You may be asked to give a short presentation during the first week of your communication course. Perhaps you’ll be asked to introduce yourself or to draw a random topic out of an envelope and speak about it for a minute or two. Whether you look forward to speaking or would do anything to avoid it, you’ll probably feel some level of nervousness. After all, it will be the first time you’ve stood in front of your classmates to speak. What if you look uncomfortable or stumble over your words? What if you say the wrong thing?

Though it’s common to feel nervous, it’s certainly not fatal. In fact, a little bit of anxiety keeps you on your toes and can motivate you to spend time and effort developing and delivering an effective presentation. Reading this chapter can help too—a research study showed that reading about the nature, causes, and methods of managing anxiety made subjects less anxious than listening to relaxation tapes, reading self-help books, or doing nothing at all.¹ This chapter will help you understand why people get speaking anxiety and includes tips to help you reduce those fears and increase your speaking confidence.