Out of control physical symptoms when public speaking at work

[bdot86]

Hi all, I’m really hoping someone can relate or offer some tips.

I’ve been in my job just over a year now : lovely team, supportive managers, really decent culture overall (if a bit on the corporate side). My issue is that I have quite severe social anxiety, but only in work situations. I’m confident socially outside of work, zero shyness chatting to parents at school, meeting new people, even big social events. But at work, if I have to speak in front of others - even just 3 people in a meeting, my body completely panics.

It’s especially bad with any form of public speaking or group introductions (these are the worst for me). The physical symptoms are overwhelming:

• I go ice cold and start shivering uncontrollably. Weird!! ????
• My voice wobbles
• I visibly shake, especially in my hands and arms
• I feel like I have no control over it at all

It’s really embarrassing and frustrating because I know it’s just anxiety. I now have a big in-person presentation coming up to very senior people in about a month, and I’m honestly terrified my symptoms will be obvious and derail everything.

I don’t dread the content (15 mins max presenting some slides and images ) but it’s just that moment of being watched and and not having control over the physical symptoms.

I’ve tried breathing exercises and rescue remedy , but once the symptoms kick in, it feels like it’s too late. Has anyone been through similar or found ways to stop the physical stuff before it spirals? I’d really appreciate any advice. Honestly wish there was a pill I could take to calm my body :(

Propranolol is your friend here!

Propranolol.

I blush sometimes, full.on red face, I think it's when I realise I'm centre of attention. I don't think about that negatively though, so it doesn't happen often. I just think oh I've blushed, not what can I do to stop it happening ever again.

I am very similar - very senior, no work anxiety but public speaking sends me into physical distress. People say you get used to it but I never did

knstead I have beta blockers (propanolol). Take one an hour / 90 mins before and it is magic. The GP said it is a rare ‘silver bullet’ drug - you only take it for the event, not daily. I take about five a year

I order mine on pharmacy2U and the request goes to my GP for approval

There is - it's propranolol.

Have you ever talked to your GP about your anxiety issues? Are you on any medication currently? If not, I'd make an appointment and ask specifically about trialling an SSRI and/or propranolol for in the moment.

Personally I solved this without medication- through taking a job which involves public speaking every day. Truly the physical symptoms just went away after a few weeks. However that's not a realistic solution for many, and unless you're willing to dedicate a lot of time to something like toastmasters, medication may be the answer.

If you are in a corporate world does your company have a group aligned with Toastmasters? Its a common social club in large companies and it can help hugely with building confidence, offering practice and tactics for public speaking in a friendly atmostphere.. I suggest it commonly to our new joiners who struggle with public speaking and most find it helpful.

The other options would be around different types of relaxation exercises or drugs which can help temporarily with anxiety. If your company provides health insurance use that to gain access to more investigations/help with physical symptoms. Otherwise try the GP route but be prepared for a wait.

Thank you all!
And thank you propranolol for existing 😂 this has made my day. Sounds like this is what I need, I’d never heard of this. I assumed anything that could calm nerves would make me drowsy. Will make an app with GP next week.
To those who suggested practice and Toastmasters, I completely agree. The last time I did a presentation, it went well and I was on a high and felt like I could smash the next one. But that was done remotely so I could hide the shaking and shivering. I also don’t have to present regularly, so I’m really into trying propranolol in this case!
Would you suggest testing it out before presentation day? Will see what GP says and will give it a go!

Definitely test it before presentation day, just in case. You never want to be relying on something untested in a situation that's high stakes for you.

It's not a drowsy medication generally - it's not a tranquillizer or anything. It helps block all the adrenaline side-effects - the shakiness, the nausea, the wobbling and shivering, which basically all come from your brain dumping a massive load of adrenaline into your system.

Definitely try it out before. I tinkered around with taking one tablet an hour before or cutting one in two and having half two hours before and half an hour before. You can do this as you present over the next year or two

its not allowed if you have asthma, so I hope you don’t

I am not a big fan of medication, but also often have physical symptoms when public speaking. I've found saying "sorry I get a bit anxious around public speaking" at the start (depending on the context) really helps me for some reason. I guess it's about getting it out there - I don't love this, but I know my stuff and I think this is an important presentation to do...

I hated public speaking too I but found it really helped if I could sit down rather than stand. And if I had power point slides for the audience to look at rather than at me
I also found it helped if I practiced saying the presentation out loud a lot before the presentation.
I was worse if other people thought I was nervous as I thought they would watchi me too closely so I pretended to be fine. It would have worked for me to tell people I was nervous. Although sometimes I would apologise at the beginning for my sore throat,/ cold / dry throat in case I dried up
Rescue Remedy helped a bit as well

I agree with the above, and some other tips that helped me:

• Shakey voice often comes from feeling breathless and not taking enough breaths in a sentence. Pause to breathe, more than you think you need to, and the shakey voice will reduce.
• fake it til you make it works wonders. Start with a big smile and a little joke and it really changes things.
• muscle memory is the silver bullet! As the person said above, practice as much as you can. It won't make you sound like you're reading a script, instead it means you won't stumble and fumble around a sentence.
• many many people get physically shakey. I'm a lawyer and many extremely experienced lawyers still experience this on important days. It's an adrenaline response. So simply hide it- make sure you don't have to hold anything that makes shaking obvious like paper, have your hands rest lightly on the lectern at least to start. I often hold a pen as it's hard to see it wobble.

Yes, propranolol for the symptoms, Toastmasters for longer term practice. There are community Toastmasters groups in most towns, not just corporate companies.

They have classes for public speaking. Maybe try that. I hate being the center of attention, good or bad. Y knees start to shake and my throat goes dry. It’s like torture but I think about why it’s so easy for others but not me. I wish I knew

Honestly propranlol, it’s been a game changer for me.

What is that. Is it available over the counter? Sounds interesting,
is it like adhd medicine like ridalin

It's betablockers. Don't think you can get it without prescription.

It sounds like a life saver.

Agree with the others, propranolol! I take it as a secondary med for high BP, and for essential tremor and anxiety. It lowers your BP and slows your heart rate. (You can take it all the time for the first two issues). Definitely experiment though - I find 40mg makes me tired and feel like I'm wading through treacle. 20mg is enough to calm nerves usually without the side effects. Good luck.

Link

You can. See above.

Practise! Talk it through while presenting at home - you could record yourself if you want to as well. You will get a good idea of how long it will take. Use cue cards if you need to, but you might be able to drop those once you feel more confident.
I’ve had to deliver to over sixty colleagues and it’s daunting. The only way I’ve found to manage is to do the above but also be really passionate about what I’m doing - it really makes a difference.

Is gradually desensitising yourself possible? so for me, being on smaller and then larger calls with senior people led to gradually becoming more confident to talk on calls and then being happy enough to present.

Another vote for propranolol - and that’s from someone who rejects antibiotics regularly. You may find that you only need to use it a few times until you become used to public speaking, and then you can do without. You’ll know how much of your calm is the drug and how much is your own confidence. Don’t punish yourself: take the drug (only as a when), then see how you go.