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Public speaking is a vital skill for making good impressions, effectively exchanging ideas, and influencing others. Yet, public speaking anxiety (PSA) ranks as a top social phobia. Recent advancements in wearable devices and ubiquitous virtual reality (VR) interfaces can help measure and mitigate PSA. This research quantifies PSA through bio-behavioral markers related to individuals' physiological and acoustic characteristics. The effect of virtual reality (VR) training on alleviating PSA is measured through self-reported and bio-behavioral indices. Psychological (e.g., general trait anxiety, personality) and demographic (e.g., age, gender, highest education, native language) traits are examined as moderating factors between bio-behavioral indices and PSA, as well as moderating factors for measuring the VR effectiveness in mitigating PSA. These measures are also used as clustering criteria for stratifying participants in group-based models of PSA. Results indicate the significance of such traits to modeling PSA with the proposed group-based models yielding Spearman's correlation of 0:55 ( $p \lt 0:05$ ) between the actual and predicted outcome. Results further demonstrate that systematic exposure to public speaking in VR can alleviate PSA in terms of both self-reported ( $p \lt 0:05$ ) and physiological ( $p \lt 0:05$ ) indices. Findings from this study will enable researchers to better understand antecedents and causes of PSA and lay the foundation for personalized adaptive feedback for PSA interventions.

Background and purpose The purpose of this study was to assess impact on knowledge, communication skills, and self-confidence of an oral presentation through integrated learning within a pharmaceutical sciences course and a pharmacy practice course within the first year of a three-year, accelerated pharmacy curriculum. Educational activity and setting First-year, first-quarter students were assigned to research, prepare, and give an oral presentation of an immunology topic pertaining to an autoimmune disease or an immune deficiency. In addition to assessments of content (immunology) and delivery (communications), students completed a 15-item, four-point Likert scale anonymous post-presentation survey, which provided an opportunity for the students to provide feedback about the assignments. Students were also encouraged to provide subjective feedback. Findings A total of 140 students (88%) completed the survey. Results indicated favorable student response to the assignments. On average, students viewed this activity as a positive experience (total mean = 1.44 (95.71%)). Furthermore, students strongly agreed that the activity helped with public speaking and reinforced basic immune system concepts. Analysis of student responses and comments indicated positive reaction to active learning and self-directed learning. Summary Overall results indicated an improvement in student confidence in ability to communicate specific material learned in a pharmaceutical sciences course. Curricular integration through oral presentations is one approach to increase student knowledge of pharmaceutical sciences and improve confidence and student self-awareness of personal communication skills.

Competences are the most important career capital a university graduate can have. The objective of the paper is to determine which competences acquired at tourism degree programmes affect students’ self-assessment regarding their own competitive advantage on the labour market. The data was collected during a nationwide diagnostic survey (N = 476) carried out at ten Polish universities among students finishing their tourism degree courses. Principal component analysis allowed us to identify a set of competences that have a significant impact on the students’ perception of their chances of finding employment in the tourism industry. These are: ability to cope with challenges and stress; writing and speaking skills in a foreign language; public speaking; planning and implementation of subject-specific projects; ability to conduct subject-specific research and perseverance. The higher the assessment of each of the above, the more confident of their competitive advantage on the labour market the students were., Highlights Self-assessment of competences credibly corresponds to the students' perception of their career potentialCompetences are the fundamental career capital of recent university graduatesPCA helps identify a set of competences that determine self-perception of one’s competitive advantage on the labour marketSeven competences determine how students of tourism degree courses assess their chances on the Polish labour marketThe topic of tourism degree graduates’ competences in relation to their situation on the labour market is still an under-researched area

Youth are increasingly engaging in civic action to address social injustices. Many adult educators are also looking for instructional resources that support youth voice as a way to promote adolescent civic development and community change. Alas, assessment tools to support youth voice and policy argumentation are lacking. Existing tools overemphasize public speaking skills and rely on dated artifacts such as cardboard trifold posters. In this article we introduce the Measure of Youth Policy Arguments (MYPA), a tool designed to aid in the development and assessment of high-quality youth policy presentations. We also describe how to use the MYPA in formative and summative contexts. Additionally, we provide initial evidence for the validity and reliability of the MYPA. Furthermore, we argue that MYPA has applications in preparing youth for policy presentation and in assessing learning outcomes associated with youth voice projects.

Over the past fifteen years, research on second language (or L2) motivation has been dominated by Dörnyei’s influential paradigm, the L2 Motivational Self System. Students’ imagined visualisations are key components in this theory, as those students who have a clear ideal self-image with an L2 component will probably be more motivated to learn a language than others that have not established a desired future state goal for themselves. This article reports the qualitative findings of a mixed-method study that explored the effects of a multimodal intervention with influential speakers on changing the students’ attitudes in public speaking. Semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaires were conducted with 11 engineering undergraduates, who volunteered to take part in the present study. Qualitative data showed that the multimodal intervention accompanied by goal setting (i.e., students’ classroom oral presentations) triggered an increase in some students’ future speaking selves. Six of the eleven students demonstrated a slight development in their levels of linguistic self-confidence, which made their vision of their ideal L2 speaking selves more realistic and clearer. The article discusses the implications of these findings and calls for a pedagogical shift that embraces more opportunities to assess the multimodal skills and strategies students need to become fluent L2 speakers.

Students frequently engage in public speaking in their classes (e.g., giving oral presentations). Here we hypothesized that students’ anticipation of giving a class presentation hinders their ability to learn information that precedes their presentation. We tested this hypothesis in a simulated classroom, in which undergraduate participants (N = 240) prepared short presentations. Participants were either informed (privately) that they would be presenting 2nd, that they would be presenting 5th, or that they would not be presenting. A research confederate gave the first presentation, after which students’ memory for that presentation was assessed via a multiple-choice quiz. As predicted, students who expected to present (either 2nd or 5th) had significantly lower quiz scores compared to students who did not expect to present; those presenting 2nd did not significantly differ from those presenting 5th. We propose an account of how performance anticipation reduces memory and discuss educational implications.

Technology both complicates and liberates oral presentation pedagogy in higher education. On one hand, 21st century communication realities require students to deliver multimodal oral presentations but educators have only begun to experiment with the relevant pedagogy. On the other hand, Web 2.0 offers vast pedagogical potential which practitioners have just begun to explore. Confronted by a pedagogical predicament and intrigued by the affordances of Web 2.0, we designed the Responsive Multimodal Oral Presentation Pedagogy (RMO2P) to enhance the learning of multimodal oral presentation skills among EAP (English for Academic Purposes) students. RMO2P integrated Facebook as a Web 2.0 tool with videos, collaborative learning and feedback. A teacher-researcher implemented RMO2P in a public speaking class of 20 EAP students for a semester. Thematic analysis of multiple sources of data which included student artifacts, observational data and inquiry data contributed to the findings. The findings indicated that Facebook was a feasible Web 2.0 tool that can be effectively integrated with other pedagogical techniques. As a result, the participants demonstrated enhanced conceptual knowledge and heightened self-awareness as presenters of multimodal oral presentations. Since Facebook was integrated as a Web 2.0 tool in a responsive method for multimodal oral presentation skills to overcome situational constraints including inadequate learning management systems (LMS), stakeholders who are seeking alternative methods to enhance the teaching of oral presentation skills may adapt the intervention to enhance learning outcomes. Keywords Facebook; multimodal oral presentation skills; pedagogy; higher education; Web 2.0

This service aims to empower the Social Volunteers of Tanjungwangi Village, Cicalengka District, Bandung Regency in improving their public speaking skills. The ability to speak in public is an important part of every activity, especially activities in social settings. In fact, there are still very few social volunteers who have public speaking skills in carrying out their duties in various social activities. From this, the Community Service Team for the Communication Science Study Program of Universitas Pasundan took the initiative to carry out community service with the theme of Improving the Communication Ability of Social Volunteers in Tanjungwangi Village, Cicalengka District, Bandung Regency, West Java Province through Public Speaking Techniques. The location selection is inseparable from the large number of community social volunteers who wish to have the ability to speak in front of the general public and presentation techniques during counseling but have not yet been honed. The method used in this training is to present material, discussion, and simulation. The problems faced by partners are partners who do not yet have the ability to make materials or materials for counseling, partners have not been able to communicate effectively using public speaking techniques. This service activity uses a contextual approach, namely giving theory first and providing direction and mentoring partners in making outreach materials, preparing presentations, and public speaking techniques. Then with the facilitating method in content containing counseling, information, and education materials in the form of writing and video through social media.

Stuttering is a speech disorder that can be caused by many aspects such trauma, incident, and illness because there is no one born with this kind of speech disorder. The researcher in this study is focused on how Fluency Shaping Therapy and Stuttering Modification Therapy were used by Lionel, can reduce Bertie’s stuttering utterance. In addition, this study is using descriptive qualitative method to analyze and describe the data. Moreover, the data in this study is in the form of dialogues between Bertie and Lionel that were collected from The King’s Speech movie using analysis document. Then, the collected data is analyzed by data condensation, data analysis, and conclusion. The result shows that these two stuttering treatments (stuttering modification and fluency shaping which part of motor learning study) can be effective therapies because each of them has procedures that can support each other. In conclusion, stuttering is not an illness that human born along with but can be caused by many things and this speech disorder cannot be cured but can be reduced and modified using two methods, stuttering modification and fluency shaping therapy. Both of them can be combined together with Aristotle’s Rhetoric as a method to teach public speaking especially those who are having problems with stuttering.

Public speaking is a public speaking skill that can be trained. By continuing to do the practice of speaking in public effectively, a person can grow his self-confidence when speaking in front of many people. The importance of public speaking in one's life is to increase self-confidence. For this reason, this public speaking training activity is carried out to achieve these goals for the students of SMKN 1 Selo Boyolali. This training activity includes material presentation about public speaking, discussion sessions, training to become an MC, speech training, storytelling sessions, and game sessions. This activity is expected to provide benefits for students of SMKN 1 Selo Boyolali in increasing self-confidence.

Marketing Public Relations (Marketing PR) activities, this includes universities Marketing PR is a synergy between marketing activities and public relation strategy. This concept does not only market or sell product/service but also create, nurture and maintain the institution’s positive image. Bandung Islamic University (Unisba) is one of the private islamic universities implementing Marketing PR activities. The objective of this research is to acknowledge and to analyze: 1) The meaning of Marketing PR to Public Relations and Promotional Team, 2) The experience of Public Relations and Promotional Team in conducting the Marketing PR activities. This research uses qualitative research, constructivist paradigm with a phenomenology approach. The theory used is the symbolic interaction, sampling technique is conducted purposively. The result of this research explains that; based on the experience, Public Relations and promotional team must have managerial, public speaking and public relations capabilities in educating High School students.

This study replicated and extended previous research on the effectiveness of brief habit reversal, consisting of awareness training and competing response training (silent pause) in reducing the rate of speech disfluencies during public speaking. Nine university students, divided into 3 groups, delivered short speeches on a novel topic. Brief habit reversal combined with an interdependent group contingency resulted in a meaningful reduction in speech disfluencies with only 1 group requiring booster sessions. Relative to baseline, competing responses increased for all participants but only remained high for 1 participant following training. Reductions in speech disfluencies maintained during follow-up when participants presented in front of a small audience.

How are theatre-techniques used in business training? Do theatre-making skills represent a unique field of knowledge? In this case study, I consider the National Institute of Dramatic Art’s (NIDA) ‘Executive Presenter’ two- day course in Sydney, Australia, and attempt to counter a simplistic notion of theatre as magical practice. Performance techniques are complex, historically and culturally-contingent processes for making and sharing meaning (McAuley 2008). I describe exercises from the course in some detail ‒ including elements of space, voice, body, structure, awareness, spontaneity, and rehearsal ‒ and suggest that we can understand these presentation skills in a relationship of continuity with everyday meaning-making, rather than as a magical art form. On the one hand, NIDA trades off and reinforces the popular mystique surrounding acting. On the other hand, the course introduces simple and effective techniques of verbal and non-verbal communication. Ultimately, my investigation considers the claim made in marketing the course that ‘public speaking can come naturally to you.’

Oral presentations and public speaking are an important aspect of the student experience in the United Kingdom higher education. Many modules (self-contained units normally within a programme of study) use presentations as a form of assessment and require students to verbally engage in small and large group settings to enhance learning. Previous research evidence has indicated that many students experience fear in public speaking. The aims of this qualitative survey were two-fold. First, it sought to gather further insight into the fears experienced and strategies used by students who fear public speaking, including oral presentations. The second objective was to determine whether their fear affected their experience of higher education. A qualitative survey comprising four open-ended questions was completed by 46 undergraduate and postgraduate students with a fear of public speaking from the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol. All participants were attending one of the Stand Up and Be Heard (SUBH) UWE library-based workshops for fear of public speaking. Thematic analysis was used to identify the following six themes, namely: fear of being judged, physical symptoms, uncertainty about the topic, negative effect on university experience, practice and preparation, and more practical support needed. The results of this survey identify the specific fears students have in public speaking and provide evidence of the overall negative effect on their higher education experience. This survey provides further evidence that higher education institutions should acknowledge public speaking fear among some students and provide more support in oral presentation assessments.

The possibility of applying innovative technologies, in particular the case method, during the study of “Life Safety and Health” in the educational process at the Lviv University of Trade and Economics is considered. The author's experience of using innovative technologies of problem analysis is presented. The method of case technologies has been proposed and implemented in the educational process and organization of scientific work of students learning the discipline “Life Safety and Health”, which promotes the development of creative potential and is interested for participants of the learning process via modeling real situations. Students forget the experience of public speaking, publish the results of their own research, receive performance appraisal. It is shown that the case method as an effective means of organizing educational process, allows to learn combined theoretical knowledge with the realization of life, activates cognitive interest in the studied discipline, promotes the development of research, communication and contributes to formation of creative decision-making skills. The obtained results confirm the need for purposeful scientific and methodological implementation of the case method in the educational process, which involves the creation of appropriate conditions for innovative search and innovative transformations in consciousness.

The aim of this study investigated is to describe the influence of self confidence on public speaking skills at History Education Students of Jambi University. Data obtained by distributing questionnaires and then analyzed quantitatively with a correlational research design. The results showed: there was an influence of self confidence on public speaking skills at History Education student of Jambi University because the value of thitung (16,960) > ttabel (1,65) and the significance probability value is 0,000 < 0,05. It means that the higher self confidence of history education students also makes the higher public speaking skills. The magnitude of the influence of self confidence on public speaking skills at History Education Students of Jambi University is 66,5% and the remaining 33,5% is influenced by other variables outside of this study. From the results of this study, it's recommended that lecturers no longer only focus on models, media, or learning methods but also have to pay attention to the psychology and mentality of students who can influence their attitude during class, so there’s no assumption that students who are less active when appearing in front of the class are students who are not good at learning. Key words: Self Confidence, Public Speaking Skills

The article analyzes the necessity of forming the motivation of students for oral foreign language communicative activity in the process of distance learning. The importance of motivation and self-motivation for learning in conditions of physical isolation is proved by numerous studies of modern scholars.The purpose of the article is to search for approaches to creating feedback between students and their motivation for foreign language communication in the context of distance learning. Such approaches, according to the author's conclusion are: attracting students to professional research activities, providing students with the initiative to create online collaboration groups, collaborating according to a well-coordinated plan, and identifying individual achievements of students. The effectiveness of the communicative method is defined in view of the applied didactical principle of conscious approach in the process of study a foreign language and practical implementation of this principle as teaching a foreign language based on the native language support.The significance of the students’ scientific work for the growth of their creativity, self-fulfillment, formation of creative critical thinking and the development of individual abilities in solving practical problems, identifying the initiative, expanding the theoretical world outlook and scientific erudition, and the conscious use of theoretical knowledge in future practical activities is obvious. Thus being one of the most important motivating factors for oral foreign language communicative activity in the process of distance learning students’ scientific research work is aimed at forming a culture of foreign language broadcasting, the formation of students’ reflective and research culture to interactively cooperate in the process of performing problem-oriented professional tasks,in the process of cooperation in small groups and creating public speaking skills. The purpose of involving students in research activities was to form a positive motive for learning, awareness of future psychologists about theoretical and practical significance of knowledge gained during the search and processing of professional information. It should be noted that the selection, approval of individual findings of each student by the teacher will help to form their motivation for further exploration and the need to share experiences with other students in the group. Keywords: distance learning, communication, foreign, motivation, self-motivation, cooperation, research activities, self-fulfillment.

The Trade Education and Training Center (Pusdiklat Perdagangan) participates in the development of competencies and skills of the Indonesian people. One of contribution is organizing webinars through the learning management system (LMS) Kudagang. As an education and training center that organizes infographic webinars, Pusdiklat Perdagangan hopes to provide the best service. Therefore, evaluation is a mandatory thing that must be done. The infographic became a webinar topic that was given to participants, both academics and professionals. To provide optimal service, Pusdiklat Perdagangan evaluates webinar activities through participant suggestions. The purpose of this study is to identify things that need to be addressed and improved in the implementation of future webinars so that the quality of services provided is optimal and identify topics and webinar materials that are really needed by the community. Suggestions from participants in the form of text are processed and analyzed using text mining. The data analysis consisted of two parts: (1) analysis of suggestions regarding the webinar activities; (2) suggestions for the next webinar topic. The results of the analysis of participant suggestions indicate several things that need to be improved in the implementation of the webinar, including the audio quality, the practice duration, the technique in delivering material, and the role of the host in guiding the webinar activities. The webinar topic suggestions given by the participants to Pusdiklat Perdagangan are advanced infographics, social media management, public speaking, effective communication, and how to write scientific articles

Presentation is a type of public speaking which requires special skills besides language competency. Presentation skill in English is a lesson or subject which can be found in some educational institutions in Indonesia. Besides presentation, public speaking can be in a form of speech, debate, and meeting. In public speaking, a speaker can face more than two people or even hundreds or thousands of people. While in ordinary conversation, the speakers and the listener called interlocutors are limited to only a few people. Presentation class is meant to improve the students’ performance in English public speaking. Feedback is usually given after a presentation activity is completed. In this case, the students who were trained were given feedback by the teacher. Feedback is given thoroughly on the language, content, and method of presentation. Research on feedback or assessment on oral presentation is underexplored. The present research is proof supported with empirical data which suggests that the role of feedback is important and statistically assessed as significant in making the later performance better. The main factor that determines the quality of a presentation is language skill. However, there are other aspects that are quite decisive such as the material or topic of the presentation and the presentation method.

Background: Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) is a type of anxiety disorder which is characterized by significant anxiety and discomfort about being embarrassed, humiliated, rejected, or looked down on in social interactions. Although it affects about 30% of adults worldwide at some point in their lives, lifetime social anxiety disorder affects only about 4% of the world population. People with this disorder experience extreme fear of social interactions (e.g., public speaking and meeting new people). This anxiety affects daily functions and lasts at least six months. They may also experience strong physical symptoms like rapid heart rate, nausea, vomiting, and full-blown attacks. Social phobia can be treated by a combination of psychotherapy and medical treatment (e.g., anti-anxiety, antidepressants, and beta-blockers). Methods: This study was conducted using the Arabic SPIN and a group of questions to assess the associated factors, complications, and sociodemographic determinate of social anxiety disorder and included a total of 375 medical students from different universities and educational years. Results: The overall prevalence of social anxiety disorder among our participants was 61.3%, of which 19.2% had mild, 21.6% moderate, 10.9% severe, and 9.6% had very severe SAD. There was a significant difference regarding self-esteem, academic achievement, and drug addiction between students with social phobia and students with no social phobia. Conclusion: Social phobia is quite prevalent among Sudanese medical students, particularly the severe form of the disorder with no significant gender differences. It seems to affect self-esteem and academic achievement and can be associated with drug addiction.

Background: Given the limitations in access and license status of commercially developed automated insulin delivery (AID) systems, open-source AID systems are becoming increasingly popular amongst people with diabetes, including children and adolescents. This study focused on lived experiences, physical and emotional health implications of children and their caregivers following the initiation of open-source AID, their perceived challenges, and sources of support, which have not been explored by the existing literature. Methods: Qualitative data were collected through two sets of open-ended questions of a web-based multinational study survey from 60 caregivers of children with diabetes from 16 countries. The narratives were thematically analysed and a coding framework was identified through an iterative process after the alignment discussions among three coders. Results: A range of emotions, improvements of quality of life and physical health were reported as open-source AID enabled the families to shift their focus away from diabetes therapy. Caregivers were less worried about hypoglycaemia at night-time and outside of their family home, leading to increased autonomy for the child. Simultaneously, glycaemic outcomes and sleep quality of both child and caregiver improved. Nonetheless, the acquisition of suitable hardware and technical set-up could be challenging. The #WeAreNotWaiting community was the primary source of practical but also emotional support. Conclusion: Our findings show the benefits and transformative impact open-source AID and peer-support have on children with diabetes, their caregivers, and families, where commercial AID systems are not available or suitable. Further efforts are required to improve effectiveness, usability, and facilitate access for children with diabetes worldwide to benefit from this innovative treatment. Funding: European Commission (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018), Berlin Institute of Health Digital Clinician Scientist and SPOKES Wellcome Trust Translational Partnership Program. Declaration of Interest: KB received fees for medical consulting and public speaking from Roche Diabetes Care, Dexcom, Medtronic Diabetes, Diabeloop, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Diabetes and BCG Digital Ventures; outside the submitted work. KR received fees for medical consulting and public speaking from Dexcom, Abbott, Lilly Diabetes Care, Novo Nordisk (Germany) and Springer Healthcare UK; outside the submitted work. All other authors have nothing to disclose. Ethical Approval: Ethical approval was provided by Charite – Universitatsmedizin Berlin (EA2/140/18).

Background and Study Aim: The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze students' disruptive behavior and teacher trainee responses before and after a “Body Language and to Speak in Public” training module for school teachers at the end of initial training physical education teachers (PET). Material and Methods: Delayed video scope analysis was conducted using the "Disciplinary Incidents Observation System (DIOS)" of “Brunelle J.” (1996) [7]. Results: The data collected, it can be deduced that the courses directed by trainee students during work readiness internships show a high degree of disruption, since there is a rate of 1.3 and 1.01 DB per minute. Conclusions: The frequency of onset of disruptive behaviors (DB1 and DB2) is slightly lower in sessions facilitated by trainees who have been trained in "Body language and public speaking". Similarly, at the level of disruptive behaviors (DB3), the trainees who underwent the training realized a greater decrease in the frequency of appearance of these behaviors. Faced with these disruptive behaviors, the trainees who attended the training were slightly more interactive in their reactions during the sessions. The impact that this study could have on the initial training of physical education teachers (PET). The results of our studies illustrate the reality of the practice of future teachers during the internship preparation to professional life. Indeed, they constitute a repertoire to perceive the different disruptive behaviors of students and the reactions of trainee students to these behaviors. By way of this presentation, our work can certainly be used as part of the initial training of PET and in formalizing the professional skills repository., Contexte et objectif de l'étude: Le but de cet article est de décrire et d'analyser le comportement perturbateur des élèves et les réponses des enseignants stagiaires avant et après un module de formation «Langage corporel et parler en public» destiné aux enseignants à la fin de la formation initiale des enseignants d'éducation physique (ANIMAUX). Matériel et méthodes: L'analyse de la vidéo différée a été réalisée à l'aide du "Disciplinary Incidents Observation System (DIOS)" de "Brunelle J." (1996) [7]. Résultats: Les données recueillies, on peut en déduire que les cours dirigés par les étudiants stagiaires lors des stages de préparation au travail montrent un degré élevé de perturbation, puisqu'il y a un taux de 1,3 et 1,01 DB par minute. Conclusions: La fréquence d'apparition de comportements perturbateurs (DB1 et DB2) est légèrement plus faible dans les séances animées par des stagiaires formés au «langage corporel et à la prise de parole en public». De même, au niveau des comportements perturbateurs (DB3), les stagiaires ayant suivi la formation ont réalisé une plus grande diminution de la fréquence d'apparition de ces comportements. Face à ces comportements perturbateurs, les stagiaires qui ont assisté à la formation ont été un peu plus interactifs dans leurs réactions lors des séances. L'impact que cette étude pourrait avoir sur la formation initiale des professeurs d'éducation physique (PET). Les résultats de nos études illustrent la réalité de la pratique des futurs enseignants lors du stage de préparation à la vie professionnelle. En effet, ils constituent un répertoire pour percevoir les différents comportements perturbateurs des élèves et les réactions des élèves stagiaires à ces comportements. A travers cette présentation, nos travaux peuvent certainement être utilisés dans le cadre de la formation initiale du PET et de la formalisation du référentiel de compétences professionnelles.

The development of oral presentation skills requires multiple opportunities to present and receive focused feedback. In typical discipline-based and general-education courses, class time is preciou...

Preparation of oral presentation is one of the materials in the Indonesian language course. This material is a speaking skill material. This material helps students prepare for public speaking, such as providing health education to the public. The purpose of this study was to describe the preparation of experience-based oral presentation preparation materials.This research method uses qualitative research methods with data sources in the form of a book by Gorys Keraf entitled composition published by Nusa Indah and a book by Trianto entitled Designing an innovative-progressive learning model published by Kencana Prenada Media Group. The data in this study are the words, sentences or paragraphs in the two books. The data collection technique used by researchers was document study by collecting documents related to the preparation of materials and materials for oral presentation preparation. Meanwhile, for data analysis techniques, what the researchers did were: (1) data reduction. (2) displaying data by compiling relevant data, (3) drawing conclusions to get a meaning that scattered symptoms have deep meaning. The results of this study indicate that the preparation of oral presentation preparation materials using experience-based media produces a material concept map which in its presentation can be given examples through experience-based media. The existence of making a concept map for the preparation of oral presentation material makes the flow of oral presentation preparation clear and easy to understand, that in preparation for oral presentation there are three main components that must be done, namely 1) examining the problem where this point includes determining the intent, analyzing the listener and the situation, and selecting and narrowing the topic, 2) compiling a description. This point includes gathering material, drawing up a description outline, and describing it in detail, and 3) conducting an exercise. Powerful words are the key words at this point, that the speaker's knowledge of the topic and the needs of the listener, being able to position himself to be closer to the listener, speaking according to facts and speaking honestly, and having the same line of thought as the listener are components that must be mastered by the speaker. , so that the material conveyed to listeners really hits and impresses.

A compulsory course known as Soft skills and Basic Volunteerism offered at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) adopted the High Impact Educational Practices (HEIPs) through First Year Experience. This course aims at imparting soft skills among all students in UNIMAS, taken in their first semester of their program. The main course learning outcomes are to develop personal and social skills, academic skills, and conduct volunteerism activities. The course learning units were designed to assist students adapting smoothly to the new university environment while improving academic and people skills. A survey to gauge students’ perception about their learning skills was conducted before the course began and another survey was conducted after the course ended. In the assessment, the students reported group activities relating to meeting faculty members and academic advisors as reflections in e-portfolio platforms. In terms of personal gain, the majority admitted to increased self- confidence to communicate in English as a result of participating in public speaking, presentations and a variety of volunteering projects. Suggestions for future include out campus activities, use of high technology digital training materials and diversification of assessment reflective of the complete soft skills course.

Статья является результатом исследования, посвященного анализу дискурса современных социальных предпринимателей как акторов легитимации социальных проблем общества. Базируясь на идеях конструкционистского подхода, мы рассматривали социальные проблемы не как объективную данность, существующую в обществе, а как конструкт, создаваемый людьми посредством выдвижения утверждений-требований (claim-making) изменить какую-либо ситуацию. Социальные предприниматели, являясь новыми акторами процесса выдвижения и легитимации социальных проблем, обладают высоким потенциалом не только в конструировании социальной проблемы, но также и в выработке ее эффективного решения. Эмпирической базой исследования выступили публичные выступления, интервью, а также описания проектов, представленные на официальных сайтах, крауд-платформах и в социальных сетях лидеров российского социального предпринимательства – Гузели Санжаповой и Дарьи Алексеевой. Обе предпринимательницы активно включаются в дискурс социальных проблем, формулируют утверждения-требования и продвигают их на публичных аренах. Для анализа была применена концепция Питера Ибарры и Джона Китсьюза, измеряющая дискурс социальных проблем в четырех измерениях риторики: риторических идиомах, контрриторике, лейтмотивах и стилях выдвижения утверждений-требований. Исследование показало, что при легитимации проблемы, которую выдвигают на публичную арену социальные предпринимательницы, абсолютно отсутствуют негативные и драматические риторические идиомы, такие как риторики бедствия, неразумности и опасности. Присутствуют риторика утраты и риторика наделения правом, которая декларирует равенство прав и возможностей всех общественных групп, но не посредством государственной помощи, а с помощью альтернативного решения, провоцирующего масштабные и устойчивые трансформации в государственной политике и гражданском обществе. Уникальность дискурса социальных предпринимателей заключается не в драматизации ситуации, а в демонстрировании и тиражировании опережающего способа поддержания социального равновесия. Эта позиция позволяет сделать вывод, что выбранные нами социальные предприниматели, согласно типологии Шэйкера Зары, выполняют роль «социальных конструкционистов», восполняющих социальные пробелы, решающих острые социальные проблемы, работающих в тех сферах и с той группой, которые остаются за пределами интересов других агентов социальной политики.

Drama activities are reported to foster language learning, and may prepare learners for oral skills that mirror those used in real life. This year-long time series classroom-based quasi-experimental study followed a between-subjects design in which two classes of college EFL learners were exposed to two oral training conditions: (1) an experimental one in which drama-based training pedagogy was employed; and (2) the comparison one in which ordinary public speaking pedagogy was utilized. The experimental participants dramatized a picture book into a play, refined and rehearsed it for the classroom audience, and eventually performed it publicly as a theater production for community children. Diachronic comparisons of the participants’ oral presentation skills under the two conditions showed that a significant between-group difference began to become pronounced only after the experimental participants started to present for real-life audiences other than their classmates. This finding suggests that drama-mediated pedagogy effectively enhanced the experimental participants’ presentation performance and became more effective than the traditional approach only after a real-life audience was involved. In addition to the participants’ performance data, survey and retrospective protocols were utilized to shed light on how drama-based tasks targeting both classroom and authentic audiences influence college EFL learners’ presentation performance and their self-perceived oral presentation skills. Analysis of the survey and retrospective data indicated that the participants’ attention to three presentation skills—structure, audience adaptation and content—was significantly raised after their presentation involved a real-life audience. Based on these findings, pedagogical implications for drama for FL oral presentation instruction are discussed.

Social signal processing and virtual social interaction technologies have allowed the creation of social skills training applications, and initial studies have shown that such solutions can lead to positive training outcomes and could complement traditional teaching methods by providing cheap, accessible, safe tools for training social skills. However, these studies evaluated social skills training systems as a whole and it is unclear to what extent which components contributed to positive outcomes. In this paper, we describe an experimental study where we compared the relative efficacy of real-time interactive feedback and after-action feedback in the context of a public speaking training application. We observed that both components provide benefits to the overall training: the real-time interactive feedback made the experience more immersive and improved participants’ motivation in using the system, while the after-action feedback led to positive training outcomes when it contained personalized feedback elements. Taken in combination, these results confirm that both social signal processing technologies and virtual social interactions are both contributing to social skills training systems’ efficiency. Additionally, we observed that several individual factors, here the subjects’ initial level of public speaking anxiety, personality and tendency to immersion significantly influenced the training experience. This finding suggests that social skills training systems could benefit from being tailored to participants’ particular individual circumstances.

The present paper reports on the educational experience of two groups of trainee interpreters who took part in a public speaking workshop. The participants (n = 29) were asked to engage in exercise...

This study explored the experience of student and teacher participants in a mental health public speaking challenge, including their self-reported knowledge of mental health, mental health literacy...

The objective of this research is to know how student hone their soft skill along online learning during Covid-19 pandemic. It is a descriptive research, applied through interview and questionnaire survey among 15 students taken Leadership Class, Academic Year of 2020-2021. This study has discovered by providing group discussion session, lecturer has generated enthusiasm for learning and student’s interaction during online learning. To enhance students’ soft skill along online learning, it is found by optimizing the usage of media and method of learning; up to date SLP, integrated the LMS with Whatsapp function through Collaborative Learning. Students are schooled by submitting mind mapping sub-subject task, class discussion, FGD team discussion, PPT submission and oral presentation in specific time limit every meeting. It is provided from up to date case studies in every meeting that help students in providing the practitioner's view, hone critical thinking, presentation and public speaking skills.

The topical issues of teaching humanitarian disciplines at the agrarian university are analyzed in the article. Their place in the system of students ‘professional training is defined. The author draws attention to the rethinking of the experience of future agrarian’s professional training and considers it from the point of humanization of the learning process, which implies a qualitative change of priorities. It was found that the purpose of higher agricultural education is to train general cultural, creative, creative individuals. Analysis of the state of professional training of future specialists in agricultural educational institutions revealed shortcomings in the humanization of the process of training future specialists, namely: first, the discrepancy between the need for socio-humanitarian training and the amount of time allocated in educational plans for disciplines. humanitarian cycle; secondly, the overload of educational programs and textbooks with factual material, and then the emphasis on the transfer of knowledge, skills, abilities instead of comprehensive and comprehensive development of personality; third, insufficient implementation of a personality-oriented approach to learning; fourth, the traditional nature of the organization of the educational process, due to the traditional training of teachers, lack of innovative approaches to teaching, lack of awareness of the latest learning technologies. The current strict regulation of curricula leads to their congestion, and the contradiction between the large amount of material and the limited number of hours for its study in some way forces the teacher of the humanities cycle to limit the reproductive nature of teaching. It is noted that humanitarian training in agricultural educational institutions is aimed at the development and improvement of personal qualities. In order to optimize the humanities, their content should be updated to take into account the achievements of modern science; to introduce new disciplines aimed at improving personal qualities; use innovative technologies, innovative methods and forms of education; introduction of communicative disciplines – public speaking, discussion in small groups aimed at the development of critical thinking in students and the development of creative abilities. The real obstacles and shortcomings in the implementation of humanitarian training are highlighted, the peculiarities of the construction of the educational process, its content, activity and methodological components, the need fora comprehensive solution to the problem are emphasized.Key words: agricultural education, vocational training, social and humanitarian training, higher education, future agrarian.

This article aims to explain the concept of strengthening self-efficacy in individuals who experience personal introverts through a community approach. The offer of the concept of activities designed by the supervisor by reaching out to intellectual, humanist and religiosity activities by emphasizing three main aspects of the individual namely cognitive, effective and psychomotor. Whereas in self-efficacy, increasing activities are needed: positive experiences (Mastery experience), other people's experiences (Vicarious experience), verbal persuasion and physiological and emotional states. Then the supervisor's offer to improve introverted individual selfefficacy is; Effective communication training activities and public speaking training, Creating live maps and presenting live maps, Community service activities or social services, Regular Community meetings, and My Forum sharing activities

In the context of “New Liberal Arts and Macro Foreign Language Education”, the integration of critical thinking skills into English language learning will not only contribute to the discipline development, but also meet the needs of cultivating high-quality foreign language talents in the context of the new era. As individuals’ English speaking abilities are closely related to their thinking skills, teachers should pay attention to improving students’ critical thinking competence while enhancing their English language proficiency and speaking skills. Based on the current teaching situation of English Pubic Speaking course, this article proposes specific strategies such as transforming teachers’ role, setting up language and critical thinking integrated teaching goals, adopting diverse teaching methods, cultivating students’ critical thinking literacy and disposition, as well as upgrading traditional teaching modes, in order to provide some references for subsequent experimental research.

The name of Grigory Chalkhushyan, a well-known lawyer, publicist, historian, speaker of the City Duma of Nakhichevanon-Don, originally from Armenian Crimean immigrants, is associated not only with lawmaking and success in his professional field, but also with the field of education and training of the younger generation. After graduating from the Lazarev Institute, he entered and graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow University. Here, at the Faculty of Law, famous during this period for its liberal traditions, he met many progressive figures of that time and absorbed many of their ideas for the rest of his life. Returning to his native Nakhichevan, he is actively involved in socio-political activities. A number of files dedicated to G.H. Chalkhushyan’s pedagogical activity and pedagogical ideas have been preserved in the National Archive of Armenia. Unfortunately, there is not a single work in Russian and foreign historiography that fully analyzes the active socio-political and journalistic activities of the outstanding personality of Nakhichevanon-Don Grigory Khristoforovich Chalkhushyan. Having received a fairly conservative Armenian family upbringing, he defended traditional family values from the very beginning of his active social activity. Being a member of the Nakhichevanon-Don City Duma, he repeatedly made various proposals related to the establishment of educational affairs in the city. His pedagogical ideas were not reflected in the studies of historians and local historians. It was he who became the chairman of the association of Parent Committees of educational institutions of Nakhichevan-on-Don. The Parent Committee headed by the chairman – G.H.Chalkhushyan attached serious importance to the health and success of the students. He also called for paying attention to the problems of extracurricular supervision in order to organize places for children and youth to relax. Attention was paid to both nutrition and children’s health. The issues of moral education of children have been repeatedly noted in the reports of G. H. Chalkhushyan. One of the most important aspects of the upbringing of the younger generation, he considered the need to protect children from the harmful influence of the street. Holding the position of a public speaker of the City Duma and having excellent knowledge of the situation in Nakhichevan-on-Don in the field of education, he could not help but see how the lack of a gymnasium negatively affects the education process of Nakhichevan youth. Occupying this semi-official public position – chairman of Parents’ Committees, Grigory Khristoforovich Chalkhushyan touched upon very important issues concerning not only teachers and students, but also parents and in general everything that can affect the spiritual and physical development of children and more than once received the most sincere words of gratitude from the local Armenian society. Thanks to the research of the activities and works of this undeservedly forgotten personality, previously unexplored historical sources in both Russian and Armenian are introduced into scientific circulation.

Powercoaching is an intervention program which aims to enhance the oral discourse competence of the students. It highlights various activities that can help students with speaking difficulties. It was conducted among Grade 10 students of New Pangasinan National High School during the School Year 2019-2020. This study dealt to determine the level of effectiveness of the powercoaching program in terms of its content, relevance, instructional quality, and acceptability. Experimental research design was employed to determine the level of oral discourse competence of the students in terms of grammar, pronunciation, spontaneity, substance, organization, and diction. The findings of the study showed that the program was excellent and passed the quality standard set by the validators. The level of oral discourse competence of the students in their onset test were both in approaching proficient. The students were either struggling or have not acquired the knowledge, skills and understanding in public speaking. The difference between the levels of oral discourse competence of the students reveals that among the two groups of students, one group performed better in the outset test. The experimental group significantly increased their performance with proficient level compared to the control group. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the mean gain scores of the control and experimental groups. Students under experimental group have gained higher mean than the control group. Hence, the powercoaching program greatly influenced the students’ oral communicative competence. The developed program is then recommended for teachers’ utilization as part of their intervention strategies.

This study aims to determine the virtual communication skills of students in the Vertebrate Zoology course, the subject of the Reptile Class with the example of the Varanus salvator species. The research was conducted by survey method using an adaptation observation sheet from the 2012 Greenstein instrument. Data collection was carried out on modified online Problem Based Learning (PBL) using Zoom meeting and WhatsApp Group (WAG). While presentation and organizing stages were carried out by class discussion on Zoom, the problems that have been formulated were discussed by each group using a WAG. The data obtained were analyzed quantitatively, using the percentage formula (Akbar, 2013) in the book Learning Device Instruments and showed the results that the percentage of oral communication skills was 86.73%, of the skills to understand the intent/purpose of communication was 85.65%, of the skills to use communication strategies was 86.57%, and of presentation skills was 85.19%, with each criterion falling in the category ‘Exceeded Expectations’. Meanwhile, viewing the percentage results and aiming the target of 84.57%, the two receptive communication skills listening and reading were included in the ‘Satisfactory’ category. The general percentage of communication skills of 85.16% as average was included in the category ‘Exceeding Expectations’. This finding suggests that communication which included oral communication skills, receptive communication skills, understanding the purpose of communication, using communication strategies, communicating clearly for a purpose, and presentation skills can be achieved virtually. © 2021 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.

Based on the observations' results, many graduate students from an English course institution still do not understand public speaking techniques. Even though the course institution is a well-known course institution in Indonesia, these graduates are relatively fast reading and speaking English. However, this word's smooth production was not matched with variations in voice, changes in intonation, and minimal meaning. As a lecturer in the English department, this is also our responsibility. Moreover, these graduates are now having their English course institutions independently. They are required to be able to communicate with their students. It is hoped that the current course institutions, especially in the Selong sub-district, can improve the quality of learning by applying correct public speaking techniques. Therefore, it is necessary to hold public speaking training for tutors at English language course institutions. The service plans carried out are: 1.) Delivery of mentoring material, 2.) Implementation of speaking practice in internal forums, 3.) Study tours at other course institutions, 4. ) Practicing speaking as well as evaluating outside the forum. This community service has increased English tutors' understanding in the Foreign Language Center (FLC) of Selong sub-district, East Lombok, seen from how they apply public speaking techniques during their teaching practice English tutors.

The article is devoted to the study of culture-bound words as a method of verbal strategies of political discourse, aimed at both maintaining a positive image and verbal attacks against opponents and competing political parties. The relevance of research is due to insufficient knowledge of the lexical units with a national-cultural component from the standpoint of political linguistics. The material for the study included the speeches of the ruling parties’ leaders in Germany: Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union) and Horst Seehofer (Christian Social Union) in the context of the “Political Ash Wednesday” 2017. Politicians’ statements containing culture-bound words were selected by continuous sampling method. The analysis revealed that the speakers deliberately used culture-bound words in order to implement their communicative intentions. Such units illustrate non-linguistic reality; they are directly related to the values of society and influence the recipient in communication. Using the statements of A. Merkel and H. Seehofer, the author identified five speech strategies (self-presentation and discredit strategies, informationinterpretation, manipulative and agitation strategies), and also established their relationship with the use of culture-bound words.

Ed Roberts was a renowned activist considered to be one of the founding leaders of the American disability rights movement. Although he engaged in numerous political strategies, his main form of activism was teaching in his prolific public speaking career across the United States and around the world. The content and methods of his pedagogy were crafted from his own personal experiences as a disabled man. His teaching featured autobiographic selections from his own life in which he fought and defeated forces of oppression and discrimination. This article examines Roberts’ disability rights teaching in relation to the experiential sources, political content, and teaching techniques.

On January 27 - February 1, 2020, the Sixth International Academy My profession is a lawyer: Sochi 2020 was held at the Sochi Institute of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, in which more than 40 researchers, practicing lawyers and law students took part. The purpose of the event was to master the methods of practice-oriented training in the profession of a lawyer, the professional skills of a lawyer (communicative, developing a position on the case, resolving legal conflicts, public speaking). This review reflects the general concept of the Academy, the progress of work and its content.

What insights and advantages do rhetorical approaches offer over other methods of exploring social and political discourse? This article aims to clarify the contribution of rhetorical analysis by reflecting on the distinctive, hermeneutic dimensions of public speech. Public speaking is, accordingly, viewed as a practice of assembling interpretations to offer argumentative stances for speakers and their audiences. Central here is the temporal dimension to making an interpretation. Analysing rhetoric involves, minimally, grasping discourse, on the one hand, as concretely situated in response to proximate dilemmas and, on the other hand, as a medium to move beyond the situation towards a future. Following John Caputo’s hermeneutic reading of Derrida, I argue that, examined rhetorically, public speech enacts a discursive ‘negotiation’ of past and future, intertwining conditional – and hence partially calculable – positions with an ‘unconditional promise’ to prepare for what comes. Although compatible with other approaches, rhetorical analysis is uniquely attuned to this intrinsically ethical and political quality of discursive action.

The article is dedicated to the problem of speech culture formation of future primary school teachers as a component of the professional characterization of pedagogical skills. It substantiates the theoretical and methodological foundations of the speech culture formation of pedagogical institutions students. The main approaches to the formation of the speech culture of future teachers are defined, such as competence, subjective-activity, integrative, and cultural. It is proved that professional training of students is a holistic, systematical, and interactive process, which determines the personal growth of the future teacher, provides professional adaptation and contributes to the successful implementation of sociopedagogical activities. To determine the content of the teacher's speech culture, the educational standard was analyzed. It is the process in which the requirements for the results of studying the basic educational programs of the bachelor's degree were revealed, including general cultural and professional competencies that the graduate must obtain. It is known that students come to the university with a certain culture of speech. It can be satisfactory or lacking, rich or poor, deformed or low, and so on. The task of the teacher is to bring the student's speech to the level required by the teacher, because the teacher's speech is a means of teaching and education, it differs in its purpose, place, and role in solving pedagogical problems. It is concluded that the bachelor's speech culture is rooted in future professional activities. The analysis allowed us to conclude that the graduates' speech culture of pedagogical specialties has higher requirements. These requirements are reflected in the formation of such competencies as the ability to logically and correctly build oral and written speech, the ability to use public speaking skills, discussion and controversy, knowledge of the basics of the professional language culture. The result of training primary school teachers implies their readiness to obtain the art of speech, namely: its richness, vocal characteristics, the external manifestation of the essence of speech (facial expressions, pantomime, position, distance). The implementation of the mastery of the speech culture requires special preparation on the part of primary school teachers, the formation of their language competence, the foundations that are laid in the process of their professional training.

Students are challenged to write papers and give oral presentations across disciplines. Yet, the audience for students often remains the same: college personnel and classroom peers. Communication c...

Objective This study aims to identify factors influencing female medical students’ decision-making about specialties, specifically surgery and interventional radiology (IR), in an effort to inform future recruitment and professional development strategies. Design An electronic survey was created to assess both qualitative and quantitative data. Setting The survey was sent prior to a symposium for trainees interested in pursuing IR or surgery, held at University of Chicago (Chicago, IL) in February 2019. Participants The 90 female trainees who registered were sent the survey, and 48 (53%) responded voluntarily. Results All respondents were female, 46% planned to pursue surgery or IR. Students pursuing surgery/IR were less concerned about being valued by their colleagues (p = 0.0073), being in charge of patients’ lives (p = 0.0017), radiation exposure (p = 0.0171), chemical exposure (p = 0.0223), emotional stress (p = 0.0244), or shift work (p = 0.0045), compared to the nonsurgery/IR students. No differences were found in ranking of motivating factors, personal strengths or weaknesses, deciding factors, areas for seeking mentorship, or gender diversity. Top motivations among all respondents were intellectual rigor of medicine and becoming a mentor, while concerns were personal physical health, managing a career, pay equity, and gender-based biases. Students most often sought mentors and clerkship experience for making specialty decisions. They reported greatest strengths in empathy and resilience, and weaknesses in negotiating and public speaking. Conclusions Female medical students planning to pursue surgery/IR expressed greater confidence in their contributions to patient care and lower concerns about workplace hazards. Regardless of specialty intent, female students shared scholarship motivations for a career in medicine, valued the role of mentorship, and expressed persistent concerns about gender discrimination, personal health, and skills-based weaknesses. Identifying factors influential in career decision-making is important in order to recruit and retain a more gender-diverse physician workforce.

Cross-cultural communication is inseparable from both oral and written communication. But effective language communication requires effective rhetorical strategies in terms of selecting the most effective means of persuasion to ensure its success. Aristotle defined rhetoric as “the art of identifying (and applying), in any given situation, the most likely means of persuasion.” Naturally, to conduct effective communication with cross-cultural audiences requires us to find out or understand the favorable expressions used in that country. In this way, the speaker can say in the target language what audiences from that country or culture like to hear, and thus win over their trust. This study explores the well-received Chinese rhetorical strategies or means of expressions used by Chinese leaders in their public speeches or reports through discursive analysis. It has identified six commonly used means of expression as persuasive means to engage and influence the audiences. In light of the analysis here, the author hopes other researches could also identify well-received means of expression or persuasion in other cultures, and thus make contributions to the art of cross-cultural public speaking. Key words: Cross-cultural communication, rhetorical strategy, Chinese, means of expressions.

This article aims to contribute to the field of pedagogy in language interpreting. For that purpose, we will firstly review the role that interpreting teaching plays within Translation Studies. Based on the fact that the subject of interpreting in Spanish Universities is addressed after translation, we will summarise the main differences between the two professional profiles of translator and interpreter. Finally, and based on these differences, a variety of activities will be created to enhance the skills of our future interpreters in the following seven areas: public speaking, memory, vocabulary expansion, register change, concentration, analysis and self-monitoring.

Pakistan has 30 toastmasters clubs that are chartered with toastmasters International, USA. A toastmasters club aims to promote the communication, public speaking, and leadership skills of people to uplift their morale for attaining various beneficial outcomes. The rationale of the study is to determine how toastmasters clubs in Pakistan during COVID-19 lockdown can reduce the English as the second language (L2) speech anxiety and fears of the participants through planned online activities. The authors used the qualitative research method and designed a survey questionnaire consisting of close and open-ended questions to collect data from 23 toastmasters representing two toastmasters clubs established by highly reputed Pakistan's public and private universities. It is perceived that toastmasters clubs are using innovative and dynamic strategies to produce interactive sessions. However, speakers feel anxiety during the delivery of online speeches and presentations. They practice novel approaches and techniques to overcome their stress. Several new lessons have been acquired from participating in online meetings and contests organized during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. It has been found that clubs in Pakistan have rapidly adapted to new situations to maintain regular meetings and activities since lock down. Interestingly, it is discerned that Pakistani toastmasters clubs have made incredible progress during the lockdown and achieved Smedley Distinguished Award. The findings discuss that timely implementation of initiatives to prevail over the challenges emerging from COVID-19 has enhanced the quality of the Pakistani toastmasters clubs. The research recommends that toastmasters' university activities be used as an effective model to dispel employees' fears, apprehensions, and anxiety.

Public speaking anxiety refers to feelings of nervousness when anticipating or delivering a speech. However, the relationship between anxiety in the anticipation phase and speech delivery phase is unclear. In this study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to record participants’ brain activities when they were anticipating or performing public speaking tasks in an immersive virtual reality environment. Neuroimaging results showed that participants’ subjective ratings of public anxiety in the anticipation phase but not the delivery phase were correlated with activities in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the precentral and postcentral gyrus. In contrast, their speaking performance could be predicted by activities in the temporal gyrus and the right postcentral gyrus in the delivery phase. This suggests a dissociation in the neural mechanisms between anxiety in preparation and execution of a speech. The conventional anxiety questionnaire is a good predictor of anticipatory anxiety, but cannot predict speaking performance. Using virtual reality to establish a situational test could be a better approach to assess in vivo public speaking performance.