How do I get over the fear of speaking Spanish?

Most fear of speaking Spanish comes from worrying about sounding stupid or making mistakes. The fix isn't to wait until you feel ready. It's to lower the stakes, start speaking in low-pressure settings, and get used to the feeling of being wrong. The fear shrinks each time you do it and nothing bad happens.

What you're actually afraid of

When you break it down, it's usually one of these:

Being judged for mistakes
Not understanding the reply
Freezing and having nothing to say
Wasting the other person's time
Having your accent noticed

All of these are about how you'll look, not about whether you can communicate. I think that's useful to notice, because it means the problem isn't your Spanish level. Advanced learners feel it too.

What people really think

Most native speakers are glad you're trying. In many countries, a learner who makes an effort gets a warm response. People are used to hearing foreigners make mistakes, and they care more about the meaning than the grammar.

Of course there are exceptions, and you may meet someone impatient. That says something about them, not you. It's also one reason to start with language exchange partners or tutors, who signed up to be patient.

Start with the lowest stakes

A good way to get past fear is a ladder. Start easy and go up:

Talk to yourself or record voice notes. Nobody hears it. See practicing alone.
Shadow audio so your mouth gets used to producing Spanish.
Text or write to someone, with time to think.
Speak with a tutor for 20 or 30 minutes, with the goal of one or two sentences at a time.
Try a real situation: order food, ask for directions, buy something.

Each step builds a little confidence for the next.

For the shadowing step, it helps to have audio you can slow down. Langtok, the app I built, lets you play short Spanish stories anywhere from 0.25x to 1.75x with each word highlighted as it's spoken, which makes repeating along feel less exposed.

Make mistakes on purpose

This sounds strange, but it works. Set a goal of making a few mistakes in a conversation. Aim for "I'll say 10 things, and at least 3 will be wrong." This turns mistakes from a failure into a target, and it takes away their power.

Mistakes also help your learning. The corrections you get when you mess up are the ones you remember.

Have a few phrases ready

Panic is worse when you have nothing to say. A few emergency phrases can help:

¿Puedes hablar más despacio? (Can you speak more slowly?)
No sé cómo decirlo. (I don't know how to say it.)
¿Cómo se dice...? (How do you say...?)
Estoy aprendiendo español. (I'm learning Spanish.)
Perdona, ¿puedes repetir? (Sorry, can you repeat?)

Having a safety net makes you braver. You know you can always ask for help in Spanish.

Keep sessions short

Don't try a long, tiring conversation. Short is fine. A five-minute chat in Spanish counts and leaves you feeling good, which makes it easier to do again.

Waiting doesn't help

I know it's tempting to wait until you're better. But you don't become less afraid by studying more. You become less afraid by speaking. Pick the smallest speaking task you can do this week, and do it.