Understanding Public Speaking Anxiety: Research Insights and Strategies
Explore the research findings on public speaking anxiety, including its causes, impacts, and common fears. Discover effective communication strategies and insights to overcome speech-related anxiety and enhance public speaking skills.
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Presentation Transcript
Speech Anxiety Nicholas Brody, Ph.D. Department of Communication Studies bit.ly/speechanxiety
seinfeld-public-speaking 27 second excerpt from Jerry Seinfeld's brilliant and extremely funny "I'm Telling You For The Last Time" performance: "I saw a thing, actually a study that said: speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. I found that amazing. Number two, was death. Death is number two? This means, to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy." Speech and presentation consulting at http://colehouse.net
Is public speaking more feared than death? (Dwyer & Davidson, 2012)
What does the research say? (Dwyer & Davidson, 2012) Everybody has fears about some things. Please check all the things on this short list that make you fearful or anxious. Using the same list, please rank your top fears. Speaking before a group 61.7% Death 20% Financial Problems 54.8% Speaking before a group 18.4% Death 43.2% Financial Problems 15% Loneliness 38.3% Heights 11.7% Heights 37.7% Loneliness 10.6%
A communication-based anxiety in which individuals experience physiological arousal, negative cognitions, or behavioral responses to real or anticipated presentations (Daly et al., 2009) Fear of public speaking
Public speaking anxiety is both a trait and a state.
What does the research say? (LeFebvre et al., 2018) What are the top three things that give you the most fear or anxiety about giving a speech? Audience responses Inability to self-regulate Disfluency Performance evaluation Excessive activation Ineffective vocal delivery Unpreparedness Insufficient audience analysis Misaligned information Inadequate PS skills Distracting nonverbals Unexpected events
How can we treat both state and trait PSA?
Systematic desensitization Cognitive modification Skills training (Allen et al., 1989)
Interventions Realize it is normal Analyze your specific fears Practice, Practice, Practice Topic selection Analyze context and audience Reframe Relaxation/Visualization techniques
Assess Take the PRPSA.
Brainstorm What can you do in your classes to assist students with SA?
Practice Impromptu speeches
Thank you. nbrody@pugetsound.edu @nbrody
