Communication apprehension is not one thing, and the four types need four different tools — which is why generic advice so often does nothing. Describe the actual shape of yours with the four switches, and the panel on the right names the type, the matched tool, and the tool that will waste your semester. Then check the transparency gap.
Describe the shape of it
1 · How many kinds of setting does it hit?
2 · Is it tied to particular people — the attending, the panel, one instructor?
3 · How long has it been like this?
4 · Does it change what you sign up for?
The transparency gap
What you feel8
What observers rate3
Your type
Context-based
Matched tool
What will waste your semester
Do this week
Where the anxiety actually goes
WaitingFirst 30–60 sThe rest of itQuestions
What you feelWhat the room sees
Anxiety in public speaking is typically highest during anticipation and in the first thirty to sixty seconds, then declines. The sensation you are trying to escape at second twenty is already receding at second ninety — which means the worst moment of a speech reliably happens before anyone is looking at you.