# Stage fright before a talk: what 2026 studies show speakers

Author: Marin Niehues, Stage Starter · Published: 2026-02-04
Topic: Talks & Stage (https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/topic/talks-and-stage/)
Source: https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/stage-fright-conference-talk/

Stage fright before a talk can hardly be predicted from age, gender or personality: in a study of 1,049 working adults published in the journal Acta Psychologica in January 2026, five such factors together explained only 15 per cent of the differences in fear of public speaking. Younger people and women reported more fear, as did respondents with lower self-esteem and less courage and competitiveness. The occasion for writing about it now is ISE 2026 in Barcelona, which, according to a press release from Fira de Barcelona of 27 January 2026, brings more than 340 speakers onto its stages. For speakers, this means that your personality gives no reliable indication of whether stage fright will come, and that a fixed rehearsal plan makes the time before the performance plannable.

**Key points at a glance**
- The study by Jean-Marc Dewaele and Adrian Furnham in Acta Psychologica (online since 19 January 2026) surveyed 1,049 working adults about fear of public speaking.
- Five factors together explain 15 per cent of the differences: younger age, being female, lower self-esteem, less courage and less competitiveness.
- ISE 2026 in Barcelona runs from 3 to 6 February 2026 with more than 340 speakers in its conference programme and over 1,700 exhibitors.
- With a 30-minute slot, you usually have around 20 to 25 minutes of actual speaking time left to rehearse after the introduction and Q&A.
- Three full rehearsals per talk cost around nine hours a year if you give six talks.

## Stage fright in speakers: what the study of 1,049 working adults shows

Stage fright is the tension before a performance in front of an audience. Research measures a related quantity, fear of public speaking, known as public speaking anxiety. Jean-Marc Dewaele and Adrian Furnham surveyed 1,049 working adults, who stated how anxious they are when giving public speeches and completed a personality test. The [study in Acta Psychologica](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106247) identifies five significant factors that together explain 15 per cent of the variance: younger people reported more fear than older ones, women more than men, and those who rated themselves lower on self-esteem, courage and competitiveness rated their anxiety higher.

From the 15 per cent, a converse can be drawn for speakers: 85 per cent of the differences remain unexplained. Anyone who is young, feels little competitiveness or doubts their topic has no reason in the study to see themselves as a special case, because most of the differences stem from other causes. Anyone who is older and self-assured knows stage fright as well. The study is a cross-sectional survey and describes associations without proving causes. It asks about speeches in general and leaves conference talks open.

A second study, published in Frontiers in Psychology on 28 January 2026, looks at thoughts before a performance. It surveyed [774 members of four community choirs in China](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1746532) about their performance anxiety, a different group from speakers, and found that women reported more anxiety than men. The difference between the sexes was mediated by self-scrutiny to the extent of 36.0 per cent, by concern about the judgement of others to the extent of 16.3 per cent and by self-efficacy, that is, confidence in one's own performance, to the extent of 2.8 per cent. For speakers this is a hint that thoughts about one's own performance play a large part, even though results from choirs cannot be transferred unchecked to conference stages.

## ISE 2026: what awaits you on a stage with more than 340 speakers

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), a trade show for audiovisual technology, is held in Barcelona in its 22nd edition under the theme "Push Beyond". The show takes place from 3 to 6 February 2026, and according to the [press release from Fira de Barcelona](https://www.firabarcelona.com/en/press-release/institucional/ise-2026-is-set-to-deliver-a-record-breaking-edition/) it occupies the entire Gran Via venue with more than 101,000 square metres of exhibition space, an increase of 9 per cent, and brings together over 1,700 exhibitors, 6.5 per cent more than the year before. The conference programme includes more than 340 speakers, and the organisers aim to surpass last year's visitor record of more than 85,000 attendees.

For a subject like stage fright, this figure provides an order of magnitude. At a single trade show, more than 340 people speak in front of an audience within a few days. Each of them has prepared for that moment beforehand. Anyone who knows how many professionals face the same task before a performance can place their own stage fright more soberly: it comes with a performance, and the preparation for it can be planned. How a conference day goes for a speaker is described in the article [How a conference works as a speaker](/en/blog/how-a-conference-works-as-a-speaker/).

## Reducing stage fright before a talk: a rehearsal plan to work through

A talk at a professional conference usually lasts twenty to forty-five minutes. Because the introduction and Q&A sit within the time slot, the actual speaking time is five to ten minutes shorter, as the article [How long is a conference talk](/en/blog/how-long-is-a-conference-talk/) shows. From this, a rehearsal plan can be calculated with open assumptions. Assume you give six talks a year in a 30-minute slot and rehearse each three times at full length of 30 minutes: that makes 18 rehearsals and nine hours a year, on average a good hour and a half per talk. The three rehearsals and the 30 minutes are assumptions that you can adjust.

Five steps work well for the rehearsals, and you take them in this order:

1. Write out the first and the last sentence word for word: An opening you know by heart takes away the decision of how to begin at the moment you are called up.
2. Rehearse the whole talk once alone, aloud: Stand up, do not read, and time yourself until you stay within the speaking time of around 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Rehearse once in front of two colleagues: Their feedback shows whether your talk is understandable, and real faces give you a more accurate picture than the idea of a strict audience.
4. Collect ten questions and say the answers aloud: The Q&A is the part you can plan least, and a list takes away some of the dread.
5. Focus your attention on the benefit: Before the performance, ask yourself which problem the audience can solve after the talk. This turns your gaze from yourself to the listeners, and the choir study suggests that self-scrutiny plays an especially strong part in performance anxiety.

Which type of speaker you are helps decide which form of rehearsal suits you, and the article [Which type of speaker are you](/en/blog/which-type-of-speaker-are-you/) helps you place yourself. If fear of the performance keeps you from submitting, a conversation with a professional can make sense; a rehearsal plan is no substitute for advice in cases of severe anxiety.

## Stage fright and the first acceptance: what to put in your calendar

A call for papers is a conference's public invitation through which you submit a talk, and weeks or months often pass between acceptance and the performance. This time helps you make stage fright plannable: with the acceptance, you put the rehearsals in your calendar instead of speaking aloud for the first time the evening before the performance. Our founder Marin Niehues has received more than 100 invitations and has spoken at more than 50 conferences in 30 countries on six continents, and Sessionize named him Most Active Speaker in 2024 and 2025. With several dates a year, the routine becomes familiar, and the rehearsal plan above can be reused for every further talk.

**Five factors of age, gender and personality explain only 15 per cent of the differences in fear of public speaking, according to the study by Dewaele and Furnham, and anyone with stage fright before a talk is part of a large group that also includes the more than 340 speakers at ISE 2026.**

**How Stage Starter gets you onto conference stages**
Stage Starter is a speaker agency for experts from B2B fields. We research the conferences that fit your topic and your target clients, develop the talk with you and write several variants of the abstract for each call for papers. We then submit on your behalf, keep track of the deadlines and follow up with the organisers. Our founder Marin Niehues brings the experience of more than 100 invitations on six continents. In the [initial consultation](/en/erstgespraech/) we clarify which stages suit you.

**The study by Dewaele and Furnham shows that age, gender and personality together explain only 15 per cent of fear of public speaking, and ISE 2026 shows that more than 340 speakers step in front of an audience within four days. Anyone who puts rehearsals in the calendar with the acceptance, knows the first and last sentence by heart and talks through the Q&A aloud goes on stage with a plan.**

## Frequently asked questions

### What helps against stage fright before a talk?

A fixed rehearsal plan helps because it makes the time before the performance plannable: first and last sentence by heart, the speaking time checked with a stopwatch, one rehearsal in front of colleagues and ten questions with answers spoken aloud. The study by Dewaele and Furnham from January 2026 does not test any measures. It merely shows that age and personality hardly explain fear of public speaking.

### Who gets stage fright, beginners or experienced speakers?

In the study by Dewaele and Furnham of 1,049 working adults, younger people reported more fear than older ones, but five factors together explained only 15 per cent of the differences. An experienced speaker can therefore know stage fright just as well as a beginner.

### Is stage fright the same as fear of public speaking?

Stage fright is the tension before a performance, while fear of public speaking, known as public speaking anxiety, is the quantity the study measures. The two are related, and the study asks about speeches in general and not about conference talks.

### How much time should I plan for rehearsing a talk?

Assuming three full rehearsals of 30 minutes each, that is around an hour and a half per talk and nine hours a year for six talks. The figure is a calculation with assumptions that you adjust to your topic and your confidence.

### How many speakers appeared at ISE 2026 in Barcelona?

According to a press release from Fira de Barcelona of 27 January 2026, the conference programme of ISE 2026 includes more than 340 speakers. According to the same release, the show runs from 3 to 6 February 2026 with over 1,700 exhibitors.