The document discusses reasons for fear of public speaking and options for overcoming it. It describes the author's fear of public speaking stemming from school. Their doctor explains that public speaking anxiety is common and medications can help reduce anxiety, noting that casual conversations are also a form of public speaking. The doctor advises self-help programs or remembering that public speaking is normal social interaction to help overcome the fear.

1. There are many reasons why people fear speaking in public, fear of failure, self doubt,
making a fool of one’s self, and many more other reasons. For each person it is different and so
is the ability to overcome it. For me, my fear began in school. I would never raise my hand to
answer a question asked by the teacher for the fear of sounding stupid and being laughed at, so
ever since then I did whatever I could to avoid this conflict. Thousands of people suffer from
this everyday and although there are many self-help programs available to help one get over this
problem, you have to understand what has caused this fear before you decide on a program that
will work for you.
I talked with Larry Zarling, my doctor with Northern Psychiatric Associates here in
Baxter, MN. Dr. Zarling has been helping me deal with the depression I have been having in
dealing with a medical condition I found I have. I decided to talk with him my last session about
this class and speaking in public and my fears associated with it. He said besides the self-help
programs, people who suffer from sever anxiety associated with speaking in public; there are
medications a person can take to help them stay calm. Dr. Zarling explained to me that many
people who are afraid of this don’t realize that they do speak in public everyday whether they are
talking to a group of friends or co-workers. Speaking in public is not just standing on a stage;
it’s simply just talking to one or more persons at a time. He proceeded to use my own life as an
example, he said that I had been a cashier for over 32 years and asked if I had ever just started a
conversation with my customers, when I answered yes he said, “You was speaking in public.”
So if you find yourself afraid of speaking in public you can either find a self-help
program that will work for you, or do what I am going to try and do. I am going to try and
remember that everyone has a fear of speaking in public and if I just talk to them as I would
anyone else I come across, maybe my fear will go away.