Public Speaking

Causes of Stress (^15)
Review the

ChaPter

Learning
Objectives
and Start
with a quick
warm-up
activity.

These students all identified elements of communication apprehension (CA),^1

which is commonly defined as “the fear or anxiety associated with either real or

anticipated communication.”^2 It is the dread of possible negative reactions you might

experience when you communicate.^3 Although CA is linked to inborn temperament

traits such as shyness,^4 even self-confident people can and do experience it.

Public speaking strikes fear into many, even most hearts. Whether you call it

stage fright or public speaking anxiety (PSA), it is a form of CA that refers to the

common feelings of dread people experience at the thought of performing a speech

in front of an audience.^5 There are two types of PSA: process anxiety (not knowing

how to create a speech) and performance anxiety (worries about actually giving

the speech). The goal of this chapter is to demystify the speech-making process and

give you strategies for dealing with your performance anxiety. Putting this informa-

tion into practice will increase your overall speaking competence.

Causes of Stress

Athletes commonly experience stress when they must perform under pressure.

Consequently, sports psychologists have developed strategies to help athletes manage

their anxiety. Rainer Martens,^6 a psychologist from Michigan State University, came up

with a useful model that includes both process and performance anxiety. It’s applicable

not only to athletes, but to beginning speakers as well. Martens says, stress comes from

your uncertainty about an outcome and the importance of that outcome. Consequently,

stress results from three perceptions: your perceived imbalance between an objective

demand and your perceived response capability, where you perceive failure to have serious

consequences. Martens’s model gives three areas to manage, change, or improve:

1. Sometimes you can change the objective demand; sometimes you can’t. In this course,
   you don’t create the speech assignment, so you can’t really change it. But you can
   start your preparation long before the speech is due, leaving you enough time to
   meet the objective demands of the assignment.


2. You can increase your response capability for the required task. Think of an old-fashioned
   scale where you pile the demands on one side and your response capability on the

communication apprehen-

sion (Ca) the fear or dread

of negative responses you

might experience because

you speak out

public speaking anxiety

(psa) fear or dread specifi-

cally related to speaking in

public

process anxiety fear due to

lack of confidence in knowing

how to prepare a speech

performance anxiety fear

of forgetting or of poorly

presenting a speech

Read, highlight, and take

notes online.

Stress results from a

perceived imbalance between

your capabilities and the

requirements and importance

of the task. To relieve stress,

increase your abilities to

create and perform speeches.

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