The unspeakable fear.

If you're more afraid of speaking in front of a group of people than you are of financial difficulties, illness - or even death - you are, according to some surveys, a victim of America's leading fear.

But just why are so many men and women so terrified by the prospect of speaking in public?

A study conducted by Dr. Roger Flax, a leading authority on business and interpersonal communication, provides some intriguing answers, as well as some of Flax's strategies for coping with what he calls "performance panic."

"For many people," says Flax, "speaking to 50 people at a business meeting, standing up to voice an opinion during a PTA meeting or simply participating in a dinner conversation with a group of friends at a restaurant becomes a frightening, even unbearable, ordeal."

Flax is president of Motivational Systems, a nationwide management development organization. The study was conducted among 12,000 of the 130,000 people who have participated in his company's communication training programs.

They were asked: What are your biggest fears about speaking to groups of people?

THE RESULTS:

N Fear of making embarrassing mistakes (81 percent).

N Fear of damaging your career or reputation (77 percent).

B Fear of forgetting or freezing. Of not being able to say anything at all (63 percent).

* Fear of being dull or boring (58 percent).

* Fear of looking nervous or petrified (52 percent).

* Fear of being stared at (45 percent).

* Fear of being unable to answer questions (37 percent).

* Fear of being unprepared (31 percent).

* Fear of being ignored (24 percent).

* Fear of being laughed at (19 percent).

* Fear that someone will fall asleep (7 percent).

"Fortunately," says Flax, "the fear of public speaking does not have to be permanently disabling. But first it's necessary to change some deeply ingrained habits: Canned and dull presentations must be replaced by spontaneous and stimulating deliveries."

"Some degree of trepidation is not only normal," says Flax, "it's actually desirable. Pre-talk stress can be energizing, enabling you to think more quickly, talk more fluently and speak with more increased intensity and enthusiasm."

Over the years, he has developed many training techniques "to substantially minimize - and often eliminate - the terror and trauma of addressing a group of people."