Performance anxiety symptoms

If you've ever had to stand in front of a class or give a presentation at work, chances are you've had some performance anxiety. Performance anxiety occurs when a person is afraid of public failure in a psychical activity.
In your past experience you may have had performance anxiety symptoms like butterflies in the tummy, sweaty palms or nausea prior to giving a presentation, but depending on the severity, people may also experience:

• rapid heart rate
• tensing of muscles
• feeling faint or dizzy
• a shaky voice
• trembling in the arms, knees or feet
• dry mouth
• insomnia
• frequent urination
• shortness of breath

Performance anxiety can also effect our mind and thought processes in the following ways:

• it can make us confused
• give us memory lapses
• make us easily distracted
• give us a lack of concentration
• and plague us with negative thoughts

Emotionally, performance anxiety takes its toll by making us feel:

• fearful
• vulnerable
• inadequate
• helpless

The act of public speaking effects us all in some way. The symptoms I've listed above are the body's physiological reaction to stressful situations and of course, everyone reacts and responds differently. The key to a successful public speaking experience lies in our ability to harness our performance anxiety and to push through it.