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Public Speaking Anxiety by David L. Cheesman Case: Assistance with public speaking. Information gathering: I asked a series of questions to gather information about the
concern. She indicated that the problems had occurred, in the past, when she had to stand up in
front of a group of five or more people, to address them. Specific issues were stress
and anxiety, including a feeling of nervousness, and a racing heart. Although she has been able
to speak in front of fairly large groups, and believes she has been an effective speaker, she
would like to be more comfortable in these situations. If she were to resolve this issue, she would imagine herself feeling comfortable in
front of groups of people. Her immediate concern and opportunity is a class she will be
presenting to, this coming weekend. She would like to feel comfortable as she presents material
to this class of about 10 people; her first formal opportunity to teach in this environment. In the more distant future perhaps in a few months, she would like to feel comfortable
conducting seminars for "hypnosis for salespeople." I chose two forms of intervention. First, I used the "Anchoring a Resource" approach,
asking her to imagine, using multiple senses, a situation in which she was presenting to a group,
feeling less than comfortable. I anchored that state to an area on the upper part of her forearm.
Then, I had her imagine a specific resource that could be of use during this previously
stressing activity. I created an anchor on her hand for this resource. I attempted to integrate
the two, first by firing off the resourceful anchor, then by activating the first, stressful
experience. We met with some success, and with some feeling of reduction, when the
previously stressful experience was remembered. The second intervention used was the "Fast
Phobia Cure." I had her imagine herself in a theater, with a black and white image of herself
on the screen, then float up, into the projection room. I attempted to have her imagine a younger
version of herself, on the screen, during the stressful situation. (This younger version was
confusing, we found, and led to less success with the technique than hoped for.) I suggested
that she watch the movie, from this protected position in the projection booth, creating a black
and white, far away image of it. I then had her stop the movie at the final frame, after the
stressful situation was completely over. At that point I allowed her to enter the image on the
screen, and associate with it. (This lead to additional confusion at this point.) I had her
experience the movie, backwards, very quickly, several times. At the completion of the process, I had her, once again, imagine herself in front of a group.
She reported some reduction in stress, although she didn’t believe she would feel
completely comfortable. Follow-up: In our follow-up discussion, we explored several areas where improvement
would have helped. Timing is critical in these interventions, and we both decided that more
practice was needed to use the techniques most effectively. A few interruptions during the
process interfered as well, but most of these would have been avoided in a clinical environment.
A better approach might have been to use the fast phobia cure, first, to minimize discomfort
and fear, and use the "Add a Resource" technique afterwards to work on any remaining concerns
or areas of improvement. Joanne didn’t report any specific skills or techniques she was
interested in, but she might have opened up with other concerns once the primary fear was lifted.
(What if the overhead doesn’t work? What if someone asks a question she doesn’t know
the answer to?)She suggested that the "Circle of Excellence" could have been used as a wrap up
(something we may do before the event) to bring a specific feeling of competence to the event.
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