Communication ToolKit for Health Sciences

Public speaking anxiety is a fear of speaking in public. It’s a fear that coming to the meeting or speaking role will do nothing to help the situation change and make the speech more effective. It’s also been described as a fear of being alone in public, as it is known that coming into public places is the only time where you’re not allowed to talk to anyone. This is especially true in universities where the only time you’re allowed to speak is during class. The solution to public speaking anxiety? Professional development!
None of us can control when and how we’ll be called on to speak, but there are some things we can do to help. One: try and focus on your own personal development instead of focus on the event at hand. Two: practice regularly andably; it’s not about being perfect, it’s about being good enough. And three: don’t be afraid to take risks, especially when it comes to public speaking.

I have successfully gotten over my long time fear of speaking in public and having anxiety and these have been some tools that have helped me. I feel that knowing my topic really well to the point where you don’t have to look down at any papers and you can confidently look and tell anyone about the topic you are speaking about. Practice, Practice, Practice I cannot emphasize this enough, but practice is the best thing you can do to prepare yourself to present anything. Some things that I’ve done is visualize myself in front of a big crowd and giving my speech in a mirror trying to visualize myself in high pressure situations.

Presenting Infront of others is very scary to most. there’s many ways to be more comfortable and stress free while presenting to a group of people. its good to to get your mind off everything else and just focus on your material. take a few deep breaths before you start make some eye contact and begin. it might be good to also put some material on to flashcards to limit the time your looking at the bored instead of the audience

Presenting in front of others can be very scary, but there are ways that you can take away some stress. Knowing your topic and practicing your speeches before presenting helps. Focusing on the material instead of the audience is a great way to get your mind off of actually presenting. Personally I like to take a couple of deep breaths before presenting. Breathing exercises help a lot of people.

Sources:

Cronkleton, E. (2022, November 22). 10 breathing exercises to try: For stress, training, and Lung Capacity. Healthline. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.healthline.com/health/breathing-exercise

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2017, May 17). Fear of public speaking: How can I overcome it? Mayo Clinic. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/expert-answers/fear-of-public-speaking/faq-20058416

How is getting faster, related to gym training? The key is through specific training. I will break down three of the most important aspects of specific training to improve your sprinting speed.

1. Technique Training: When biomechanics and technique training is mastered, then you can maximize your capacity of your full sprinting velocity through your coordinated movements. The correct technique and biomechanics should be supplemented with actual sprint training and weight lifting.
2. Specific Power and Speed Weight Lifting: After mastering the biomechanics and technique of running and sprinting, both in nonlinear and linear pathways, then we can start introducing force production which is ultimately the areas that make you faster. Correct form on lifting heavy and light can lead to maximum force production, resulting in faster sprinting and running overall.
3. Plyometric and Explosive Training: Plyometric and explosive training should be the final touch, the mastery of form and technique is critical if you want to get the most out of reactive training such as these aspects. It puts your body into a reactive and explosive state, which training the muscles and nervous system to produce the fastest movements it cans.

Concluding, when combining these aspects of training, you can become a very explosive and fast athlete, both in nonlinear and linear planes of motion. These key steps are crucial for developing your maximum capability in sprinting. With more details and a proper program, using these steps can sky rocket your sprinting abilities to the next level.

Citations:

Keiner, Michael1; Sander, Andre2; Wirth, Klaus1; Schmidtbleicher, Dietmar1. Long-Term Strength Training Effects on Change-of-Direction Sprint Performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: January 2014 – Volume 28 – Issue 1 – p 223-231doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318295644b 

Keller, Sebastian; Koob, André; Corak, Dino; von Schöning, Valerian; Born, Dennis-Peter. How to Improve Change-of-Direction Speed in Junior Team Sport Athletes—Horizontal, Vertical, Maximal, or Explosive Strength Training?. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: February 2020 – Volume 34 – Issue 2 – p 473-482doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002814

Dos’Santos, Thomas1,2; Thomas, Christopher1; Comfort, Paul1,3; Jones, Paul A.1. Biomechanical Effects of a 6-Week Change of Direction Speed and Technique Modification Intervention: Implications for Change of Direction Side step Performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: October 2022 – Volume 36 – Issue 10 – p 2780-2791

doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003950

Steps to Overcome public speaking /anxiety:

1. Know your topic
2. Get organized
3. Practice, and then practice some more
4. Challenge specific worries
5. Visualize your success/be confident when speaking
6. Do some deep breathing
7. Focus on your material, not on your audience

Public speaking: Has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delivered over great distance by means of technology.

anxiety: is a natural human response when we feel that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.

Approximately 75% of people experience this problem across the world. You are not alone in your fear due to lot’s of people are facing this challenge also.

Effective listening Is listening is the practice of preparing to listen, observing what verbal and non-verbal messages are being sent, and then providing appropriate feedback for the sake of showing attentiveness to the message being presented. 

5 tips for active listening:

1. Face the speaker and have eye contact
2. “Listen” to non-verbal cues too
3. Don’t interrupt
4. Listen without judging, or jumping to conclusions
5. Don’t start planning what to say next

By: Devin Sweeney

December 4th, 2022

Everyone has at least once been anxious and nervous about presenting/speaking to an audience. It can be very overwhelming with all those eyes on you especially if you are trying to impress the audience. Presenting was always hard for me as an individual, but I’ve found several ways to improve my public speaking.

Here are the ways you can improve your public speaking anxiety:

1. Practice makes perfect– Make sure you are always prepared for presentations or public speaking. You should have an outline of the topics you will cover. If you are able to use flashcards to bullet point your main topics take advantage of that! Having flashcards in your hands also gives you something to hold onto so you’re not fiddling with anything else because of anxiety. Prior to your presentation/speech practice out loud what you will say and keep practicing till you feel comfortable with your presentation/speech
2. Take deep breaths before you speak– Sometimes are nerves can get the best of us and cause us to make silly mistakes. Taking deep breaths can reduce stress and make us feel more relaxed and less uptight.
3. Have a handout or visual– Having something for the audience to look at, interact with, or read will take some of their focus off of you and onto what you gave them. This can distract the audience and make it so not all eyes are on you at once.
4. Go to therapy– And not the physical type. I am talking about mental therapy by seeing a psychologist that can help you manage your emotions such as overwhelming anxiety. If you have overwhelming anxiety in general that affects other aspects of your life along with public speaking it is most likely rooted to something deeper. Working with a psychologist can help you discover the root of this problem, and you can work on fixing it with your psychologist. Seeing a health professional for mental health is nothing to be ashamed of and you will be happy you did.

Sources:

Upham, Becky, et al. “Deep Breathing: How It Works, Benefits, and Exercises for Beginners.” EverydayHealth.com, EverydayHealth, 12 Nov. 2021, https://www.everydayhealth.com/wellness/deep-breathing/.