Beating Speaking Anxiety: 4. I'm scared of speaking in front of people
Learning English Conversations
BBC
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Do you get nervous speaking English in front of people, even a small group of friends?
In this episode of our new series, Georgie and Hanan talk about public speaking and speaking in bigger groups.
With Regina Kaplan Rakowski, Professor of Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas.
WATCH – Find Georgie’s videos with tips to improve your speaking here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/beating_speaking_anxiety/not_understanding-video
TRANSCRIPT – Read along with this podcast and learn useful vocabulary: https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/beating_speaking_anxiety/4_BSA_speaking_in_front_of_others_transcript__.pdf
NEWSLETTER – Sign up to our email newsletter to hear about our latest lessons and programmes https://www.bbc.co.uk/send/u178220599
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | You're listening to the Learning English Conversations podcast from BBC Learning English. |
| 0:11.2 | We'll have another episode of the English we speak soon, but today we're continuing with our special series, beating speaking anxiety, a podcast to help you fight your fears of speaking English. |
| 0:23.1 | This episode is called I'm Scared of Speaking in Front of People. |
| 0:27.3 | Are you nervous to speak in front of other people in English? |
| 0:31.3 | My arms and legs start trembling. My heart pounds as if trying to escape my chest. |
| 0:42.5 | It's a full |
| 0:43.7 | fight or flight's response. |
| 0:48.1 | It's a performance. |
| 0:49.9 | Yeah, it's like a performance. |
| 0:52.1 | You are constantly judged |
| 0:53.8 | and evaluated by others and also by yourself. |
| 0:59.5 | But on that platform, they were not afraid to talk. |
| 1:03.9 | So technology basically created that safe space. |
| 1:08.9 | Today we're talking about public speaking and how technology might help us feel less nervous when speaking. |
| 1:20.7 | Hello and welcome to beating speaking anxiety. In this special podcast, we help you feel more confident speaking English. |
| 1:29.6 | I'm Hanan. And I'm Georgie. Find a transcript of this episode and more resources to help you learn |
| 1:35.6 | on our website, BBC learningenglish.com. For many people, speaking anxiety can cause a physical reaction. |
| 1:46.1 | I feel nervous at anxious. |
| 1:50.0 | Feel like my body starts to hyperventilated. |
| 1:54.8 | This is Elisa from Mexico. |
| 1:57.0 | Elisa finds speaking in English stressful. |
... |
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