So Money with Farnoosh Torabi · Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Samara Bay, a speech coach, discussed how public speaking anxiety is deeply rooted in historical and cultural narratives where speaking out was often discouraged or punished. She explains that the perception of 'public' and 'speaking' carries a weight of past experiences, leading many to feel powerless rather than empowered when addressing an audience. This ingrained fear can manifest physically, affecting voice and presence.
“So we are in this lineage of the public not being an arena that we could totally own.”
“So when we say I don't like speaking, what we mean is I don't like reckoning with this story I've been handed without the language or the permission or the solidarity, the otherness, to unpack it and go, how do I find a sense of power inside of this crappy ass story I was handed?”
“So that my body doesn't feel like it's lost itself in front of other people.”