How to manage oral presentation anxiety

Not all children experience anxiety in the same way. If your child has a genuine fear of public speaking, they may experience the following physical symptoms:

• Shaking
• Hot flashes
• Nausea
• Heart palpitations
• Stomach aches
• Clammy hands
• Dry mouth
• Etc.

Anxiety can also cause psychological symptoms:

• Fear of having memory blanks
• Fear of getting tongue-tied
• Fear of being laughed at
• Fear of making a mistake
• Etc.

Since anxiety often leads to hyperventilation, which increases tension, relaxation breathing can be very helpful. Here are two easy techniques that have been shown to decrease the physical effects of anxiety.

1. Controlled breathing

• Focus on slowing down your breathing.
• Inhale through your nose, hold your breath for two seconds, then exhale through your mouth as slowly as possible.
• While exhaling, repeat the word “relax” while focusing on loosening the areas of tension in your body.

2. Diaphragmatic breathing

• Inhale through your nose.
• Focus on making your stomach expand.
• Slowly exhale through your mouth while deflating your stomach.

It’s important to encourage and reassure your child, but without dramatizing or minimizing their fear of oral presentations. If they feel like you’re listening and taking them seriously, they should have an easier time managing their stress and anxiety. Here are two examples of questions you can ask to help your child open up:

• “How are you feeling about that oral presentation you have next week?”
• “Can you put your feelings into words?”

Ideally, your child should acknowledge and learn to control their anxiety, not ignore it. One strategy is to encourage them to talk to their fear. Here are some things your child could say:

• “You’re good for nothing! Be quiet and leave me alone.”
• “You’re trying to make me believe things that aren’t true, but it won’t work.”
• “Hush! I know that I’ll do well on my oral presentation because I’m well prepared.”

It’s important to encourage and reassure your child, but without dramatizing or minimizing their fear of oral presentations. If they feel like you’re listening and taking them seriously, they should have an easier time managing their stress and anxiety. Here are two examples of questions you can ask to help your child open up:

• “How are you feeling about that oral presentation you have next week?”
• “Can you put your feelings into words?”

To help your child manage their stress once they’re in front of the class, encourage them to use these tried-and-tested strategies:

• Move around while speaking
• Look above the other students’ heads
• Speak slowly
• Breathe deeply
• Find a friend in the class and look at them occasionally
• Squeeze a stress ball
• Etc.