Communication apprehension or communication anxiety, or commonly called stage fright is a combined feeling of fear and excitement. Many speak-ers are more anxious than they need to be when asked to present before a big crowd because they want to protect their self-image. In some cases, they feel afraid because they lack a clear objective for speaking in front of a big number of strangers. In other instances, they have a strong desire to provide too much information so that they would wander from one topic to another and feel inadequate in the middle of their presentation. Most neophytes dread the occasion of facing a big audience and allowing themselves to be scrutinized by them. More often than not, they assume that the audience is a body of critical people whom a speaker should convince that she/he has something worthy to talk about and is not wasting their time.
According to Mark Twain, an American author and humorist, there are only two types of speakers in the world: the nervous and the liars. Prompt We believe that there is a third type: the truthful, confident speaker. In which type would you want to be associated or to be known someday?
Considering public speaking as a performance spawns more apprehension or fear in a speaker. Though we say that we use the stage like actors and actresses, and we perform on it, we should also remember that we would be there to communicate. We have something significant to tell the audience, and they are ready to interact with you the speaker. Since they are many, you need to put yourself on a literal stage to be noticed and heard by everyone. Though this situation is quite challenging, think of it as an opportunity to reach a greater number of people to interact or transact with because you have something important to say. Let these people hear your voice.
