Public Speaking Fears Meet Virtual Listeners

The fear of public speaking is described as the most common fear in the United States, affecting 25 to 30 percent of the population, and treated by practice with the help of psychologists, speech therapists, and the Toastmasters Clubs. Now virtual reality offers a technological approach.

While in World War II Winston Churchill famously galvanized an embattled population with his powerful speeches on the radio, King George VI was afflicted by painful stuttering when he needed to speak to the public. The film The King’s Speech shows how a brilliant speech therapist was able with repeated exercises, like vocalizing syllables while lying on the floor, to get the king past this stumbling block.

In cognitive behavioral therapy, you will probably learn controlled, paced breathing to calm down before speaking. You may then be advised to practice positive self-talk, take some time to familiarize yourself with the room, have materials well organized beforehand and with topics printed in front of you, and look up at audience members whenever possible. Above all, repeated practice with supportive listeners can give you the confidence to face and get through the situation rather than avoid it.

A supportive audience can help outside of therapy, too. Some people join the Toastmasters Club to overcome their fear of public speaking with the group’s support while others simply want to get better at it. At a Toastmasters forum in California, my friend Dave took the role of evaluator when a volunteer spoke to 50 people about the power of gratitude Another listener had the task of counting “ums” and “uhs”. Timing can range from one minute on an extemporaneous topic to 5 minutes for a prepared speech. The evaluator’s job is to encourage the effective parts while pointing out 2-3 factors that could be improved. While any criticism could be daunting, we're told that only constructive criticism is okay.

Now we have virtual reality programs where an apprehensive viewer can practice speaking to an audience of simulated listeners. According to Lauren Mechling in the New Yorker on April 12, several of these simulations allow the viewer to practice in situations ranging from an auditorium speech to a one-on-one conference, with feedback on your performance. When Mechling put on a virtual reality headset, she was confronted by “…a gang of 3-D-modelled denizens, seated around a long table, (who) stared at me in a blank manner that bordered on hostile. Their expressions did not soften as they followed me around a series of simulated environments, each blander than the next, and watched as I attempted to address them with something like composure.”

The Ovation virtual reality app is a powerful simulation program that allows you to use slides and other visuals as you might do in a real speech while it can record your talk for later review and provide feedback on your performance. It can provide another method of practice to help you confront and overcome your fears of public speaking in a safe way before practicing it in real life.