"Some people get butterflies in front of an audience. For me, it's killer bees. My extreme fear of public speaking, or glossophobia, isn't mere nervousness - it's a personal horror show. My symptoms are intense: chest pain, a churning stomach, and knees so trembly I'd make a newborn giraffe look graceful. As in any good scary movie, the danger feels real. Whether it's five people or 50, my nervous system floods with adrenaline like I'm facing Hannibal Lecter instead of some barely interested co-workers."
"Why such an extreme reaction? Science has my back. The human brain is wired to perceive public speaking as a genuine threat, a response rooted in our evolutionary history. When we look at an audience, all those eyes staring back can trigger the same primal fear our ancestors felt on the savannah. As comedian Deborah Frances-White said in her 2015 Ted Talk, "The fear of public speaking is essentially the fear of being eaten because audiences look a lot like lions.""
When my younger sister announced her engagement, the narrator realized she must deliver a maid-of-honor speech and experienced 270 days of dread. The dread stems from extreme glossophobia that produces intense physical symptoms: chest pain, a churning stomach, and uncontrollable trembling. The nervous system floods with adrenaline whether the audience is five or fifty, making the situation feel life-threatening. Evolutionary wiring causes the brain to perceive audiences as predators, amplifying fear. Social pressure, fear of judgment, and lack of control compound the anxiety and provoke panic about losing train of thought.
Read at BuzzFeed
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