3 STEPS TO FIGHT SPEAKING ANXIETY

Today, we are going to talk about a sensitive and scary topic: Tips for dealing with speaking anxiety. For those who aren’t familiar with the word, anxiety, is the feeling of fear and worry that overwhelms you. It includes how nervous you might get before talking to someone in English or even in your own language. It’s how your hands become sweaty before a professional or an educational presentation, and your heart beats raise. For some individuals, they also start to shake.

Speaking anxiety is a serious matter which isn’t fun to go through, and people get it for meetings, for going out with friends, but most people get that nervous when they are going to speak in a different language.

You might be wondering how are you going to fight speaking anxiety? How to speak with more confidence? In the following blog I will provide specific answers for your questions, with personally tested tips. Because some of you may know, my native language is Arabic, and I speak 3 other languages fluently: English, French, and Turkish. When I was learning English and French especially, I had this type of situations where I panic whenever my teacher asks me a question. As I tried to talk, I just couldn’t find the right words. I get heart palpitations and my language-speaking ability would just drop and that’s the reason I start to make mistakes. Being nervous stands as an obstacle between me and my ability to communicate well.

Now let’s look at 3 useful tips for you, which have worked for me, in order to get rid of speaking anxiety:

Step 1: Breath and have a walk before the exam

When you are nervous, it’s very important to breath. To breath deeply. You don’t have to take a deep breath where people notice you’re breathing heavily. Just remember, take a breath as It calms your heart. Scientists have proven that just by breathing, you calm yourself down and you relax yourself. In addition, before a presentation or a speaking exam, walk around the room for three minutes. This technique sends a signal to your brain, and it naturally has a calming effect on you. It will calm your heart and it will help you to not panic.

Check out this calming breathing technique for stress, anxiety and panic takes just a few minutes and can be done anywhere provided by the NHS – National Health Service of the UK.

Step 2: Automate your language and remember, you don’t have to be perfect

So, what does this word mean? Automate your language means that the more you use the same sentence over and over again, the more you don’t have to think about it anymore, it will automatically come out of your mouth. As a result, you need to learn key expressions, either that you might use for work, or that you might use for school. For instance, practice using ‘’ in my opinion ‘’ instead of ‘’ I think ‘’. In addition, remember that you don’t need to be perfect. Especially in language exams such as IELTS and TOEFL. Most students make this mistake and they forget that even native speakers make a lot of grammar mistakes, and vocabulary mistakes all the time. This is called ‘’ slip of the tongue ‘’, where maybe some words come out incorrectly. Don’t judge yourself too harshly, and remember that it’s okay to make mistakes.

Check out useful expressions which you might consider using on your IELTS or TOEFL speaking exam.

Step 3: Prepare a speaking template, and use mantras

So, what is a template? A template is a map where you organize your speech and how are you going to speak. Using a speaking template is very useful for speaking tests such as IELTS and TOEFL. They’re also good for presentations and business meetings. Before you walk inside and start presenting, memorise a certain template which will help you with the flow of your language. Use models, organizers, and map your speech in your head before you say it out loud. Finally, use a mantra. For those of you who don’t know what a mantra is, it represents the things we say to ourselves. They’re secrets you say in your own head, and they usually have a good and a positive message. When I was learning French, my mantra used to be ‘’ I am a good French speaker ‘’. Most students start thinking that their speaking is horrible, which is wrong. This thinking will lead you to make so many unexpected mistakes as it makes you panic. So many people don’t know this, but the things we tell ourselves have a great power and effect our performance. If you convince yourself, that you are a good speaker, you will become a good speaker eventually and you will overcome that negativity.

If you want to read more about how Mantras improve your performance, click here!

Finally, if you have any upcoming exam, presentation, job interview, don’t forget to have a chat with yourself in front of the mirror and convince yourself first that you are capable of doing this. Because if you aren’t convinced with your own powers, it will be difficult and almost impossible for you to convince the others.

Good luck and please let me know if these strategies worked out for you!

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