Robert Summa had a panic attack at 27 during a Westinghouse presentation to 75 people, then avoided speaking for years despite seminars and medication. He paid $5,000 for intensive coaching in Japan and says he's been panic-free for seven years. He now teaches an alternative to exposure therapy for glossophobia.
Questions this video answers
27 years old (he was the youngest manager in Westinghouse history at age 26).
About 75 people (he expected ~15 but saw ~75).
Approximately $5,000 over four to five weeks.
He reports never having a panic attack for over seven years.
He states glossophobia is the biggest phobia, claiming 95% of people have some nerves about public speaking and that 80% have moderate to severe symptoms (severe including panic attacks).
Chapters
Hey, guys, Bob Swimmer here. Welcome back to Public Speaking Cure, the only channel on YouTube that is dedicated to helping you get over your fears and phobias associated with public speaking, if you have them. So in today's video, I'm going to go over my very first panic attack associated with public speaking, but more importantly, how it's relevant to you and your story. And as you'll see, 99% of all the information you've been told out there is just incorrect. And that is how it's relevant to you. Because if you're like me 20 years ago, you've been looking on the Internet, researching blogs, you've probably taken seminars, you've tried coaches, you might even try medication, only to find out that everything out there is just 100% incorrect when it comes to how you get over your fears or phobias of public speaking.
So before we dive into my story, I'm going to use a really cheesy 80s movie analogy. And I just love using these because it really helps explain my story and how you can kind of relate to him. And I'm sure everybody out there has watched a Karate Kid. And if you watch the Karate Kid, everybody remembers Daniel San, right. Danielson was getting bullied in school. He was getting his butt kicked. He was in a new place, and he hated going to school, and he was avoiding school, right? And kind of like we avoid public speaking because we're afraid of it. And then he found his Mr. Miyagi. Well, before I go into my story, at the end, you will see what happened to me. So stay tuned as it goes, my story and how it relates to the Karate Kid. So back when I was 27 years old, I was doing really great at my company. It was called Westinghouse. And for those who don't know Westinghouse, Westinghouse in the 90s was like the Google and Walmart and maybe even Apple, maybe even combined. It was that big, and maybe not that big, but it was pretty big company. And I was literally the youngest manager in Westinghouse history at the age of 26. So I'm 27 years old, and I was invited to a speaking engagement down in New York City from one of my clients. I was really jumping at that opportunity, right? How. How much better can I just keep that trajectory going upwards and up that corporate ladder? So I was really excited to do this. I go down, I'm on the train. I got my computer with me, I got my briefcase with me. I'm looking sharp in my suit. You know, I'm confident, I'm young, and I'm going to do a presentation for this boardroom. And that's when it happened. So I walk into the building, and I go into the boardroom, and all of a sudden, boom, it hit me. Only it wasn't really a boom. It was more of a whoosh feeling that came over me. And that whoosh feeling that came over me happened when I walked into that room, and I looked into that, and I saw 75 people in there or maybe more. And I was really, honestly expecting, like, 15 people. I was not expecting a large audience, 75 people. And as soon as I walked in, I saw those people, and all their eyes went on me. That's when it hit me, and I just broke out into immediate sweat. My client is like, this is Bob Zuma, and he's going to do a presentation on the Westinghouse systems. I looked over, and there's a podium and there's a screen. And she was about to have me stand in front of that huge room and do the whole presentation from that standpoint at that podium. And I had a panic attack. So I get this whoosh feeling over me. And I looked at her, and she saw me, and she was like, are you okay? You know, she's like, wish me, Are you okay? The eyes, really. I don't even think she asked me. I think she was more like that facial expression of, oh, my God, are you all right? And I excused myself to go to the bathroom really quick. So I run into the bathroom. I'm hyperventilating. I'm sweating, and I'm just throwing water all over my body, and I'm trying not to ruin my hair. I'm trying to ruin my suit, but I was putting cold water over my face, and I was hyperventilating, and I look at. My hands were shaking, and I had this anxious voice going in my head. My heart was just pounding out of my heart, and I was like, what's going on with me? Am I dying here? What's happening? And that's when I realized I was having my first panic attack. I never had one before. Never had a panic attack in my entire life. So it really hit me hard. So I did go back into the room, and I asked if I could sit down, and she knew I was in a bad place, and she let me sit down. And I did my presentation there, and I battled through it. I battled through it with the shaky hands. I was drinking water, and I saw my hands shaking when I was drinking water. I felt my heart Pounding through my voice, the quivering of my voice. So I never wanted to experience that experience again. I was humiliated. When I walked out of that room. I went from top of my game, Young, 27, going up that corporate ladder, to literally a free fall. And I hit rock bottom there. I knew I never want to feel that feeling again. So I went into an avoidance pattern. I knew the higher you go up that corporate ladder, the more presentations you have to give, because that's what they do. When you become a director or VP or hire, you do a lot of presenting. You're always on that stage. You're talking to your company. So I took a sideways step, and I didn't want to go up that ladder. I took a different route, and I'll go into that more later. But basically, I wanted to avoid public speaking at all costs. But it wasn't like I didn't try things. I tried everything out there. I tried all these seminars. I tried coaches and read books, and I even. Nothing was working for me. I even went to a psychiatrist and tried medications, and thank God I had an allergic reaction to medications, because honestly, now I know better that none of this stuff really works when it comes to overcoming your fears and phobias that are associated with public speaking. So.
All those years, I avoided public speaking and fear. Fast forward, I find my Mr. Miyagi. And here's where the movie comes back into play. So fast forward 20 years later, and I'm in Tokyo. I'm about to meet my clients the next day. And I was studying my presentation notes, and I started thinking, wow, what if they had me stand up? This was a new group I'd never met before, and I was really afraid that they might have me stand in front of the room. And I didn't know how big the audience was going to be. When you go out there, you're expecting maybe 15, 20, but they can again have 50 people. So I started having that fear come back to me, the same one I had 20 years prior. So I did what I always do for the thousandth time. I go on Google in Japan and I Google fears and phobia of public speaking. But I forgot I was in Japan. So everything came up in Japanese. And that's when I found my Mr. Miyagi. There was one ad, just one ad in English, and I clicked on it, and it was a person who actually specializes in panic attack and also fears and phobia public speaking. So I contacted the office, and he was busy. And honestly, he was two hours away. He wasn't even in Tokyo. But he said a few words to me, and I read some words on the website that I just never heard before. Nothing that was ever practiced in the United States. It was actually counterintuitive to everything I've read about getting over your fears in public speaking. So I stuck with him. I stuck with my Mr. Miyagi, and I paid a lot of money for him. But I thought this was the best investment in myself for my career and for my life, because my life took a turn, too. Don't forget, it's not just your career that takes a huge hit. But I declined being the best man for my friend because I didn't want to give the best man speech in front of 3, 300 people. I never wanted to get on stage and do karaoke with my friends. I just said I was a bad singer. And actually, I'm not a bad singer, but I didn't want to get on the stage and sing in front of people. It was all that fear and phobia of being in front of people. So I stuck with him, and I paid, I think, about $5,000 in over four to five weeks. He literally cured me. And when I say cured me, I'm talking about I've never had a panic attack over seven years, and now I'm like the public speaker for my department, my company. I speak in front of the entire company. I speak in front of entire departments. Do I get nervous? Yeah, everybody gets nerves, but this is normal nerves. This isn't that anxiety attack. So since then, I've now researched a lot about the phobia fears. I want them to learn more about what my Miyagi told me. My Mr. Miyagi told me everything. But I want to research more. So what I did was I really deep researched into all the top Ivy League professors in psychology and the top universities, and I learned a lot more. And I learned the reason why, the whole reasoning behind it, which really helped me. Since then, I'm now certified. So what I did was I tutored on Elite psychology out of London, and I passed the rigorous test. And I am now officially a certified mental health ambassador, which means I am now able to help people with their fears and phobia legally. So that's my story, and I wanted to share that with you because I think you can probably relate to it. It's a relatable story for a lot of people because as I've said before, glossophobia also was just the official term for public speaking is the biggest phobia in the world. 95% of people out there have some nerves of public speaking. But again, 80%, and that's a big chunk. 80% of people having moderate to severe, severe being, the most severe being panic attacks like I had. So you're not alone. And I'm here to tell you that I can help you overcome using my methodologies. And again, in my signature method, I do not use exposure therapy, which is one of the biggest things that everybody out there gets wrong. They always want you to do the practice makes perfect and studying your content and nail the first 30. And you just have to think, you know, it's not golf. It's not like you just keep going up there and you get. And that's how you overcome your fear and phobia. If you go up there, you have a bad experience like I did, I can tell you that you're never going to want to do it again. So it is not like other phobias where exposure is the answer. When it comes to public speaking, that is not the answer. Exposure therapy does not work. And I will show you my signature theory, my signature method that really works the best in I can, living proof of it. So if you're excited, don't forget to hit the subscribe button. There's going to be a lot more from me. I'm going to be your Mr. Miyagi and Daniel sun. If you're out there, I'm here to help you out. It was great talking to you today. I hope you enjoyed my story and I hope that you found how this kind of relates to you because again, you are not alone when it comes to this fear and phobia of public speaking. Thank you.
