Yes. Any fear can result in panic attacks.  In fact, the fear of public speaking is one of the most pervasive fears on the planet.

I’ve had a fear of public speaking as long as I can remember.  The first time my abnormal fear of public speaking caused a minor panic attack was when I had to give a speech in junior high school.  I can remember the entire event.  I managed to spit out the speech – but on the inside I was falling apart.  I couldn’t remember anything I wrote.  I relied entirely on my speech cards.  All I wanted was to be done and disappear.

Even into adulthood, my fear of public speaking continued.  Yet, when called upon to deliver a speech or even participate in a large group, I could feel the constriction in my throat, my heart rate blast through the roof, and in some cases my vision blurring.  It’s a terrible fear to have; it’s always present.

The trouble I learned no too long ago stemmed from the fact of my memory that every time I had to speak publicly, I would suffer the same panic attack symptoms.  This cycle fueled each new public speaking event – no matter how minor the speech and how small the audience.

I tried Toastmasters hoping that practice giving speeches would get rid of my panic attacks and fear of public speaking.  It didn’t work.  Instead, it just increased the frequency when I would have to give speeches resulting more horrendously uncomfortable speaking incidents.

Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Toastmasters.  I think it’s a terrific organization.  It just didn’t help with my abnormal fear of public speaking.  I was obviously devastated.

The irony throughout all my years of fearing public speaking is I so wished I could deliver eloquent speeches with no fear.  I truly admired people who could deliver fantastic speeches and toasts with ease.

I hate to say it, but practice wasn’t the answer for me.  What is working for me (my fear is much diminished – but not completely dissolved) is breaking the cycle of panic attacks when public speaking.  I remember the first time I spoke publicly and didn’t have fear.  Instead, I entered the zone – also called flow.  I spoke incredibly well – I daresay it was an actual performance.  Breaking the cycle of panic attacks gave me confidence.

Future speeches were not always perfect, but over time I improved because I had renewed confidence.  I gave speeches and spoke publicly without fear.  I hung onto the positive experiences which enables me to more often than not speak well.  All it took was breaking the panic attacks cycle before and during a public speaking engagement.

What I found out was the key to halting my panic attacks was breaking the cycle.  I was delighted to find out about Panic Away while going through what I term “my abnormal fear of public speaking life”.  I was thrilled to learn from Panic Away that by breaking the cycle of panic attacks, I could recover from them permanently.

I still get some anxiety before a speech, but now I channel it toward focusing and performing rather than defaulting into thinking about past horrible panic attack incidents.  The result is I’m a more confident public speaker today and expect to get even better in time.