Public Speaking Ability Research Articles

Perceptions of speaking ability: An explanation for stage fright

This article presents and tests an explanation for stage fright. It is argued that stage fright emerges from a perception that one's public speaking ability falls short of audience expectations in ways that are important to the speaker. Three studies are reported that offer support for central elements in the explanatory framework. The first two studies provide evidence in support of the expected relationships between perceptions in inadequacy, importance, and stage fright. The third study demonstrates that shifts in speakers’ perceptions of audience expectations are accompanied by attenuate shifts in self‐reports of stage fright. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the general theoretical framework for future investigations and interventions.

Toward validation of a measure of speech experience for prediction in the basic college‐level speech communication course

A study involving the validation if individual items within the Knower Speech Experience Inventory was undertaken to discover what specific communication‐related experiences distinguish effective from poor public speakers in a basic college‐level speech communication course. Results suggested that thirty of the forty‐eight items successfully discriminated among groups of speakers judged by eight instructor‐raters as effective and poor. The study provides information that can be of value in assigning meaning to the term “speech experience” and suggests possibilities for the prediction of college student public speaking ability on the basis of the revised inventory.

THE USE OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC SPEAKING ABILITY

AbstractResearch has shown that behavior can be successfully modified if behavioral goals are specified and the behavior is broken down into small workable units. The counselor and counselee can work together to state the desired outcome of the counseling process. This report presents a case study in which the method of successive approximations was used with a young male client to develop public speaking ability.