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Hate public speaking? Practising in front of a virtual crowd may help you conquer your fears.

One-third of people feel excessive anxiety when they have to speak in front of others. Many get better with experience, but some find it too daunting to try in the first place.

at Stockholm University in Sweden and his colleagues wondered if virtual reality could provide a safe environment for helping people face their public speaking fears.

They recruited 50 adults with public speaking anxiety to try a training app made by UK company VirtualSpeech. The VR headset lets users pretend they are speaking in front of a large auditorium of people, a small office meeting, or a wedding party. 鈥淚t feels very realistic,鈥� says Lindner.

The participants were given a series of speaking tasks to complete in front of the virtual crowds over a 3-hour session, either at home or in a therapist鈥檚 office. They progressed from simple exercises like counting aloud to giving a short impromptu speech.

By the end, the participants reported feeling significantly more confident about public speaking. They also felt less nervous, shaky and sweaty when they were given real-life exercises to try like asking questions in meetings or giving presentations. 鈥淲e had one participant who wanted to get rid of their fear before a wedding and they managed to do it,鈥� says Lindner.

The VR setting helps disprove people鈥檚 catastrophic beliefs about public speaking, says Lindner. 鈥淎 lot of people worry they鈥檒l go red, start stuttering or lose track,鈥� he says. 鈥淰irtual reality gives them a safe environment to test this out and see that even if it does happen, it鈥檚 not the end of the world, which is the first step in breaking out of the cycle of avoidance.鈥�

The team is now developing a similar app in which the virtual audience can interact with the user, for example, by laughing when they make a joke. 鈥淚t should be even more realistic and allow us to tailor the experience to the individual,鈥� says Lindner.