How to overcome the fear of the stage and public appearances?

Oratory must be shown to everyone, but not everyone is given it easily. The fear of the stage and the audience is inherent in the vast majority of people and often comes from childhood. However, this phobia can be overcome knowing how not to be afraid to perform on stage.

What is glossophobia?

Glossophobia, or logophobia, is a fear of speaking with a large crowd of people, and it has several varieties:

• peyraphobia - fear of public speaking in general;
• lalophobia - stuttering on stage or fear of talking because of possible stuttering;
• verbobobia - fear of individual words.

Fear of speaking to the audience is not a disease, but it causes a lot of discomfort in life if the person's official duties include frequent interaction with large groups of people. In addition, with the constant appearance of an obsessive sense of timidity in public, the social adaptation of the individual as a whole also becomes more difficult.

Symptoms of logophobia

A person suffering from obsessive fear of speaking may not know about his pathological condition and write off everything for low self-esteem. For some, this zazhatnost is due to external defects or speech, and people think that it looks bad - here it is clamped internally. Fear of the scene is expressed in the following signs:

1. During the performance: cotton feet, nausea, pallor, dry mouth, tachycardia, increased sweating, redness of the skin.
2. Before the performance: insomnia, lack of appetite , nervousness.
3. Defects of speech, which are manifested only when speaking in front of the audience: stupor and dumbness, stammering.

Fear of public speaking - reasons

Fear of the scene - phobia number 1 in modern society. It is in 95% of people. The reasons for this fear can be as follows:

• bad experience in the past (a man was ridiculed in public, there was an embarrassing ticklish situation, which was postponed in the subconscious);
• mistakes of education (authoritarian parents who inspired the child that it is impossible to speak loudly in public places);
• low self-esteem;
• responsibility before an audience that a person does not want to take on himself;
• the decision that to remain silent is better, caused by suggestion from the outside (society, parents) or by the person himself;
• Defects of speech, because of which a person hesitates to speak.

Fear of the stage for musicians

Not only simple mortals exist glossophobes. Every second performer of classical music experiences stress and excitement before the concert, afraid to take a false note and be ridiculed by other members of the orchestra. For many, this phobia only worsens over the years, and someone does not know how to overcome the fear of the scene , and at all refuses a musical career, no matter how brilliant it may be. It is interesting that the fear of public speaking is inherent only to the performers of classical music, and pop-singers or rock musicians are not affected by it.

How to teach a child not to be afraid of the scene?

It often happens that a child is afraid to perform on stage. Even having well prepared and many times rehearse at home, the kid is lost before strangers and stops or starts to cry. Psychologists offer several rules that help children overcome shyness before an audience:

1. Repetition is the mother of learning. It is necessary to rehearse with the kid many times, to tell the necessary material yourself, including in an improvised room, with an expression and a smile on his face. With this example, parents show the kid how not to be afraid of the scene.
2. Creating a positive image. Let the child tell a rhyme or sing a song in front of a mirror, being in a beautiful outfit. Seeing his reflection, he will want to repeat this beauty and show it to others.
3. No comparison : you do not have to frighten the child by the fact that he lags behind other children who get better, but, on the contrary, support him with the already existing successes. The worst thing you can do is scold the child and tell him that he is doing something worse than the rest.
4. Promotion : giving a gift to a child or preparing some other surprise, you can make a real celebration out of the performance. The kid will remember this day as a bright event and will want a repetition.

Nervousness on the stage is inherent in many: from children on the matinees to professional artists or speakers with reports of politicians. If you turn the performance into a pleasant process, see only positive aspects in it, then you can avoid shyness before a large crowd of people, whose attention is drawn only to you. Understanding how to overcome the fear of the scene, adults will significantly facilitate life and their child with a pathological fear of speaking.