25 Ways to Overcome the Fear of Speaking English

To be able to get rid of your fear of speaking English, you need to do the following:

  • Identify the sources of the fear of speaking English.
  • Speak to yourself.
  • Find ways to calm your nerves while speaking English.
  • Join a community of English speaking enthusiasts
  • Start by speaking with people you are comfortable with.
  • Dare to speak English in situations you dread most.
  • Stop beating yourself up after every awkward conversation.
  • Ignore the self-appointed judges.
  • Develop the other English usage skills.
  • Change your unhelpful mindset.
  • Stop trying to imitate fast English speakers you admire.
  • Wear a smile while you speak English
  • Prioritize one-on-one conversations
  • Stop being self-conscious while speaking English
  • Speak English regularly
  • Study phonetics if you can.

There are many people out there who wish to overcome the fear of speaking English or a certain foreign language. Are you among those who develop goose pimples when they have to speak English in public?

Well, you’re not alone. And there is hope for you. Today, I will share with you some of the most effective methods you can adopt to be able to get rid of your fear of speaking English.

So if you are a non-native English speaker who easily gets nervous while speaking English, there is so much for you here to learn about getting the confidence you need to be a better English speaker.

Personally, I am a non-native speaker who went to school to learn English from textbooks. So you see, I share your pain. It is not easy for those of us who had to learn English as a second language in school. The same applies to others who learn English as a foreign language.

Today, I teach English for academic purposes and I have not stopped learning to improve my English usage skills. One can never be perfect in any area of life, English speaking included.

Therefore, much of what I’m going to teach you about how to overcome the fear of speaking English is coming from my personal experience both as a learner and teacher of English as a second language.

It is possible to overcome English speaking problems.

Believe me, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to sharpen your communication skills by learning to overcome the fear of speaking English. Overcoming English speaking problems is possible for anyone who is serious about it.

Will I be able to speak fluently? Maybe my tense isn’t good enough. What is the next mistake I’m going to make? Who is going to begin laughing at my pronunciation first? I don’t think I can get the right words to say what I want to say.

The above are just a few of the inner battles many of us go through on a daily basis. It all boils down to one nagging fear. It is called English speaking phobia.

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At one point or another, we each suffer from a certain level of xenoglossophobia. This is the term used to describe the fear of learning and speaking foreign languages.

Uncomfortable English Speaking Situations

We experience the fear of speaking English in many life situations. Here are just a few.

  • with our friends
  • during staff or business meetings
  • at social gatherings
  • at important interviews
  • in the classroom
  • at public speaking events – to introduce the Chairman or give the vote of thanks, for example.

Are you ready to learn more about how to overcome the fear of speaking English? Then read on. The solutions to help you get rid of the fear of speaking English will focus on what to do both outside of the English speaking situation and during the actual speaking situation.

1. Identify the sources of fear of speaking English

Knowing your unique sources of fear when you have to speak English will set you on the right footing to deal effectively with that fear. So identify what your fears are. You can then use the best tips to stop feeling nervous each time you need to speak English with someone or in a group of people. Here are some common sources of the fear of speaking English to guide you.

  • making the wrong vocabulary choices
  • being judged
  • pronunciation mistakes
  • grammar errors
  • being misunderstood
  • pausing for far too long in between speech

2. Speak to yourself

Practice English speaking in the privacy of your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and so on as often as you can. If possible, use a mirror to watch yourself speak. Here are a couple of advantages of this method.

  • Speaking English to yourself will help you to identify areas you might want to improve.
  • You can develop self-confidence just by getting to know that, after all, you are not doing badly.

3. Find ways to calm your nerves.

Do you feel nervous when speaking English with others? Then develop the right strategies to calm your nerves. You can try the following.

  • Use positive self-talk. For example, tell yourself no one is perfect and you are better than others.
  • Take deep breaths. Relax and stay calm.
  • Say no to your negative thoughts.

4. Join a community.

In other words, associate yourself with people who love to speak English or who also want to get the confidence to speak English.

Remember that like everything else, you are the aggregation of the kind of people you associate with.

For that matter, you can only feel less nervous while speaking English if you frequently interact with a community of people who are not afraid to express themselves in English.

5. Choose English speaking partners you are comfortable with.

Toxic people are everywhere. Do you have friends who are quick to judge you on every utterance you make in English? Well, obviously, these are not the kind of people who can help you overcome the fear of speaking English. Do yourself a favour and avoid their company. At least when you need to speak English.

Instead, choose English speaking partners in whose presence you are not afraid to make mistakes. These people are the best allies in your journey to becoming a better speaker of English. Because, unlike the negative folks, they will provide support, boost your morale and add to your self-confidence.

6. Dare to speak English in situations you fear most.

It is said that when we constantly step into situations that we fear most, our fear for them eventually diminishes. This applies to the fear of speaking English too.

Once in a while, go out of your way to find situations that put fear in you when you have to speak English. Is it in the classroom? Do you dread taking your turn to speak English in church? How comfortable are you speaking during workplace meetings?

Pluck up the courage and speak your mind in English. Trust me, the more you do this, the more confidence you will gain at speaking.

7. Stop beating yourself after every awkward conversation.

Not every conversation in English is going to go well for you. At least not when you are just beginning to learn to speak English better.

So do not waste your time on unnecessary self-criticism after every conversation. I suggest that you rather congratulate yourself on having passed one more milestone. The fact that you were able to speak as much as you could in that conversation alone should give you a sense of satisfaction.

The reason is it is these little episodes of English conversations that will come together to develop your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation skills.

8. Ignore the judges.

Refuse to pay attention to those who only know how to pick holes in the efforts others are making to improve themselves. Instead, find your own cheerleaders. Believe me, there are a lot of well-meaning individuals out there who delight in seeing others make progress in life

These are the type of people who will make little of your grammar errors. They will tell you how well you are doing instead of making you feel like a disaster. And they are the only ones that can give you the energy you need to keep working hard to overcome your fear of speaking English.

9. Develop other English usage skills.

To be able to completely rid yourself of the fear of speaking English, it is necessary for you to work on other important English Language usage skills.

These include writing, reading, listening, comprehension, note taking and summary writing. Language learning is most effective if it is done with a wholistic approach.

So do not focus on speaking alone. Incorporate writing, reading and listening into your strategy.

10. Study phonetics if you can.

According to Dictionary.com, phonetics is ‘the science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission and reception…’

There is so much to be learnt about the pronunciation of English words under phonetics and phonology.

Formerly, one can only take a phonetics course as part of the study of Linguistics in a university or other language-learning institutions.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case. You can find resources online that teach you many topics under phonetics. So if you wish to go further with your better English speaking efforts, I will recommend that you try taking some lessons in phonetics and phonology.

11. Stop trying to be perfect.

The truth is nobody has ever been a perfect language speaker. In fact, all native speakers of any language will occasionally make a mistake.

In other words, mistakes are a part of life. There is nothing you can do about that. So learn to live with your inadequacies as far as speaking English is concerned.

Making a genuine effort to keep improving is enough. This is all you will ever need to overcome the fear of speaking English.

12. Change your unhelpful mindset about English speaking.

People have certain ideas about English that make it hard for them to overcome English speaking problems. Do you have the below preconceived mindset about English? Let them go now.

  • One must learn all the rules of English grammar to be able to speak well.
  • You can only be a respected speaker if you speak English very fast.
  • English is the most difficult language to learn.
  • Some people from certain ethnic or racial backgrounds can never speak English well enough.
  • The only way to overcome the fear of speaking English is to go back to school.
  • You can’t speak English well enough if you are not a native speaker

The above are just a fraction of the myths that keep so many people from improving their English speaking skills. They are all false and must be discarded.

13. Stop trying to imitate fast speakers you admire.

Slow down each time you need to speak English. It is never true that those who speak English very fast are the most fluent speakers. For all you know, that fast speaker you want to copy blindly is naturally a fast speaker. It has absolutely nothing to do with their English speaking abilities.

Speak naturally. Take your time and speak at your own measured pace. You can even dictate the pace of the conversation when your speech is deliberately slow.

14. Wear a smile while you speak English.

A good smile has a magical power on everyone around you. So make sure you put on a smiling face any time you are speaking English.

Your listeners will feel comfortable around you. They might even not think too much of any mistakes you might have committed. And this is a sure way of boosting your own confidence level.

15. Prioritize one-on-one conversations.

This is particularly useful for people who fear public speaking. You can start your journey to overcome the fear of speaking English by focusing on one-on-one conversations. And as your confidence level grows, you will move up to the stage where you are able to engage two or more people in a meaningful English conversation. Before you know it, you have become an accomplished public speaker. It has worked for people who were once too shy to speak before crowds of people. So it can work for you too.

16. Stop being self-conscious while in a conversation.

Just let yourself go. Take your mind off the worries and anxieties surrounding the fear of speaking English I referred to at the beginning of this post.

I have seen people who are not too good at grammar speak eloquently to the admiration of their audiences. Their secret is this. They have learnt to focus too much on themselves while they speak.

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17. Nobody is perfect.

Tell yourself this truth all the time. It will help you to stop fearing that the “perfect” speakers are getting ready to mock your lack of fluency or vocabulary.

The truth is they too have some English speaking problems. Even native speakers do sometimes.

Therefore, any time you speak English, take out of your mind the erroneous idea that others are so good that you can only be the worst. They’re not the best, and you’re not the worst.

Do not wait to be perfect before you express yourself because that time will never come.

18. Get simple

I love the simple lifestyle and I apply it as a means of fighting any English speaking anxiety I may experience.

We use English, just as we use our mother tongue, to communicate our thoughts and ideas. That’s the primary purpose of any human language. So please, learn to speak English to convey your ideas, not to impress anybody.

In my home country, we have what we call big words. There are some who think that the more big words you use in your speech or writing the greater your mastery of the language. This is completely false.

You don’t need strange, complicated words even many native speakers have never used before, to make your thoughts known to whomever you’re speaking with.

Just speak is and was, as Chinua Achebe puts it in his novel, No Longer at Ease, and believe you me, you’ll be just fine.

19. Learn English Online

You can learn English speaking online for free. There are many free online courses at Alison that will earn you a diploma or certificate in English. You do not need to make any down payment in order to enrol for the Alison free online courses. And you can take as many online diploma courses in English as you like.

20. Use other English speaking tools.

There are English conversation apps that people are using to improve their English speaking skills. Go to YouTube and watch language learning videos that are specifically about how to overcome the fear of speaking English.

21. Learn the proper use of basic tense forms.

This will give you the needed confidence to speak without going through the painful English speaking anxiety.

Take note of this basic fact about language usage: English, like any other language, is built around verbs in just a few different forms.

All you need to do is devote enough time to studying and practising when to say the different forms of the most common English verbs.

For instance, learn when to use these and when not to use them:

will or would; have, has, having or had; do, does, did, doing or done; is, was, are, were; come, coming or came; go, going, went, or gone, fly, flying, flew or flown; flow, flowing, flowed or flown and so on,

These are the basic building blocks of the English language structure. For that matter, the moment you’re able to learn to identify these forms and how to use them, you would have taken a giant step toward improving your English language speaking.

Thankfully these days, the internet is replete with many free English language learning platforms. One such platform I would readily recommend is BBC Learning English

Take advantage of the opportunities they provide and you will stop being ashamed of your spoken English.

22. Listen more to native speakers of English.

Personally, I was once listening in to BBC World Service news broadcasts almost every hour of the day. Today, due to time constraints and the advances in technology, I make time to watch YouTube channels that feature British and American speakers of English.

Here is the secret. The more you listen to English being spoken by native speakers, the better your own English speaking gets. You will learn better ways of pronunciation and acquire new vocabulary along the way.

23. Speak English more frequently.

The more you practice, the better it gets. And the quicker you will say bye to your fear of speaking English in public.

Constant practice is a powerful tool for learning and mastering any skill, English speaking included.

Seize every moment to speak English. Let other people accuse you of being too known, as we say in my country.

That is especially when we mean one is showing off.

When it comes to improving your English speaking skills, there’s no way you can show off too much.

Speak English in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and in the bedroom. Don’t be afraid to speak English on the bus, while making phone calls, in church or in the mosque. Speak it on the farm, at the market, at work, and at all social gatherings

Take advantage of every opportunity to speak English with your friends and even with your enemies.

Above all, cultivate the habit of speaking English with your partner and with members of your family.

Just speak English everywhere, anytime; and you’ll be amazed at the huge improvements this will bring to your speaking skills and also to your confidence level.

24. Read, read and read.

The fact that you’ve reached this stage of my article is ample proof of your interest in reading. Congrats!

Don’t stop reading and don’t get complacent.

Instead, read more than you’ve done so far. Read stories, read media articles that interest you, read notices you come across. Read your textbooks more often. That is, if you’re still a student.

One secret to getting better at any language is reading. I know this from my personal experience. Each time you read, you benefit in at least three ways:

  • Your reading skills get better
  • There is an increase in your knowledge of useful English words and expressions
  • You will learn acceptable ways of constructing sentences in English.

25. Build your self-confidence

Sometimes, there is an underlying problem with our general lack of self-confidence.

The moment you’re able to work on boosting your self-confidence, it will begin to reflect positively on your English speaking skills.

You will be able to stand anywhere and speak English without any fears whatsoever.

Wrapping it all up

It is possible to speak English without having a headache. If only you would pause and remember this truth each time you begin to struggle with your mortal fear of speaking English!

I have just given you some simple tips to overcome the fear of speaking English. Next time you have to speak English, you can do so without developing a headache.

These tips are the strategies I have personally followed to combat my fear of speaking English, years ago. I trust that they will help you too.

Always remember this: It is entirely within your power to overcome the fear of speaking English in public. And the benefits of being able to speak English fluently and confidently are many. So start doing something about it right now.

Did you find this information helpful? Then share it on your favourite social media platform for the benefit of others you care about. Thank you!

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