experiencing the same thing—but with public speaking listed as people’s number one fear, they almost certainly are.
How organizations (and leaders) can help
When we accept our fear, we don’t make this fear a part of our identity—and that’s crucial for our psychological well being.
“It is human to find public speaking difficult: the struggle is not personal to you.” — Viv Groskop
Between their own personal shame and the stigma around the topic, professionals rarely get a chance to be transparent about what they feel. And with so many people struggling, part of the solution might simply be acknowledging that you’re not alone. Even if you don’t experience public speaking anxiety yourself, chances are you know someone who does, and they’re likely keeping it hidden.
For senior leaders or other members of organizations, providing resources around the topic can be pivotal. Public speaking anxiety is a major career staller for many—it can affect educational performance, influence career choice, and impact employability. A study conducted in Oman involved both post-secondary students, teachers, and industry professionals. Not only was public speaking anxiety present in 55% of students, the teachers and managers interviewed suggested that public speaking fear led to “the inability of students to demonstrate their skills well and a lack of self-confidence, resulting in low overall performance.”
If your most talented employees are having debilitating levels of anxiety, losing sleep, or missing opportunities to share thoughts or present ideas, your organization could be missing out too! Providing resources around public speaking anxiety, sharing your own experiences, or booking an webinar, keynote, or corporate public speaking group for your organization can go a long way towards making change—and a more transparent, comfortable workplace.
Resource:
The ‘How to Be Awesome at Your Job’ Podcast recently featured an interview with Morra Aarons Mele, who talks about how powerful sharing your own mental health issues in the workplace can be for others. “I have never in my hundreds of interviews, met someone who said bad things happened when they opened up.”
References:
Ibrahim, O. & Devesh, S. (2019). Implication of public speaking anxiety on the employability of Omani graduates. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability. 10. 122. 10.21153/jtlge2019vol10no2art861.
Quinn, D. M., & Chaudoir, S. R. (2009). Living with a concealable stigmatized identity: the impact of anticipated stigma, centrality, salience, and cultural stigma on psychological distress and health. Journal of personality and social psychology, 97(4), 634–651. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015815
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