Speech Anxiety
MANAGING SEVERE SPEECH ANXIETY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CURRENT TRENDS AND APPLICATIONS
CONCLUSION
BIBILIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION Public speaking is often described as the most common fear in the world. It is also something that many people are required to do. It may be to give a toast at a wedding, to present a seminar at work, to make an argument to a local council, to receive an award or to be interviewed by a board of directors for a job. Public speaking is something few people can avoid and yet it continues to be a major fear. To understand this fear and how it can be managed and prevented, the issue will now be looked at in more detail. This will begin with a definition of public speaking anxiety and a discussion of the various forms it takes. This will be followed by a discussion of some of the common treatments and finally, the impact of preparation and practice will be discussed. Public speaking anxiety is defined as a certain type of communication apprehension or CA, where CA is defined as, “fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another person or person” (O’Hair, Freidrich, Wiemann & Wiemann 344). Communication apprehension can be either a personality trait, where the individual feels apprehensive about any type of communication. Or more commonly, it is situational, where the level of anxiety depends on factors such as the nature of the communication and the size of the audience. This explains why an individual may be a confident speaker in an informal situation, but may still develop high levels of anxiety in a situation with a large audience or one that is seen as a threat. It is also important to note that it is not only the size of the audience that matters, the other factors in the situation also have an impact. For example, an individual may be comfortable giving a speech to several hundred school mates, but then experience anxiety if asked to speak in front of a formal board of directors, or to a
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CURRENT TRENDS AND APPLICATIONS
CONCLUSION
BIBILIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION Public speaking is often described as the most common fear in the world. It is also something that many people are required to do. It may be to give a toast at a wedding, to present a seminar at work, to make an argument to a local council, to receive an award or to be interviewed by a board of directors for a job. Public speaking is something few people can avoid and yet it continues to be a major fear. To understand this fear and how it can be managed and prevented, the issue will now be looked at in more detail. This will begin with a definition of public speaking anxiety and a discussion of the various forms it takes. This will be followed by a discussion of some of the common treatments and finally, the impact of preparation and practice will be discussed. Public speaking anxiety is defined as a certain type of communication apprehension or CA, where CA is defined as, “fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another person or person” (O’Hair, Freidrich, Wiemann & Wiemann 344). Communication apprehension can be either a personality trait, where the individual feels apprehensive about any type of communication. Or more commonly, it is situational, where the level of anxiety depends on factors such as the nature of the communication and the size of the audience. This explains why an individual may be a confident speaker in an informal situation, but may still develop high levels of anxiety in a situation with a large audience or one that is seen as a threat. It is also important to note that it is not only the size of the audience that matters, the other factors in the situation also have an impact. For example, an individual may be comfortable giving a speech to several hundred school mates, but then experience anxiety if asked to speak in front of a formal board of directors, or to a
Bibliography: Ashcroft, N., & Scheflen, A. Human Territories: How We Behave in Space-Time. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1976. Bolton, Robert. People Skills. Roseville: Simon and Schuster, 1998. Friedrich, G.W., O’Hair, D., Wiemann, J.M., & Wiemann, M.O. Competent Communication. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Pertaub, D-P., Slater, M., & Barker, C. “An Experiment on Public Speaking Anxiety in Response to Three Different Types of Virtual Audience.” Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 11.1 (Feb 2002). Seamon, J.G., & Kenrick, D.T. Psychology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994.