408 Part 4 Public Speaking
With a more realistic understanding of the role of anxiety—and with these tips for
addressing it in mind—let’s move on to the various methods of delivery that you
may confront over the course of your life as a student, professional, and citizen.Methods of Delivery
You might think of a great speaker as someone who is eloquent yet also sounds as
though he or she is speaking without having prepared a written speech. Although
that’s possible in certain situations, most speakers spend time preparing in the
ways we’ve already discussed in Chapters 12 and 13—writing a speech and pre-
paring an outline of some sort. Deciding just how to prepare for your speech
affects, and is affected by, your choice of delivery style. We’ll examine four spe-
cific delivery options and the potential benefits and pitfalls of each.Speaking from Manuscript
If you’ve watched the president of the United States deliver the annual State
of the Union address, you may have noticed that he alternates between twoTHINK
ABOUT
THIS❶ Do you think virtual
reality simulations would
be helpful aids in prepar-
ing for public speaking?
Whom might they help
more, individuals with
moderate speech anxiety
or severe speech anxiety?
❷ What are the benefits
of practicing in front of
a virtual audience? How
would it compare to a real
one?
❸ What aspects of the
public speaking situation
do you think a VRT simu-
lation could effectively
simulate? What aspects
would be impossible to
capture?Facing Your Public Speaking Fears in Virtual Reality
Picture yourself at a podium in front of a huge audience. The people in the
audience look bored, even sleepy. As you stand before them, every yawn,
cough, and shuffle of their feet echo in the vast auditorium. You struggle to
make eye contact with one person or another, but their responses seem far
off, their expressions disconnected from everything you are doing and saying.
This may sound like a very real situation—or a very realistic nightmare. In
fact, it’s a virtual reality simulation designed to help individuals suffering from
public speaking anxiety overcome their fear. Companies specializing in virtual
reality therapy (VRT) use three-dimensional imaging software, video footage,
and sometimes mechanized props that simulate movement to create artificial
representations of stress-inducing environments. Clients wear helmets, and
motion sensors allow them to interact with the virtual reality environment. “It’s
a therapist’s dream,” notes one psychologist who has used the simulations
to treat certain social anxieties. “To help people deal with their problems, you
must get them exposed to what they fear most” (Lubell, 2004).
The effectiveness of VRT on public speaking anxiety seems promising. A
2012 study showed that VRT participation was equally as effective as stand-
ard cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) but that participants were more likely
to continue with VRT treatment than with CBT. And at the one-year follow-up
session, VRT participants had maintained their improvement (Safir, Wallach,
& Bar-Zvi, 2012). Nonetheless, there have been no large-scale, scientific
studies of the available VRT programs (Lubell, 2004). Even so, it does offer
individuals a chance to test their skills in front of an audience in a very private
and constructive way.WIREDFORCOMMUNICATION