7% of the People in the United States have speech anxiety.
Speech anxiety negatively impacts people's lives by impairing job promotions, better wages, higher education, personal life, and depression.
There are general tips that can reduce speech anxiety:
1. Select your topic and content of speaking in advance.
2. Rehearse your speech section by section.
3. Read each section out loud several times to increase the speech fluency using muscle memory. This drill can help you remember your speech easier when delivering.
4. Visualize your audience while rehearsing to feel comfortable when you are in action.
5. Speak to one person at a time. Deliver each section to one person, then move to the other person for the next section.
6. Regulate your breathing: Inhale deeper breath and speak in longer exhalation. Deep breathing will shift your body from tense mode to relaxed mode.
7. Speak mindfully: Listen to your speech while speaking to monitor your speech and speak slower than your everyday speech to coordinate your speech and breathing for better message delivery.
8. Pause between your sentences to build up a repertoire of the moment with your audience. Pauses give the audience time to gather their thoughts and think about your message.
9. Sound natural. Deliver your speech in a natural tone using appropriate prosody. In other words, raise your voice, use rhythm if needed. Being monotone could be boring and result in losing your audience's attention.
10. Make a video while rehearsing and observe it to improve your performance.
11. Start slow, stay focused, speak mindfully, and take a break when you are losing focus.