Many people associate a panic attack and public speaking. They usually have had an anxiety-producing public speaking experience. They may test that past memory of public speaking again, but often the same anxiety reaction results. People who have to speak publicly on a frequent basis and suffer from panic attacks are always searching for a panic attack remedy.

For many of us the cause of a moderate to serious fear of speaking in public cannot be associated with anything in particular in our childhood. However for others, it can be traced back to a particular incident that has triggered the symptoms felt when faced with the necessity to speak in public. Some of us can vividly remember a particular incident in our lives where we became very self-conscious and embarrassed for some reason in front of a crowd of people. Often this incident occurred as far back as elementary school when our self-worth and self esteem were just beginning to develop and may not relate to actually speaking in public at all.

Relaxing is as Easy as One, Two, Three - At one time or another, everyone including the most experienced speakers will feel some form of nervousness and anxiety. Most speakers have become so accustomed to breathing shallow breaths, especially when they are feeling nervous, uncomfortable or rushed. Shallow breathing will absolutely increase a speaker's level of anxiety. As I have learned from personal experience, it can also lead an unpleasant higher pitch in the speaker's voice.

The opposite type of breathing, deep belly breathing, has a dramatic and instantaneous positive relaxing effect on your body, voice and your mind. The best speakers know that one of the easiest ways to relax is to learn how to breathe properly. Deep breathing is a simple and effective technique for getting our bodies and our minds to relax.

Right now take a really deep breath. I mean really deep all the way in to your lower belly. Watch your lower belly rise and fall. That is how we are supposed to breathe all the time. Take a look at your breathing when you are speaking to a group of people. If you find that you are breathing shallow breaths, you will need to take time to retrain yourself. Take a few minutes each day to practice deep belly breathing. Before long, it will become your natural way of breathing and you will be able to use this simple breathing tool any time you want to feel calmer, more relaxed and confident. What are you waiting for - Go ahead and Breathe!

Do I Have to Take the Medication Forever?

No you don’t and here’s why -Taking the medication during public speaking engagements over a period of time, allows the brain to re-think how it feels about speaking in public. With the medication, each public speaking event will increase your confidence as you realize you don’t look or feel frightened. Your brain will eventually understand that public speaking is not the threatening situation that it has assumed. The medication can make it much easier to transition through the period of fearing to speak in public and being confident to speak in public. Because of this, the medication should not be considered a "crutch", but rather a "training aid" that will allow you to re-train your brain to understand that speaking in public does not require an overabundance of adrenaline in order to survive.