Many of us face a lack of confidence while giving presentations at college or the workplace. A lot of people lose confidence when they speak in front of an unknown crowd. It doesn’t feel good when you know what to say but can not tell it properly. The problem lies in human nature. Many people feel shy or nervous about speaking in front of an unknown group of people.
Public speaking is very important in the educational and professional career. The fear that holds many people back from public speaking contributes to a lot of missed opportunities. But most people want to overcome this fear and go ahead in life. This article is specially prepared to help those people understand the reason behind their fear and overcome it.
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Reasons Behind the Lack of Confidence
There are a good number of reasons that contribute to the lack of confidence in a person while speaking in public.
Fear of Judgement
We fear getting judged when speaking in public. We prefer to remain perfect in front of others. As a result, we plan our actions in our minds and act accordingly in front of others. Many people believe that every human being has three kinds of personality. One type is how we behave in front of unknown people or teachers or bosses.
Another one is how we behave in front of our close friends or parents. The last one is what we feel in our minds. The first type of personality includes the fear of getting judged. So, we try to map our words perfectly in front of others. As a result, we get stressed, lose confidence, and start fearing public speaking.
Staying in Comfort Zone
Every person fears different kinds of things in life. But, fear can get overcome only by facing it. Practice makes things perfect. Most of us fear public speaking because we are not used to it. People who have done a good number of public speaking do not lose their confidence while speaking in public.
The reason behind this is that they faced fear and overcame it. We fear the unknown. We fear public speaking till the time we do not get accustomed to it. This is true not only for public speaking but also for every other thing in this world. Challenges create a feeling of fear. We do not feel shy to speak in our home. It means that we do not lack confidence, but we bear the fear of the unknown.
Stress
Stress is a common reaction of the human body when it faces challenges. Stress makes the brain more alert and increases pulse. We often forget things when we feel stressed. As a result, some people forget words or speak incorrect sentences while under stress.
Public speaking is not common for a lot of people. People do not fear to speak in their friends’ group or a family group. They mainly face issues speaking in groups where most of the people are not known closely.
Lack of Knowledge
Sometimes, people lack the confidence to speak in a group because they do not have enough knowledge about the subject matter. It is not possible to speak about things confidently which you do not know yourself. Knowledge plays an important role in group discussion. Group discussions are mainly arranged to discuss ideas or suggestions.
So, a person needs to have in-depth knowledge about the subject matter to talk about it. For example, suppose you ask a student of Science to talk in a group discussion about Economics. In that case, it will not be possible for the person to engage or speak in the group appropriately.
Language
Nowadays, most of the conferences or meetings are arranged in English because it is widely accepted. But, a lot of people are not native English speakers or have not studied in English background schools. The language becomes a barrier in the way of these people’s active participation.
People also feel the fear of getting judged if they communicate in poor English. Some people also find themselves inferior in front of others if they are not able to communicate in polished English. Many times, people lose their confidence when a discussion is arranged in a different language than theirs.
What Can Make You Confident in Group Discussions?
Interaction with Strangers
The fear can get overcome when it is faced. People fear to speak in group discussions mainly because they fear to talk in front of unknown people. Speaking with unknown people requires confidence. In turn, speaking with unknown people can make you confident.
If you are a student, try to interact with students from other departments. If you are a working professional, try to interact with random people inside or outside of your workplace. The more you will speak, the less you will fear to talk in group discussions.
Educate Yourself
Educated people get respect in every corner of the world. People will feel bored or annoyed if you speak with poor knowledge. Group discussions are arranged to discuss an issue or talk about new ideas.
So, you need to have good knowledge about the subject matter to be an active part of a group discussion. Knowledge will enlighten the darkness of the unknown and boost your confidence. If you want to be a good speaker in group discussions, you must push your boundaries of knowledge.
Practice
If you start taking part in many group discussions, you will eventually become confident and win the fear of the unknown. Knowledge can boost your confidence. But, it would help if you did practice to cope up with the reality. You also need to be persistent with your activity. Practice and persistency can help you to become an active participant in group discussions.
What Does Psychology Say?
Almost 25 percent of people feel the fear of speaking in public. Even a mild form of Glossophobia can destroy your opinion in a group discussion. When we fear to speak, we become anxious. As a result, the autonomic nervous system arouses and leads to hyperarousal. This disturbs our ability to talk confidently in a group. People lose confidence to speak in a group when they think too much about it.