Have you ever stood in front of an audience, heart racing, palms sweating, contemplating whether it might actually be safer to just turn around and disappear? You’re not alone! In the world of public speaking, we often toss around terms like “stage fright” or “nerves,” but when we dig a little deeper with our fellow speakers, we get technical—talking about the “fight or flight response.” That’s when things get interesting, because someone inevitably chimes in with “it’s actually the fight, flight, or freeze response.” Why do we freeze like deer in headlights when all eyes are on us? In this article, we explore the often-overlooked role of freezing in public speaking and why acknowledging it can empower us as speakers. Ready to dive in? LEARN MORE.
Those of us in the speaking world talk variously about stage fright, or nerves, or adrenaline, but when we’re getting technical with our peers, we’ll say the “fight or flight response” to be accurate. And then inevitably one of us will correct that to say “the fight, flight, or freeze response” because those are indeed …
The post In Defense of Freezing appeared first on Public Words.
