Is communication anxiety keeping you from speaking up?
It would help if you communicated clearly with your colleagues, patients, and family members. Effective communication is essential for the proper functioning of your home and work environment and to ensure better outcomes for life events.
But what happens when you’re too anxious to do that?
If the feeling of exposing your ideas to everyone’s judgment is so uncomfortable that it gets in the way of your personal and professional life, it’s time to find help.
Let’s look at communication anxiety, its symptoms, and ways to relieve it. So read on to learn more.
What is communication anxiety?
Certain social situations like speaking in public, presenting, or talking with your family can make you feel uncomfortable as you anticipate others judging you. This is because we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to communicate well. And if we don’t, we feel undervalued.1
Communication anxiety or apprehension is the fear of anticipated fear of communicating with others. It’s a psychological response to evaluation that quickly becomes physical as the body responds to the perceived threat.1
What are the symptoms?
Communication anxiety can produce several physical sensations, such as:1
- Sweaty hands
- Racing heart
- Feeling butterflies in the stomach
- Nausea
- Shaking hands
- Dry mouth
- Fast breathing
- Feeling dizzy
- Forgetting things
- Quivering voice
What can you do about it?
Understanding how your body responds to stress can you cope with these reactions better and channel them in constructive directions. You may use the energy released by these physiological reactions to encourage you and give other people the impression of excitement as you speak.1
Other tips that may help: 2
- Identify what’s making you feel nervous and why.
- Set realistic expectations.
- Exercise – helps reduce stress and anxiety.
- Practice relaxation techniques – take deep breaths, tighten, and relax your muscles, visualizing a peaceful place.
Benefits of hypnotherapy for dealing with stress
Hypnotherapy is very effective in helping you relax. You’ll learn how to clear your mind and change how your body and mind respond to stress. Schedule your Free Hypnotherapy Screening.
References
1- What Is Communication Apprehension? Stand up, Speak out by the University of Minnesota. Available: https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/3-1-what-is-communication-apprehension/#:~:text=Communication%20apprehension%20refers%20to%20the,part%20of%20the%20communication%20process. Access: 05/02/2022.
2- Speech Anxiety. University of Pittsburgh. Available at: https://www.comm.pitt.edu/speech-anxiety. Access: 05/02/2022.