Glossophobia, or public speaking phobia, is a very common phobia characterized by a severe fear of speaking in public – an intense and irrational fear of being judged by others when speaking in front of them – or of making mistakes, being embarrassed or humiliated in such situations – causing dread, anxiety, panic and avoidance.

Signs you have glossophobia include excessive anxiety before public speaking, avoiding events that require it, managing and manipulating people or situations to make it more comfortable, freezing or blanking when actually speaking, severe physical symptoms (like changes in heart rate, breathing and temperature), irrational negative thoughts about being judged, obsessively ruminating afterward about what you did. If these symptoms are familiar to you and significantly impact your life and career, you are likely to have diagnosable glossophobia.

No, a phobia of public speaking is not just about the fear of giving presentations. Glossophobia is a more general fear and can manifest in many other situations where people are terrified of talking but have little choice:

No. Forget public speaking courses because they rarely address the anxiety and fear of speaking in public. But you still have to stand up and present at the end. Which can be terrifying. You most likely have the skills to present or talk in a meeting. So you don’t need help with that. It’s the fear that gets in the way. And without the fear, you can do the rest.

No. Tips and tricks won’t help if you want to overcome your fear and anxiety around speaking in public. You know the kind: “10 Tips For Effective Public Speaking”. Plan. Prepare. Know Your Audience. Use humour. Use visuals. Tell a story. Make eye contact. Etc. But this is not what you need because your bar is probably lower. You just want to get through it, feel okay and do a passable job. You just want the fear gone. That's why our program deals with the fear.

Stage fright and glossophobia are the same - an excessive, irrational fear of public speaking or performing in front of others. While "stage fright" is colloquial - more usually used when referring to actors, singers and musicians - glossophobia is the clinical term for this type of phobia involving fear, anxiety, and panic when speaking publicly.

Overcoming glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, can be challenging with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) alone. While individuals may intellectually understand that public speaking situations are generally safe, their emotional response, driven by the survival instinct, can override these rational thoughts. This makes the cognitive aspect of CBT, which focuses on changing negative thought patterns, less effective. Furthermore, the intense anxiety associated with glossophobia can make gradual exposure, a core component of CBT, feel overwhelming and potentially exacerbate the fear.

The Spotlight Effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to hugely overestimate how much others notice and care about their appearance, behavior, and actions. It leads to an inflated sense of being observed and scrutinized by others which can cause self-consciousness and intense anxiety when, for example, speaking in public.  

The fear of public speaking is irrational. The sufferer knows consciously that it doesn’t make sense; that the situation is safe and they’re probably talking to decent professional people. Yet the unconscious mind triggers an automatic fear response based on learned negative patterns and beliefs about speaking publicly. To overcome this phobia (glossophobia), the deep-seated unconscious patterns driving the irrational fear reaction need to be reprogrammed and replaced so the anxiety no longer triggers. Specialist therapy will do this.