The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook
156Duration of Exposure
Exposure works better if it lasts long enough for you to learn that your feared 
outcome doesn’t occur. We suggest that you try to stay in the situation for as long as 
possible. For example, if you are at a party, try to stay for at least a couple of hours. If 
you’re giving a presentation and have the option of making it longer, try to take advan -
tage of the opportunity to speak for a longer time. Ideally, you should stay in the situ -
ation until your anxiety decreases to a mild or moderate level. However, even if your 
anxiety doesn’t decrease during a particular practice, exposure will still likely be helpful, 
especially if you don’t leave the situation too quickly.
If you are practicing being in a situation that is naturally very brief (something like 
asking a stranger for the time or directions), you can prolong the anxiety-provoking situ -
ation by repeating the exposure over and over for a longer period. For example, instead 
of asking one person for information while walking through a shopping mall (“Where is 
the food court?”), you can ask twenty or thirty different people for the same information 
over the course of an hour or more. The chances are good that your fear will decrease 
over time.
Frequency of Exposure
Exposure works better if practices are repeated close together. For example, giving a 
speech once a week is more effective than giving a speech once a month. Daily speeches 
will decrease your fear more effectively than once a week, even if the number of prac -
tices is the same. In other words, giving a presentation ﬁve days in a row will likely lead 
to a greater decrease in fear than giving a presentation once per week for ﬁve consecu -