What are you afraid of?

Joe | Feb 11, 2026Feb 11, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this speaking lesson on fears are to:

• talk about fears and ways of facing them;
• review useful vocabulary for discussing fears;
• watch a video about a boy overcoming his fear of the dark.

With this lesson, students talk about common fears people have (e.g. small spaces, the dark, public speaking), explore things people do despite fear (e.g. using a Ouija board, watching a horror film) and share their experiences. They read and discuss different ways of facing fears (e.g. flooding therapy, mindfulness, cognitive behavioural therapy) and talk about types of therapies for different situations. Students watch a video about a boy facing his fear of the dark and give their opinions on various views on fear. They can also do an extra task to review useful fear-related vocabulary (e.g. be scared of, irrational fear, face your fear).

WARM-UP AND DISCUSSION

Before this speaking lesson on fears starts, students can do an extra vocabulary task. They match the halves of sentences about personal fears and overcoming them. Then, students choose one sentence that best describes their experience, change it if necessary and provide some details. Next, they do a warm-up activity. Students examine common things people are afraid of (e.g. flying, heights, needles) and rank fears from least to most scary. They then discuss questions in pairs, comparing their fears and reactions. Following that, students look at some things people do even if it might make them scared (e.g. doing an escape room, doing extreme sport, watching a horror film). They say what their experience of doing those things is and how much they scare them. 

VIDEO AND MORE DISCUSSION

In this part of this speaking lesson on fears, students look at more common fears (e.g. fear of crowded places, fear of missing out, fear of clowns) and discuss their experiences and opinions. Afterwards, they read about different ways of facing fears (e.g. exposure therapy, flooding therapy, mindfulness). Students say what the advantages and disadvantages of each approach are. Following that, they examine different scenarios and say which therapies from the previous task they would recommend for each person and why. Then, students say how they imagine the process of overcoming the fear could work for each person. Moving on, they watch a video about a little boy who faces his fear of the dark. They choose adjectives (e.g. dull, inspiring, silly) to describe the video. Finally, students read statements with different views on fear and say if they agree or disagree. They give reasons.

WORKSHEETS

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