INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

Department of Languages & Management

RESEARCH PROJECT : PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY

FULL NAME : NUR FARHANAH ZAINAL

MATRIC NO : 123631

LECTURER’S NAME : MADAM NABILAH

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE : 2ND MAY 2013

CERTIFICATION OF AUTHENCITY

I certify that this paper submitted for assessment is the result of my own work, exceptwhere otherwise acknowledge.

BASIC RESEACRH METHODOLGY

ELF 0007

SEM 3, 2012/2013

Signed:_________________ Date:__________________

ABSTRACT

Anxiety in speaking publicly is a common social phobia for the

society (Safir, Wallach, & Bar-Zvi, 2012). It has to be managed

as it affects people’s lives and careers. This study aims to

investigate the reasons for anxiety in public speaking among

CFSIIUM students as well as ways to reduce the anxiety. The

questionnaire of Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) made by

McCroskey (1970; 1992) is used in order to measure the level of

anxiety experienced by the students while giving a speech or

presentation in class. The questionnaire consists of 34 items,

each one on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly agree”

to “strongly disagree”. Besides that, a questionnaire made of a

reasons for public speaking anxiety also given to them. At the

first meeting, all of the students were asked to fill out both

questionnaires. After that, they were given ways to assist them

in reducing the public speaking anxiety. They have been required

to use them while speaking in class and their level of anxiety

will once again be determined during the second meeting with the

same questionnaire of PRPSA. The findings indicate that the

students succeed to overcome their anxiety in speaking publicly

as their level of anxiety has decreased after they applied those

given techniques. Even though this experiment has succeeded in

helping those who are having anxiety problem in speaking in front

of the public, future research on the other ways to overcome

public speaking anxiety are considered and encouraged.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Public speaking is a common problem for all people around

the world. According to Peter Desberg, professor of psychology at

California State University, public speaking ranks as number one

fear of all fears and even outranking the fear of death. Many

people want to avoid the situations in which they are needed to

speak publicly. However, when these situations are unavoidable,

they will be in a state of uneasiness and fear caused by the

anticipation of something threatening. This state is known as

anxiety and it can be considered as a phobia. Even though it has

been experienced by most people from all walk of ages, we cannot

deny that it is distressing as it is one of the factors in

determining our failure or success in this life.

The fear response is designed to keep us alive whenever

there are troubles. When we faced a serious threat, our heart

will pump the blood faster than usual and the process of

breathing become quickens to ensure a quick getaway. Once the

body reacts it will make the mind to start believing that the

person is really in danger. Many people feel anxious when they

doubt their ability and knowledge of the materials that they are

going to present in front of the others. In addition, the more

important the audiences are to the person, the worse the

reactions can be. This is because they will know if he or she

made a minor mistake that other common people may not notice.

Besides that, some data suggests successful, career-minded

people are unusually susceptible to this fear. Apparently, if

people are driven and achievement-oriented, they are likely to

worry more about performance and appearances. If they have to

succeed at everything to feel good about themselves, that could

add just enough anxiety to make public speaking an uncomfortable

as well as a terrifying experience.

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Anxiety is the apprehension occurred because of a threat to

some value that the individual holds important to his or her

existence as what has been studied by Rollo May. In the case of

university’s students, they may avoid doing any oral

presentations, never speaking in class or choosing against

certain profession which required them to speak in public. Rossi

and Seiler (1989) demonstrated that, “Public speaking or stage

fright has been investigated and studied since the mid-1930‟s.”

Most people who have this problem will experience various effects

in a public speaking situations such as palpitations, sweating,

diarrhea and confusion (North and River, 2001). It is important

to solve this problem as it will affect our daily lives as well

as the future. (Engler, 1999).

Nowadays, the country needs and demands for a good speaker

to work with them. Hence, to compete with others, CFSIIUM’s

students need to have this skill to succeed in the interview and

to get the best job. That is one of the reasons I choose to

conduct this research. The main purpose of my research is to know

the reasons why people feel anxiety in speaking publicly. I also

want to determine whether the teaching of effective strategy in

reducing public speaking anxiety helps to lower the level of

anxiety. Overall, I want to know the reliability of the ways to

reduce public speaking anxiety within most students in CFSIIUM.

The problems and purposes of this current study were guided

by the following two research questions:

1) Why university’s students feel anxious when they need to

speak in public?

2) Is it helping the students to reduce their anxiety in

speaking publicly if they practice before the presentation

and use the breathing as well as relaxation techniques?

1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will contribute to a better understanding of

language anxiety experienced by CFSIIUM students. It will also

provide some information on the scale of anxiety feel by the

students and the reasons of public speaking anxiety occurred on

them.

Furthermore, it will give students a chance to evaluate

themselves and their emotional state when speaking in public.

Perhaps it will help them to identify their weaknesses and let

them understand the problem that they are facing when speaking

publicly. Moreover, it will make the students realize that they

are not alone in this matter. Perhaps, they will know the best

way to overcome this anxiety disorder.

In addition, this research hopes to make the lecturers

realize that some good students might not able to perform their

actual standards due to effective reasons like in this study,

speaking anxiety. Besides that, it will give them the opportunity

to understand the reasons and to be aware of the difficulties

that have been faced by the students when speaking in public.

This investigation will also assist the CFSIIUM students in

developing their confidence and self-esteem in speaking publicly.

The information from the study will also aid the lecturers in

managing their students and it will help them respond to their

students’ speaking anxiety appropriately.

Besides the above, the study hopes to help students in

facing their future such as to be confident during interview

session and to be able to cooperate with working partners

confidently. Last but not least, the most important purpose of

this study is to contribute to the research in speaking anxiety

in the future.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Public speaking anxiety is a psychological response and also

analyzed as social anxiety disorder which is non-generalized type

at clinical levels. It is also related with significant distress

and impairment in a substantial portion of the population (Aderka

et al., 2012). Perhaps it is difficult to define in a simple

manner, as it depends on the individual’s perception on something

or situations based on their unique frame of reference and

experience (Eharman, 1996). People may fear public speaking more

than anything else. Anxiety that occurs because of a simple thing

or situation can be exhausting. Moreover, sufferers are typically

ashamed and declined to admit they have a problem with that kind

of skill. They will hide a deep concern about the phobia’s effect

on their profession in an industry that demands for the

presentation skills so highly. Therefore, it is a great

importance to conduct this study to help those people overcome

this big problem.

At a global level, several things are thought to be

correlated with public speaking anxiety disorder. Some examples

include an experience of stuttering, insomnia, or writer’s block

and it can lead to an ironic increase in those very conditions

(cf., Asher & Schotte, 1999; Wegner, 1997; Wegner, Broome &

Blumberg, 1997). Kitano (2001) also notes that “… speaking skill

is usually the first thing that learners compare with that of

peers, teachers, and native speakers”. Besides that, from Bodie

(2010) perspectives, “the competence in public speaking is

paramount to students’ success in and out of the classroom”.

Hence, learners’ low self perception of speaking ability is a

cause or source of anxiety for all people especially the

students. Some individuals may also experience arousal, negative

self talk, or behavioral actions in response to an upcoming or

actual presentation (Daly, McRoskey, Ayres, Hopf & Ayres, 1997).

Hence, for more than a century, researchers have been interested

in helping those people to overcome or reduce public speaking

anxiety by using different means.

The first research to reduce public speaking anxiety is by

using Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT) that has been proposed by

Heuett (2011). The treatment has been conducted by exposing the

patient to a virtual environment containing the feared situation

rather than taking the patient into the real environment. It can

also be used to analyze and treat psychological conditions that

cause patients difficulty. It proved that it is possible to use

VRT to help people reduce public speaking anxiety. Besides that,

Savitsky and Gilovich (2003) have a different ways to help those

with anxiety in public speaking. The field of their studies is

the illusion of transparency and the alleviation of speech

anxiety. Based on their studies, speakers who were informed that

their nervousness was not as apparent as they thought were able

to do better in speaking publicly compared to those who has not

been informed about it. The similar scope of study has also been

done by McInnis, C., Mackinnon, P. and MacIntyre, D. (2010)

except that they also investigated about the normative beliefs of

anxiety during public speaking. They proved that there is a

belief that public speaking anxiety is common. As a result, the

audience will expect the speakers to be anxious and react to the

speakers that confirmed the situation. They potentially added to

the speaker’s anxiousness. This will be one of the causes of

anxiousness in public speakers. My study will focus on the other

causes of public speaking anxiety as well as the suitable way to

overcome this phobia especially for the university’s students.

In previous research made by Morgan and Schmidt (2012),

public speaking anxiety can be overcome by three different

methods: the value of cognitive restructuring, skills training

and systematic desensitization. Their studies showed that all the

three methods are suitable to reduce public speaking anxiety.

Acceptance-based exposure therapy for public speaking anxiety is

the other research that has been conducted by a group of

researchers (England, L., Herbert, D., Horman, M., Rabin, J.,

Juarasico, A., & Goldstein, P., 2012). They investigated the

acceptability and the effectiveness of the acceptance-based

exposure treatment (ABE) than standard habituation-based exposure

(HAB) for public speaking anxiety (PSA) in a clinical society. At

the end of the experiment, both groups show improvement in their

confidence level, social skill as well as communication skill. As

public speaking anxiety can be troublesome to some people, hence

it is a need to develop effective treatment techniques to aid

people in handling this problem. Thus, further research should be

considered to identify the causes and other means that are

helpful to overcome the public speaking anxiety among students.

All in all, investigation within the scope of public

speaking anxiety is becoming widely day by day. This is because

it is one of the most important fields that need to be mastered

by people from all walk of ages especially university students

who will become the next leader for future generation. Negative

thoughts and poor preparation have been confirmed as some of the

bad effects associated with public speaking anxiety. As a result,

the individuals may receive lower grades for presentation or

grouping work. Consequently, public speaking anxiety negatively

affects students’ academic performance. Therefore, the

objectives of this research are to identify the causes or reasons

for anxiety during public speaking as well as the best way to

overcome it within CFSIIUM’s students. Hence, with this study the

underlying factors of anxiety will be more observable and with

that the suitable solution to be practiced by the students can be

identified.

3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Design

This study is descriptive research as to identify the causes and

the reliability of the solutions to overcome public speaking

anxiety. Before the actual data collection period, a pilot study

will be conducted to test validity of the questionnaires as well

as to get feedbacks and suggestions from the respondents.

3.2 Participants

The research will be carried out at Centre for Foundation Studies

International Islamic University Malaysia (CFSIIUM). A total of

30 students, most in their first and second year, studying in

CFSIIUM will be chosen for this experiment. All the students are

both male and female Malay students. English is their second

language and they are from Arts and Science programs.

3.3 Materials/Instruments

For the experiment, I administered a survey and a questionnaire

to my subjects. I have prepared a list of causes or reasons for

public speaking anxiety for the subjects to fill. Next, I chose

Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) questionnaire

(McCroskey, 1970; McCroskey & Richmond, 1992) to be filled by

them in order to identify the level of public speaking they

experienced while speaking in public. The questionnaire consists

of 34 questions measuring feelings associated with giving a

presentation. Subjects were asked to indicate the degree to which

the statements apply to them, by marking whether they strongly

agree (1), agree (2), are undecided (3), disagree (4), strongly

disagree, (5) with each statement. It is highly reliable (alpha

estimates > .90).

3.4 Procedure

I make an appointment with the subjects whom consist of my

schoolmates, classmates and roommates. They will be meeting me in

a group of 2 people and above. I explained to them that I am one

of the ENCOM’s students and I was given an assignment regarding

to my Basic Research Methodology subject. I will simply hand out

the survey and questionnaires to them. The instructions for

completing the survey and questionnaire were at the top of the

page and were self-explanatory for all. After completing both the

paper, they were taught two ways to overcome the anxiety in order

to reduce public speaking anxiety during 3 hours of their

classes. After the 3 hours of their classes, I will meet them

again and the students were given the same questionnaires of

PRPSA. The change or improvement of their public speaking anxiety

will be recorded. All that completed the questionnaires and

surveys received some token of appreciation for doing so after

the second meeting.

The questionnaire was completed without any of the participants’

personal identification (except sex and program) to ensure

anonymity and increase the probability of honest responses.

The reliability of the scale in this investigation is .86.

4.0 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Chart 1: The causes of anxiety among CFSIIUM students

20%

20%

20%2%

9%

7%

4%

18%

The percentage of causes in public speaking anxiety among

CFSIIUM students Fear of standing in front of the publicFear of appearing nervousConcern that others are judging youPast failuresPoor preparation

Based on the investigation that has been conducted for 1

month, the researcher has identified the three main causes of

public speaking anxiety among CFSIIUM students. The three of them

have the same percentage of the causes of public speaking anxiety

which is 20% for each. They are; (1) fearing of appearing

nervous, (2) fearing of standing in front of a large group of

people and (3) feeling concern that others are judging them. The

least percentage of reason why students feel anxiety in speaking

publicly is because of their past failures. It shows that most of

the students are not affected by their past experience.

Besides that, the investigator has also found out that the

students are more afraid if they were given a task to speak in

front of the people that they know which includes their families,

friends and lecturers. I can infer that they are worried as their

families and closed friends might realize and discover if they

make some mistakes compared to strangers who do not know them

very well. This is because they know them better and can easily

detect if they are something that is not right with them. Hence,

they prefer speaking in front of the strangers rather than their

loved ones. This can be referred from chart 2 below.

Chart 2: The type of audiences that they students afraid the

most.

People that they know People that they do not know

24681012141618

The type of audiences that can increase students' anxiety in

public speaking

The type of audiences

The

numb

er of

stud

ents

The researcher also wanted to examine whether practicing

before presentation and using the breathing as well as relaxation

techniques will help the students to overcome students’ anxiety

in speaking publicly. From the result in Chart 2 above, it can be

concluded that those methods aids in reducing the anxiety in

public speaking among CFSIIUM students.

Besides that, the researcher has also explored that a large

number of students who have high anxiety level in speaking

publicly has reduced after they were teaching the breathing and

relaxation techniques as well as practicing before the

presentation. As we can see, the number of students who have high

anxiety level has decreased from 5 to 2 people while those who

have a low anxiety level has increased from 7 to 9 individuals.

We can make an assumption that the effective strategies that were

practiced by them has high reliability. The result in Chart 3

below will support this statement.

Chart 3: The level of public speaking anxiety among CFSIIUM

students.

very low low moderate high02468101214161820

The level of public speaking anxiety among CFSIIUM students

Before teaching of affective startegies

The level of public speaking anxiety

The number of CFSIIUM students

5.0 CONCLUSION

Any normal people may feel anxiety when they are required to

talk in front of the public. No matter it is their first time or

the hundred time, they will feel anxiety in speaking publicly due

to many reasons such as the fear of appearing nervous, fear of

standing in front of a large group of people or feel discomfort

with their own body movement. Some realized that the anxiety will

affect their present day as well as the future, but they do not

know the ways to deal with the scenario. Hence, they may end up

feeling distress, frustration and depression.

The goals of this study were to explore the reasons of

public speaking anxiety among CFSIIUM students as well as to

identify the reliability of the practicing, relaxation and

breathing techniques towards the students in beating the anxiety

in public speaking. The results indicate that there are three

main causes of public speaking anxiety which are feeling afraid

of standing in front of many people, feeling scared of appearing

nervous and also feeling concern of others judging them. It shows

that the students are quite concerned with the perception of

other people towards them rather than their view towards

themselves.In addition, most students experienced less anxiety

after they had been taught and practiced how to overcome their

distress. It indicates that this phobia can be overcome if the

individual knows how to manage them by using the effective

strategies.

During conducting my research I have found out that there

are some limitations in my research. Firstly, the students were

given a little time to practice the effective strategies in

reducing public speaking anxiety as the time for my research is

quite short. Hence, the results are not very obvious. Secondly,

the number of participants for my research was also less, so the

results could be inaccurate if I make an assumption that it will

be the same with other students. Lastly, the results might also

be inaccurate as I was not there when they are having the public

speaking and I could not guarantee if they were really using the

effective strategies that I have taught to them.

I suggest that this research should be conducted for 3

months so that the students can have enough time to practice the

effective strategies in reducing their public speaking anxiety.

Besides that, the number of participants should be increased to

at least 50 persons for this research as it will increase the

reliability of the results. Furthermore, the specific time should

be allocated to measure the level of public speaking anxiety

among students. For instance, take about 2 hours with them and

use that time to measure the level of public speaking anxiety

before and after they have been taught the effective strategies

in aiding them to reduce the anxiety in public speaking. They

should sit in groups consist of 5 persons for each group and that

is the place where they will be using those strategies. As a

consequence the data will be accurate and the reliability of the

results might increase.

The research should be continued on finding other reasons

causing public speaking anxiety and better ways for the students

to manage them. Future research could examine the anxiety in

speaking publicly related to the culture of the society or the

type of families they are living in. Thus, we believe that future

studies of PSA would benefit not only one society but all

societies over the world.

REFERENCES

North, M., & Rives, J. (2001). Virtual reality therapy in

aid of public speaking. International Journal of Virtual Reality, 3, 2-

7.

Rossi, A., & Seiler, W. (1989). The comparative

effectiveness of systematic desensitization and an

integrative approach in treating public speaking anxiety: a

10 literature review and a preliminary investigation.

Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9, 49-66.

Engler, B. (1999). Personality Theories, fifth edition.

Boston, NY. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Aderka, I. M., Hofmann, S. G., Nickerson, A., Hermesh, H.,

Gilboa-Schechtman, E., & Marom, S. (2012). Functional

impairment of social anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety

Disorders, 26, 393–400,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.01.003

Eharman, M. (1996). Understanding second language learning difficulties.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ascher, L. M., & Schotte, D. E. (1999). Paradoxical

intention and recursive anxiety. Journal of Behavior Therapy

and Experimental Psychiatry, 30, 71–79.

Daly, J. A., McCroskey, J. C., Ayres, J., Hopf, T., & Ayres,

D. M. (1997). Avoiding Communication: Shyness, Reticence, &

Communication Apprehension (2nd ed.). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton

Press.

Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the College Japanese

Classroom. [Electronic version]. The Modern Language Journal,

85 (4), 549-566.

Heuett, L, & Heuett, B. (2011). Virtual Reality Therapy: A

Means of Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety. International

Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 1, No. 16;

November 2011.

Savitsky, K, & Gilovich, T. (2003). The illusion of

transparency and the alleviation of speech anxiety. Journal

of Experimental Social Psychology 39 (2003) 618-625.

Morgan, T, & Schimdt, T. (2012). Reducing Public Speaking

Anxiety for Native and Non-Native English Speakers: The

Value of Systematic Desensitization, Cognitive Restructuring

and Skills Training. Cross-Cultural Communication, Vol. 8,

No. 5, pp 16-19.

England, L., Herbert, D., Horman, M., Rabin, J., Juarasico,

A., & Goldstein, P. (2012). Acceptance-based Exposure

Therapy for Public Speaking Anxiety. Journal of Contextual

Behavioral Science 1 (2012) 66-72.

MacInnis, C., Mackinnon, P. & MacIntyre, D. (2010). The

Illusion of Transparency and Normative Beliefs about Anxiety

during Public Speaking. Current Research in Social

Psycholoy, Vol. 15, No. 4.

Safir, M. P., Wallach, H.S., Bar-Zvi, M. (2012). Virtual

Reality Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Public Speaking

Anxiety: One-Year Follow-up. Behavior Modification, 36, 235-246.

APPENDIX

Questionnaire on Public Speaking Anxiety

Matric No.: ___________ Gender: Male/Female Course:Arts/Sciences

1. Have you ever spoken in public before? (Please tick one)

Yes ( ) No ( )

2. When do you usually speaking publicly? (Please tick one)

During presentation ( )

During discussion with friends ( )

During class when giving opinions ( )

During public speaking/debate competition ( )

3. Did you feel anxious when speaking in public? (Please tick one)

Yes ( ) No ( )

4. Which audiences do you prefer? (Please tick one)

People that you know ( ) People that you do not know ( )

5. Based on your knowledge or experiences, what are the main causes of public speaking anxiety? (Please tick three)

Fear of standing in front of large groups of people( )

Fear of appearing nervous ( )

Concern that others are judging you ( )

Past failures ( )

Poor or insufficient preparation ( )

Dissatisfaction with your abilities ( )

Discomfort with your body movement ( )

Comparing ourselves to others ( )

Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)

Matric No.: ___________ Gender: Male/Female Course:Arts/Sciences

Directions: Below are 34 statements that people sometimes makeabout themselves. Please indicate whether or not you believe each

statement applies to you by marking whether you:

Strongly Disagree = 1;  Disagree = 2;  Neutral = 3;  Agree = 4;Strongly Agree = 5.

1 2 3 4 5

1. While preparing for giving a speech, I feel tense and nervous.

2. I feel tense when I see the words “speech” and “public speech” on a course outline when studying.

3. My thoughts become confused and jumbled when I am giving a speech.

4. Right after giving a speech I feel that Ihave had a pleasant experience.

5. I get anxious when I think about a speechcoming up.

6. I have no fear of giving a speech.

7. Although I am nervous just before starting a speech, I soon settle down

after starting and feel calm and comfortable.

8. I look forward to giving a speech.

9. When the instructor announces a speaking assignment in class, I can feel myself getting tense.

10. My hands tremble when I am giving a speech.

11. I feel relaxed while giving a speech.

12. I enjoy preparing for a speech.

13. I am in constant fear of forgetting what I prepared to say.

14. I get anxious if someone asks me something about my topic that I don’t know.

15. I face the prospect of giving a speech with confidence.

16. I feel that I am in complete possession of myself while giving a speech.

17. My mind is clear when giving a speech.

18. I do not dread giving a speech.

19. I perspire just before starting a speech.

20. My heart beats very fast just as I start a speech.

21. I experience considerable anxiety while sitting in the room just before my speech starts.

22. Certain parts of my body feel very tense and rigid while giving a speech.

23. Realizing that only a little time remains in a speech makes me very tense and anxious.

24. While giving a speech, I know I can control my feelings of tension and stress.

25. I breathe faster just before starting aspeech.

26. I feel comfortable and relaxed in the hour or so just before giving a speech.

27. I do poorer on speeches because I am anxious.

28. I feel anxious when the teacher announces the date of a speaking assignment.

29. When I make a mistake while giving a speech, I find it hard to concentrate on the parts that follow.

30. During an important speech I experiencea feeling of helplessness building up inside me.

31. I have trouble falling asleep the nightbefore a speech.

32. My heart beats very fast while I present a speech.

33. I feel anxious while waiting to give my speech.

34. While giving a speech, I get so nervousI forget facts I really know.

 McCroskey, J. C. (1970) . Measures of communication-boundanxiety. Speech Monographs,