Fear Not: Managing Our Public Speaking Butterflies By John Weeren According to a Gallup poll, Americans fear only one thing more than public speaking, namely, snakes. Forty percent of respondents were afraid to address an audience, outnumbering those who dreaded heights, small spaces, needles, mice, thunder and lightning, crowds, or doctors’ appointments. There’s even a word for the fear inspired by public speaking: glossophobia, which the Mayo Clinic describes as “a common form of anxiety” ranging “from slight nervousness to paralyzing fear and panic.” Many otherwise hardy souls dodge every opportunity to speak in public, denying themselves the rewards – and [...]