Disclaimer

General information only

The content on publicspeaking-tips.com is published for general educational purposes. It is written from coaching practice and checked against published research where research exists, but it is general information and cannot account for your situation, your history or your health.

No reader-author relationship is created by using this site, and no professional advice is being given to you personally.

Speaking anxiety and mental health

Several guides on this site discuss nervousness, stage fright and public speaking anxiety. That discussion is about ordinary performance nerves and how to train them down.

Speaking anxiety sits on a spectrum. At the severe end it overlaps with social anxiety disorder, which is a clinical condition requiring proper assessment. The author is a speaking coach, not a clinician, psychologist or physician.

Talk to a professional rather than working through this site alone if any of the following apply:

• Dread starts days or weeks before a talk and disrupts your sleep
• You turn down work, study or social opportunities to avoid speaking
• You experience panic symptoms such as chest tightness, dizziness or a sense of unreality
• The anxiety is affecting your work performance, your relationships or your health
• You are experiencing thoughts of harming yourself

Where to get help

If you are in the United States:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988, any time, free and confidential. For any mental health crisis, not only suicide.
• SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357, free, confidential, 24/7, with treatment referrals.
• Anxiety & Depression Association of America: maintains a directory of therapists who treat social anxiety.
• Your primary care doctor is a reasonable first call and can refer you onward.

Outside the US, contact your local health service or emergency number. In an emergency, call your local emergency services.

Medication

Some guides mention that doctors occasionally prescribe beta blockers off-label for performance anxiety. That is background information, not a recommendation. Do not take any prescription medication that has not been prescribed to you, and do not start, stop or change a dose without talking to your doctor.

No guaranteed results

Speaking is a skill and skills improve at different rates for different people. Timelines given on this site, such as how many talks it typically takes for nerves to settle, are observations from coaching practice and are explicitly labelled as such. They are not predictions about you and no particular outcome is promised.

Accuracy and currency

Guides are researched carefully and dated, and corrections are made openly. Even so, information can go out of date, particularly prices, membership figures and organizational details. Figures such as Toastmasters dues should be checked against the organization's own site before you rely on them.

If you spot an error, please report it through the contact page. See the editorial policy for how claims are sourced and corrected.

External links

This site links to external sources, including research papers and organization pages. Those links are provided for verification and further reading. We do not control that content and are not responsible for it, and a link is not an endorsement of everything on the destination site.

Professional and business decisions

Nothing on this site is legal, financial, career or business advice. Decisions about your job, your business or a professional engagement are yours, and you should take appropriate professional advice before acting on general guidance found online.

Limitation of liability

This site is provided on an "as is" basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the site owner is not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, information published here. See the terms of service for the full statement.

Questions

Anything about this disclaimer can go to [email protected].