Incorporating TED Talk assignments into a public-speaking course

Courses: Introduction to public speaking, advanced public speaking, hybrid/survey introduction to communication.

Objectives: At the end of this activity, students will be able to (1) explain the elements of a speaking outline and discover these elements in real-world speech examples, (2) recreate outline formats effectively in their personal speeches, (3) appraise both their own presentations and the presentations of others in order to assess the effectiveness of these presentations, (4) recognize the needed elements of different speech genres and apply those elements when developing and delivering their own speeches, and (5) summarize and synthesize course concepts and apply them to a critical analysis of a real-world speech example.     

Disposition versus situation: Neurocommunlcology and the influence of trait apprehension versus situational factors on state public speaking anxiety

Research indicates that individuals with elevated levels of public speaking anxiety report significantly different mental representations of the public speaking context, when compared to individuals with lower levels of anxiety. To examine the effect of the differences in mental representations, narratives for three public speaking contexts were developed. Results indicated that disposition (i.e., trait apprehension) was a better predictor of state anxiety when giving an impromptu speech. Situational factors (i.e., importance, skills, impression), however, were better predictors of state anxiety when either giving a speech to a 5^th grade class or giving a speech to friends.     

The role of videotaped feedback in the instruction of public speaking: A quantitative synthesis of published empirical research

This article summarizes published experimental studies dealing with the use of video taping to provide feedback to students in public speaking courses. Meta‐analytic procedures were used to summarize twelve published studies. Results of the analysis indicate that the use of videotaping to provide feedback to students in public speaking courses results in better content of student speeches, greater acquisition of public speaking skills, better performance on objective tests, and more positive attitudes toward the course in public speaking. In addition to these positive effects, no statistically significant increase in anxiety is experienced by students when video technology is utilized in the classroom to provide feedback to students in public speaking courses.     

Table of contents for volume 17

The present study considers the relationships between communication apprehension (CA), personality type, represented by the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (Myers, 1987), and final grades in a basic public speaking course. The results indicated that trait and context CA are significantly correlated with extraversion and in introversion personality types. In addition, CA in the public speaking context is correlated with the sensing and intuition personality types. Multiple regression showed that while trait CA does not contribute to course grade or grade‐point average, thinking and feeling personality types do contribute significant unique variance to final grade in a public speaking course. Keywords: Communication apprehension, speech anxiety, personality, grades, college students, learning preference.     

Public speaking students’ perceptions of cheating

While cheating has been studied in a variety of academic fields little to no research has been done in the field of communication studies and more specifically in the basic public speaking classroom. This may be due in part to a false sense of security public speaking instructors feel when they observe and evaluate a student as he or she stands and delivers a speech. Instructors may assume that since the student delivers the speech the student also researched and wrote the speech. However, the results of this study indicate that students self‐report cheating on speeches and do not seem to have a clear‐cut idea about what constitutes cheating in a public speaking class.     

Communication apprehension and speech preparation time

This study tested whether speech preparation time was linked to communication apprehension (CA). Data reported herein indicate that high CA speakers required more preparation time than low CA speakers. Those expecting to be evaluated used more preparation time than those not expecting to be evaluated. CA interacted with evaluation such that high CAs expecting to be evaluated took longer to prepare their speeches than those in the other conditions. The implications of these results are discussed in the conclusion of this paper.     

Applied communication scholarship: Less a matter of boundaries than of emphases

This study examined whether the sequencing of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of an intervention designed to help people cope with public speaking anxiety (PSA) made a difference in the effectiveness of the intervention. Since no data were available to posit hypotheses about the effectiveness of treatment sequencing, all treatment sequences were expected to be more effective than no treatment in reducing self‐reported levels of trait and state CA, the proportion of negative to positive thoughts, and behavioral manifestations of speech anxiety. Contrary to expectations, some treatment combinations were not more effective than no treatment in reducing PSA, negative thoughts, and behavioral manifestations of anxiety. In general, treatment combinations that began with a behavioral component were no better than no treatment in reducing these indicators of speech anxiety. However, treatments that began with cognitive or affective components were effective in reducing trait and state CA, negative thoughts, and behavioral manifestations of speech anxiety.     

A test of com therapy in Japan

This study was conducted in Japan to test the ability of COM therapy (Motley, 1995) to reduce public speaking apprehension in a culture that seems particularly performance oriented. In general, participants delivered pretest speeches, responded to a battery of self‐report measures, were exposed to the appropriate treatment or not as called for by the experimental design. Respondents then delivered a posttest speech and completed the self‐report measures. Although systematic desensitization reduced apprehension as expected, COM therapy was not found to reduce public speaking apprehension in this study. The implications of this finding and others are discussed at the end of this report.     

Getting to Know You: Breaking the Ice in the Public Speaking Course

Objective: To allow students an opportunity to speak publicly on the first day of class while becoming familiar with fellow students. The activity encourages students to examine the perceptions and stereotypes they have about one another by blindly guessing certain characteristics about their partner. By participating in the exercise, students will begin to think about how they will deal with anxiety in a speaking situation, and they will be introduced to the concept of audience analysis. The exercise also allows the instructor an opportunity to assess beginning speaking ability and level of speaking comfort while getting to know students quickly.

Course use: The exercise is intended for the basic Public Speaking course but can be adapted to many other communications courses. The icebreaker is ideal for public speaking because it gives students a chance to speak publicly, often for the first time, without the pressure of getting a grade. Being paired with a partner also seems to help students reduce their speaking anxiety. The activity would also work well in a basic communication course as it allows for the exploration of key concepts such as perception and stereotypes. Regardless of the course, the key to the successful execution of the ice breaker is to conduct it on the first day when most students are unfamiliar with each other.     

Trait anxiety,experience, and the public speaking state responses of Finnish university students

This study focuses on the public speaking state responses among 47 Finnish subjects. Cognitive, behavioral, and physiological components of stale‐responses were investigated in relation to speakers’ trait communication anxiety and amount of previous experience speaking in public. Trait communication anxiety was found to correlate significantly with the cognitive aspect of state response, whereas amount of previous experience was found to be reflected in subjects’ heart rates. Characteristics of the Finnish speech culture and educational system are discussed when interpreting the results.     

The development and preliminary assessment of a set of video‐taped informative speech models

Guidelines are specified in this article for developing video‐taped informative speech models. Faculty members rated selected video‐taped informative speeches on nine variables and two months later rated nine of the same speeches again. The faculty judges were reliable on their ratings for eight of the nine variables rated during the two sessions. Five of the nine speeches were identified as being representative of one of three significantly different levels of excellence.     

Vowel quality before and after an operation for an occluded nasal passage

Anxiety experienced while in a public speaking situation (speech anxiety) is discussed within the framework of Trait‐State Anxiety Theory. Speech anxiety may be considered a dispositional variable designed to measure individual differences in speech anxiety proneness (Speech A‐Trait) or a measure of anxiety experienced during a particular speech (Speech A‐State). Physiological and behavioral measures of speech anxiety are typically viewed as A‐State measures. Self‐report indices may be considered either state or trait anxiety measures depending on the context in which the measures were obtained. The development of a scale to measure both Speech A‐State and Speech A‐Trait, including initial normative, reliability, and validity data, is reported.     

Disaster Day! Integrating speech skills though impromptu group research and presentation

Courses: Disaster Day (DD) is a single-class activity designed for public speaking classrooms, but could also be applied to courses addressing small group communication.

Objectives: DD integrates fundamental skills of the basic speech course, fosters participation through group work, and introduces new concepts and skills. By the end of the activity, students should be able to (1) display fundamental speech skills by researching a topic quickly, organizing an informative speech, and delivering a presentation; (2) function effectively in a group by working cooperatively on a project with a tight deadline; and (3) understand basic elements of upcoming skills by creating an informative and visually appealing presentation for a mass audience before having visual aid instruction. DD has similar learning objectives to activities occurring later in the term (i.e., graded speeches) in order to introduce the students to expectations of future, more advanced assignments. As such, I do not treat DD as a graded activity, but rather a fun, low-risk, and useful practice opportunity.     

Differences in anticipatory anxiety and adaptation rate as a function of affect management strategy

This study applies Eysenck's (1967) and Buck's (1984) psychophysiological theories of anxiety development to explain individual differences in anticipatory anxiety and rate of adaptation during public speaking. Sensitivity to anxiety creating stimuli predispose individuals to either an internalizing or externalizing affect management strategy. Because social conditioning and neurological processes combine to create anxiety, internalizing individuals are more responsive to punishment and are more likely to appraise an anxiety‐provoking situation as threatening than are externalizers. However, their overall conditionability permits internalizers to adapt to speaking situations more rapidly than their externalizing counterparts who are less susceptible to negative reinforcement. The findings are reviewed in light of various phobia reducing treatment strategies, such as flooding, systematic desensitization, and cognitive appraisal therapy.     

Trait anticipatory public speaking anxiety as a function of self‐efficacy expectations and self‐handicapping strategies

The purpose of this study was to determine if the independent variables of self‐efficacy expectations and self‐handicapping strategies would predict trait anticipatory public speaking anxiety. A model was proposed and tested in which self‐efficacy expectations were found to be significant independent predictors of trait anticipatory public speaking anxiety. Self‐handicapping was not a significant predictor. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Body sensations of higher and lower anxiety sensitive speakers anticipating a public presentation

The purpose of this study was to determine if higher and lower anxiety sensitive speakers would exhibit differential levels of four types of body sensations (gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary, disorientation, and numbness) while anticipating giving a public speech. The participants were eighty‐seven undergraduate students who gave five‐minute informative speeches. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index was used to measure anxiety sensitivity, and the Body Sensations Questionnaire was used to measure body sensations during the anticipatory period. The results showed a significant difference in body sensations between higher and lower anxiety sensitivity speakers for gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary and numbness sensations. There were no significant differences found for disorientation between higher and lower anxiety sensitive speakers.     

The relationship between student pre‐performance concerns and evaluation apprehension

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student pre‐performance concerns, student evaluation apprehension, and receiving a grade for a speech. It was hypothesized that in the public speaking course, (a) a positive relationship would exist between student pre‐performance concerns and student evaluation and (b) students who believed their speech was being evaluated for a grade would report a greater amount of pre‐performance concerns than students who believed their speech was not being evaluated for a grade. Both hypotheses were supported. Results are discussed in light of what instructors might do in the classroom to reduce students' pre‐performance concerns.     

Verbal Bourbon: Speaking Secrets to Intoxicate Your Audience

Public speaking strikes fear in the heart of many people. This tactics session sought to sharpen the audience's public speaking and presentation skills by providing them with six ingredients to a successful presentation: comfort level, gaining attention, organization, presentation style, discussion, and the wrap-up. Incorporating these principles in one's presentation would help the speaker gain the attention of the audience, communicate effectively, and enact change.     

Middle East information literacy awareness and indigenous Arabic content challenges

This article reports on researching “Middle East: Information Literacy awareness and indigenous Arabic World Wide Web content challenges”. The research reported upon was conducted in preparation for a training presentation which was delivered as a part of the UNESCO “Training the Trainers” (TTT) in Information Literacy workshop project that was held November 6–8, 2008 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt. Although the concept of Information Literacy is relatively new worldwide, by now it is fairly well understood, practiced and pedagogically supported in the developed world. But, it is still quite a mystery for developing countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa regions. Therefore, the presentation the authors were invited to deliver at the workshop aimed at creating a much needed broader awareness concerning the concept of Information Literacy, including the somewhat differing definitions which are used in various world regions and cultures, and the concept’s relevance to the advancement of knowledge, research, and the general level of education in the Arabic speaking world. Special attention was paid to these problems in the context of challenges faced by higher education institutions in the Middle East and North Africa regions.The authors discovered that the problem of the scarcity of indigenous Arabic content materials on the World Wide Web is inextricably related to the challenges of increasing the awareness of Middle East and North Africa audiences to the relevance of Information Literacy. The authors endeavor to explain in detail what this inter-relationship is, and why and how the increase of Arabic materials on the Web could then lead to an increase in the awareness of Information Literacy in those Arabic speaking regions.The workshop presentation aimed at explaining and promoting Information Literacy skills, not only to students and researchers, but also to future Information Literacy trainers (the participants at the UNESCO workshop). The language barrier, the Digital Divide, and the lack of adequate Arabic digital content/resources relating to Information Literacy, were all reviewed with the workshop participants, illustrated by real world case examples, and discussed, in an effort to simultaneously try to work toward a consensus approach to teaching and learning the IL concept, and at the same time create a heightened Information Literacy awareness. Rather than simply amplify in detail the technical contents of the workshop presentations the authors made in this article, and with the encouragement of the Review’s editor and guest editor, the authors decided to “tell their story” in anecdotal fashion, sharing with the workshop participants tales of the many challenges they faced in just preparing materials for their presentations – and covering both the presentation format and the presentation content aspects, including explaining why they selected a specific teaching and learning approach, and how they dealt with various delivery and implementation challenges. By so doing, readers faced with similar teaching challenges might be better prepared to respond to the many challenges, both in the context of the preparations they will be required to make as well as in the context of their actual content delivery at their workshops.