Chris R. Sawyer

Milestones of Anticipatory Public Speaking Anxiety.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the levels of anticipatory public speaking state and trait anxiety at three pre‐performance milestones or significant events: (1) the moment when the public speech was assigned in class, (2) the mid‐point of a laboratory session during which the speeches were being prepared, and (3) the moment immediately preceding formal presentation of the speech to the class. The results indicate that both state and trait anxiety levels during these events were ordered in a quadratic, v‐shaped episodic pattern as follows: the highest level of anticipatory anxiety occurred just before speaking, the second highest level occurred at the time the assignment was announced and explained, and the lowest level was measured during the time students were preparing their speeches.

Behavioral inhibition and the attribution of public speaking state anxiety

This study applies H. J. Eysencks (1967) theoretical perspective on the development of anxiety to explain audience perceptions of public speakers. Specifically, the effects of social conditioning, particularly punishment, and the relative conditionability of an individuals nervous system combine to predict behavioral responses to state anxiety. Speakers presented five‐minute speeches under normal classroom conditions, were videotaped, and speaker anxiety behaviors and audience‐observed speaker anxiety were assessed by teams of raters. The hypothesis that behavioral rigidity and inhibition are significant, additive predictors of audience perceived speaker state anxiety was confirmed. The authors discuss these findings in light of treatment strategies, such as flooding and systematic desensitization, designed to counteract behavioral inhibition.

Anticipatory anxiety patterns for male and female public speakers

In previous research, physiological and psychological anxiety patterns have been established for public speakers. In a recent study (Behnke & Sawyer, 1999) reported state and trait patterns of anticipatory anxiety for public speakers for two weeks preceding the actual presentation. In the present study, gender differences in anticipatory state anxiety and narrowband trait anxiety patterns were investigated. Significant gender‐based pattern differences were discovered with higher anxiety patterns reported by female speakers. Both female and male speaker groups exhibited the hypothesized quadratic v‐shaped pattern of mean anxiety scores for the anticipatory period. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

The communication of public speaking anxiety

The relationship between beginning speakers’ self‐reported speech state anxiety and audience perceptions of that anxiety, during public speaking performances are investigated in this study. The results indicate that untrained audiences are not proficient at detecting the self‐perceived state anxiety of beginning speakers. Moreover, audiences perceive speaker anxiety levels to be lower, during performance, than the speakers themselves report. Implications of the findings for students and instructors of public speaking are suggested.

Conceptualizing speech anxiety as a dynamic trait

In the present research, the concept of focused, narrow‐band measurement of anxiety traits in speech communication is advanced and empirical evidence for its validity and utility is presented. The results show that narrow‐band speech anxiety trait scores are better predictors of state anxiety during public speaking than are the more conventional medium‐band or wide‐band configurations. Moreover, dynamic trait anxiety, the patterning of narrow‐band trait anxiety scores over the four conventional periods of public speaking, shows a monotonically decreasing function with significant differences among all means. It was discovered that speech anxiety trait scores increase as the focus of measurement is narrowed, indicating greater sensitivity in detecting the most potent elements of the trait anxiety pattern. Implications for pedagogical and therapeutic intervention are discussed.

Patterns of psychological state anxiety in public speaking as a function of anxiety sensitivity

Previous empirical studies of anxiety patterns associated with public speaking performance have exhibited major differences between the psychological and physiological waveforms. Moreover, current research indicates that, in physiological studies of public speaking anxiety, several different patterns are embedded in the overall pattern, thereby demonstrating the importance of discovering the proper differentiated pattern for any given speaker. In the present study, the general psychological anxiety pattern for public speakers was examined in order to attempt to discover if independent, differentiated, patterns reside within the global pattern. A primary and a secondary pattern emerged. These sub‐patterns are significantly different from one another at all major moments or milestones of the experience. In a second study, these patterns were identified by differing levels of anxiety sensitivity. Theoretical, pedagogical, and therapeutic implications of the findings are discussed.

State Anxiety Patterns for Public Speaking and the Behavior Inhibition System

In previous studies, arousal patterns of public speakers before, during, and after speaking have shown a quadratic pattern that peaks when subjects first begin speaking. This study provides a replication and extension of this research using psychological measures of state speaking anxiety. Grays (1995) theory of septo‐hippocampal function is used to explain state anxiety processes. The results show a pattern for psychological measures that differs from the established physiological pattern. This psychological pattern is a monotonic function decreasing over the four conventional periods: anticipation, confrontation, adaptation, and release. As peak anxiety occurs during the anticipation phase, additional pedagogical and therapeutic attention should be focused on the pre‐speaking period.

Contagion theory and the communication of public speaking state anxiety

Previous empirical research has shown that speech state anxiety is communicated from a speaker to audience members, at a nominal level, in public speaking settings. This article reports on research into the communication of speech state anxiety between adjacent speakers in the speaking order. Based on classical response contagion theory, the researchers predicted a positive relationship. The findings support that expectation, suggesting that public speaking state anxiety is contagious. The article discusses possible consequences of these findings and advances suggestions for future research.

Examining the Effect of Exposure Therapy on Public Speaking State Anxiety.

Increased public speaking confidence is often cited as a major benefit for undergraduates taking the basic communication course. Several scholars have reported that the state anxiety of novice speakers declines progressively during performance, a phenomenon called within-session habituation. However, the contributions of these short-term reductions in fear to the development of confidence from one speech to the next, or between-sessions habituation, remain unknown. The current study examines brief repeated exposure to audiences as a strategy for creating habituation during public speaking performances in the basic course. One hundred forty undergraduate students enrolled in a required speech performance course participated in a quasi-experimental study in which course lab sections served as intact groups. Results were generally consistent with Foas emotional processing theory. Implications for basic course pedagogy and suggestions for future research in this area are advanced.

Behavioral Inhibition and the Communication of Public Speaking State Anxiety

Researchers studying the communication of public speaking anxiety have reported that audiences consistently underestimate the state anxiety of public speakers and that speaker behavior, rather than audience decoding skills, are primarily responsible for the discrepancy. In the present study, behavioral inhibition is advanced as explanation of this phenomenon. Analyses of variance for trends revealed an inverse linear relationship between state anxiety level and audience decoding efficiency. Behavioral assessments of speaker inhibition and rigidity, however, were positively related to state anxiety levels. These findings are consistent with the operation of behavioral inhibition within Bucks readout theory of emotion. Implications are advanced for future research and pedagogy.