Calhoun1

JasmineCalhoun
Soleberg
Psychology
11December2015
Glossophobia
Glossophobia,orspeechanxietyisthefearofpublicspeaking,ingeneral.When
glossophobiaislookedat,mostpeopleassumethatspeechanxietyonlydealswithspeakingin
frontofbiggroups,while,thisphobiadoesnotlimititsdefinitiontosmallerfactions.This
phobiahasmanydegrees,rangingfrommoderatetosevere.Thistypeofspeechanxietyisnot
onlyprevalentwithspeakinginfrontoflargecrowdsbutalsowithasmallergroupofpeople.
Usually,extremeglossophobicsalsohaveasocialanxietydisorderalongwiththephobia.

With
speechanxiety,itiscommonforpeopletofeelexternalandinternalsymptomsbefore,during,
andafter,speaking.Themostfamiliarsymptomswiththisphobiainclude,sweating,increased
heartrates,tenseandweakvoices,andstiffness.
Speechanxietyisbuiltfromanumberofcausesdependingontheindividual.For
example,anindividualcouldhaveseveresocialandspeechanxietiesduetolowselfesteem
whileanotherindividualcouldbesufferingfromatraumaticeventcausingthisapprehension.
Evenifasetgroupofpeoplehaveglossophobiaforthesamereasonlowselfesteem,each
personwillexperiencesymptomsdifferently.Intheactofsevereglossophobia,vomiting,panic
attacks,shaking,andintensesweatingarethemostlikelytooccurcomparedtoamoremildcase.
Glossophobiacanbeimproved.Controlledstudiesandrecordedopinionshaveshown
thatpracticingandgainingalotofexperiencewiththepresentationcontent,speakinginfrontof

Calhoun2

smallerandlessintimidatinggroupsofpeople,hypnosistherapy,betablockers,andparticipating
inspecificprogramstoimprovesocialandspeakingfearsarethemostknownandeffectiveto
improvingglossophobia.
Manypublicspeakingcourses,associations,andclubs,arededicatedto
helpingindividualsalleviatetheirfearofpublicspeakingsuchasToastmasters.organd
hightouchspeaking.org.Thesewebsitesareacknowledgedfortheireffortsindeveloping
individualssspeechanxietiesandbloomingthemintogreat,confident,speakers.
Hightouchspeakingprovideshelpfultipstowriting,preparing,andspeakingtipsforpeoplewho
seekthehelp.Toastmasterspresentspeoplewiththeopportunitytoviewotherssinspiring
storiesontheirjourneytobecominggreatspeakers.Bothofthesewebsitesgivetheindividuala
chancetogetthehelptheywantanddeserve.LewisRoth,thecreatorofHightouchspeakingand
paststudentofCraigValentine,1999WorldChampionofPublicSpeakingAuthor,haswritten
anAmazonbestsellerthathashelpedmanypeopleunderstandspeechanxietyandhowto
improvetheirpresenting.Lewisdedicateshimselftohiswebsiteandguidingthoseseekinghelp.
AccordingtothesurveymanyACHSstudentstook,itrevealedthatthegreatermajority
ofrespondentssaidthattheydidnotlikegivingpresentationsasshowninthegraphbelow.

Inadditiontonotenjoyingpublicspeaking,peoplealsosaidthattheymostoftenpresentinfront
oflargegroupsofpeople.Over90%ofstudentssaidthattheyspokeinfrontofwholeclassesas

Calhoun3

opposedtosmallgroupsorjustteachers.Also,glossophobiaaffectsevery3outof4people
comparedtothewholeworld,thatisabout5.3millionpeoplethatsufferfromthesamephobia.
Currently,speechanxietyisthenumberonefearamongthesocietypopulation.Lookingatthe
dataIhavecollected,manystudentsrespondedtofeelpanickybeforepresenting

andsaidtohavedifficultyspeakingduringapresentation.

Calhoun4

Additionally,whensurveyed,Whathelpsyouprepareforspeakinginfrontoflargergroupsof
people?manystudentsrespondedwiththemostcommoncopingmechanism/preparing.

EventhoughthestudentsandIgotoaProjectBasedLearningschool,andmanyofushaveto
facethatconstantspeechanxiety,publicspeakingisimportantandmustbehelped.Lookingat
moreresultsmademerealizehowextensivethisphobiacanbe.

Nearly70%ofstudentssaidthattheywouldlikeextrahelpwiththeirspeechanxietyifthey
couldreceivepropertreatment.
IselectedthistopicbecauseIcanrelatetoitandIfeelthatIhaveovercomeoneofmy
phobias.AsalittleeighthgraderatACMS,presentingstartedtobecomemorecommon.I

Calhoun5

rememberstressingoutandbeingsonervousforapresentationwhenIwas13or14.Eighth
gradewasaboutthetimePBLhadstartedtointegratetoayoungergeneration,andbackthen,the
thoughtofspeakinginfrontof2030kidswasgutwrenching.Presentationdaysmademewant
tostayhomesoIwouldnothavetobearthetensenessandanxietythathadbuiltupinmy
stomachfromthecountdownofdaysuntilIwouldhavetospeak.ButbecauseofACHS,Ihave
overcomemyoncehorriblefear.Gradeshadmotivatedmetobecomeabetterspeakerbecause
oralcommunicationwassuchacrucialpartinthegradebook.Asawaytocopewiththisfear,I
begantopracticepresentationcontentmoreoftenandpresentinfrontofgroupsIwas
comfortablewithtobuildconfidenceandassuremyselfthatIknewwhatIwasdoinginorderto
succeedwithapresentation.Somehow,thathadhelpedalotadditionally,Irealizedthatalotof
theotherstudentsdidnotalwayspayattentiontopresentationsbecausetheywerestressingover
theirownturnatpresenting.Now,Idonotworryaboutthepresentationaspecttoaproject.
Duetomyresearch,Ihavealsofoundthatthisphobiaisnotonlyfoundinyoung
awkwardteenagers,but,inalmosteveryone.Glossophobiaaccountsfor19%ofallphobiasin
theworldandthatmanypeoplepreferdeathtopublicspeaking.Myknowledgehasbroadenedto
alargerscaleofthisphobia.Thisspeechanxietycanbemorecriticalthansimplygiving
presentations.Itisabroaderscopeofpeoplewhoarejustnotabletopresentduetosomething
muchdeeperthanaspeechanxiety.Frommyfindings,InowknowthatdespiteattendingaPBL
school,manypeopleareglossophobicevenwiththeexperiencetheyhave.
Glossophobiaisnotsomethingtobeoverlooked.Seeingthatthisisthenumberonefear
amongsocietypopulations,itisnotuncommontoknowsomeonewithamoderatetosevere
associationwiththephobia.Somethingsolargetowhereitaffectsover5.3millionpeople

Calhoun6

shouldneverbedeemedunimportantbecauseofitsfamiliarity.Becausesomethingaslargeas
glossophobiaaffectsagrandmajorityofbeings,itneedstohaveevencloserattentionsothatthis
anxietycanbelessened.Inordertohelpthisfear,everyoneneedstosupportoneanother.Ifwe
cansupportthosewitheventheslightestspeechanxiety,theiroverallselfesteemwillimprove.
Toastmasters.orghasclubsandorganizationsallaroundtheworldprovidedforthoseseeking
help.Wecanmakeaclubinourcommunityinordertostartthispushtowardsconfidentpublic
speaking.Alongwithtoastmasters.org,thereisalsohightouchspeaking.comthatprovides
programsandinformationtosupportandhelpothers.

Calhoun7

AnnotatedBibliography
Jacob."FearofPublicSpeakingPhobiaGlossophobia."
FearOfnet
.,14May2014.Web.15
Nov.2015.
Thiswebsitehelpedmeunderstandthattherecanbemultiplestagestoglossophobiamoderate,
severe,mild.Itgavemealistofsymptoms,causes,andtreatmentsforthephobiaaswellasideas
toimprovetheseverity.Thetreatmentslistedhelpedmeunderstandhowdifficultthisphobiacan
betoovercomeandconquered.
Inmyopinion,Ireallylikedthisresource.Itwaseasytonavigate,read,andunderstand.Itwas
laidoutinawaywhereyoudidnothavetostrainyourselftoreadthetextnorGoogleany
difficultwords.Additionally,thisresourcewashelpfulingivingfirsthandknowledgeaboutthe
topic.

"DoYouSufferfromGlossophobiaorFearPublicSpeaking?"
Glossophobia.com
.,2001.Web.
15Nov.2015.
Becauseofthiswebsite,Iwasabletomoreeasilyunderstandglossophobiaanditsname.Tome,
thiswassuchastrangenametocallspeechanxietyIfoundthatglssameanttongueinGreek,
andphobosmeaningfearordread.Guswebsitegavememoreinsighttosometechnicalpartsof
glossophobia.
Unliketheothersource,thiswebsitegavemestatisticsforthephobiawhichhelpedmegrasp
howoftenpeopleareaffected.OneaspectIreallylikedaboutthissitewasthatitincludeda
resourcestabthatprovidedsomebookswithmoreinformationaboutcuringthephobiaand
generalinformation.Additionally,thetextquotedsomedoctorsmakingtheinformationmore

Calhoun8

credible.Eventhoughsomepartsofthesitedonotlooktooprofessional,itreallyhelpedme
learnmoreaboutmytopic.

Gaille,Brandon."14FearofPublicSpeakingStatisticsBrandonGaille.com."
BrandonGaillecom
.,24Oct.2013.Web.15Nov.2015.
Thesourcelistedsomestatisticsaboutglossophobiathatfurtheredmyknowledgeonthephobia.
Theinfographicgaveclearimagestovisuallyseesomestatsinsteadofreading,andnow,Iam
awarethatmostpeoplesufferwiththisphobia.Itwashelpfultoseehowglossophobiacompared
toothermorecommonphobias.
Thiswebsiteincludedagreatvisualaidtoaccentuatesomeofthestatisticsaboutspeechanxiety.
Thevisualrepresentationmadeeachstatisticeasiertolookatandunderstandbecauseitdidnot
seemlikealotofreadingcomparedtoothersources.Althoughthepicturewasnice,therewere
toomanydistractingads.Asidefromthat,Ilikedthatthecontentwassimpleandstraighttothe
point.

Lake,Rebecca."FearofPublicSpeakingStatisticsandHowtoOvercomeGlossophobia."
CreditDonkey
.,28Aug.2015.Web.15Nov.2015.
IlearnedthattherearemoretechniquestoimprovingspeechanxietythanwhatIdiscoveredin
myothersources.Also,thissiteprovidedmorestatisticsthatnarroweddownthephobiaby
gendertowhichwomenaremoreimpactedthanmen.Theinformationhelpedmeunderstand
differentgroupsandtheirspeechanxietythisaffectseveryone,notjustpeoplewhogive
presentations.

Calhoun9

Thiswebsiteprovidedadditionaltabsthatcoveredmorethanjustthebasicsofglossophobia.
Eachitemwasoutlinednicelyandkeptinformationlimitedtoonlywhatwasimportant.Thesite
waseffectivelydesignedandeasytonavigate,aswellas,understand.Thiswebsitefurtheredmy
knowledgeandgavemeaconcentratedamountofknowledgeforcertaingroupsthatareaffected
bythisphobia.