Examining the Effect of Exposure Therapy on Public Speaking State Anxiety

Increased public speaking confidence is often cited as a major benefit for undergraduates taking the basic communication course. Several scholars have reported that the state anxiety of novice speakers declines progressively during performance, a phenomenon called within-session habituation. However, the contributions of these short-term reductions in fear to the development of confidence from one speech to the next, or between-sessions habituation, remain unknown. The current study examines brief repeated exposure to audiences as a strategy for creating habituation during public speaking performances in the basic course. One hundred forty undergraduate students enrolled in a required speech performance course participated in a quasi-experimental study in which course lab sections served as intact groups. Results were generally consistent with Foa's emotional processing theory. Implications for basic course pedagogy and suggestions for future research in this area are advanced. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)