Everyone will feel shy and anxious at one point or other. Sometimes its just butterflies in your stomach when you walk into a crowded room of strangers, and other times it’s when you start shaking when you are about to give a speech. More than half of people around the world suffer from the fear or public speaking. Social anxiety can be the occasional case of the jitters, but it can also become a disabling disorder that wreaks havoc in your life.

You can greatly improve your quality of life by curing your fears. Anxiety is your automatic response to perceived danger. Your body will release stress hormones, resulting in an increased heart pace, flushing of your face, sweaty palms and your muscles to contract, leaving you with a queasy feeling in your stomach.

Most people tend to prevent social anxiety by avoiding social situations. Sometimes they deny themselves of being shy. They will just give excuses that they don’t like parties, or don’t like making presentations, when the truth is just that they are shy.

The more you avoid social situations, the more the fears become ingrained in you. Avoiding these situations is the opposite of what you should be doing. To rid yourself of these fears, you should confront them head on.

There are two main reasons why people have social anxiety. They are the fear of embarrassment and being judged. They are afraid of saying something embarrassing or other people thinking that they are stupid or foolish. So how can you overcome your shyness?

Start by taking small steps and by doing the things that scare you little by little. This does not mean that you should be the life of the party, but start by talking to one or two people at a party. Give yourself a pat on the back once you have achieved this. The more of these little steps that you take, the more the fear will go away.

You also need to channel your negative thoughts to become positive ones. Don’t keep thinking that the worst will happen in any situation. Rehearse and visualize situations that make you nervous. Play it out in your mind ahead of time, and seeing positive results makes it easier once you are actually in the situation.