INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

Department of Languages & Management

BASIC RESEACRH METHODOLGY

ELF 0007

SEM 3, 2012/2013

RESEARCH PROJECT :
PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY
FULL NAME : NUR FARHANAH ZAINAL

MATRIC NO : 123631

LECTURER’S NAME : MADAM NABILAH

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE : 2ND MAY 2013

CERTIFICATION OF AUTHENCITY

I certify that this paper submitted for assessment is the result of my own work, except where
otherwise acknowledge.

Signed:_________________ Date:__________________
 ABSTRACT

Anxiety in speaking publicly is a common social phobia for the society (Safir, Wallach, & Bar-

Zvi, 2012). It has to be managed as it affects people’s lives and careers. This study aims to

investigate the reasons for anxiety in public speaking among CFSIIUM students as well as ways

to reduce the anxiety. The questionnaire of Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)

made by McCroskey (1970; 1992) is used in order to measure the level of anxiety experienced

by the students while giving a speech or presentation in class. The questionnaire consists of 34

items, each one on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.

Besides that, a questionnaire made of a reasons for public speaking anxiety also given to them.

At the first meeting, all of the students were asked to fill out both questionnaires. After that, they

were given ways to assist them in reducing the public speaking anxiety. They have been required

to use them while speaking in class and their level of anxiety will once again be determined

during the second meeting with the same questionnaire of PRPSA. The findings indicate that the

students succeed to overcome their anxiety in speaking publicly as their level of anxiety has

decreased after they applied those given techniques. Even though this experiment has succeeded

in helping those who are having anxiety problem in speaking in front of the public, future

research on the other ways to overcome public speaking anxiety are considered and encouraged.
 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Public speaking is a common problem for all people around the world. According to

Peter Desberg, professor of psychology at California State University, public speaking ranks as

number one fear of all fears and even outranking the fear of death. Many people want to avoid

the situations in which they are needed to speak publicly. However, when these situations are

unavoidable, they will be in a state of uneasiness and fear caused by the anticipation of

something threatening. This state is known as anxiety and it can be considered as a phobia. Even

though it has been experienced by most people from all walk of ages, we cannot deny that it is

distressing as it is one of the factors in determining our failure or success in this life.

The fear response is designed to keep us alive whenever there are troubles. When we

faced a serious threat, our heart will pump the blood faster than usual and the process of

breathing become quickens to ensure a quick getaway. Once the body reacts it will make the

mind to start believing that the person is really in danger. Many people feel anxious when they

doubt their ability and knowledge of the materials that they are going to present in front of the

others. In addition, the more important the audiences are to the person, the worse the reactions

can be. This is because they will know if he or she made a minor mistake that other common

people may not notice.

Besides that, some data suggests successful, career-minded people are unusually

susceptible to this fear. Apparently, if people are driven and achievement-oriented, they are

likely to worry more about performance and appearances. If they have to succeed at everything

to feel good about themselves, that could add just enough anxiety to make public speaking an

uncomfortable as well as a terrifying experience.

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Anxiety is the apprehension occurred because of a threat to some value that the individual

holds important to his or her existence as what has been studied by Rollo May. In the case of

university’s students, they may avoid doing any oral presentations, never speaking in class or

choosing against certain profession which required them to speak in public. Rossi and Seiler

(1989) demonstrated that, “Public speaking or stage fright has been investigated and studied

since the mid-1930‟s.” Most people who have this problem will experience various effects in a

public speaking situations such as palpitations, sweating, diarrhea and confusion (North and

River, 2001). It is important to solve this problem as it will affect our daily lives as well as the

future. (Engler, 1999).

Nowadays, the country needs and demands for a good speaker to work with them. Hence,

to compete with others, CFSIIUM’s students need to have this skill to succeed in the interview

and to get the best job. That is one of the reasons I choose to conduct this research. The main

purpose of my research is to know the reasons why people feel anxiety in speaking publicly. I

also want to determine whether the teaching of effective strategy in reducing public speaking

anxiety helps to lower the level of anxiety. Overall, I want to know the reliability of the ways to

reduce public speaking anxiety within most students in CFSIIUM.

The problems and purposes of this current study were guided by the following two

research questions:

1) Why university’s students feel anxious when they need to speak in public?

2) Is it helping the students to reduce their anxiety in speaking publicly if they practice

before the presentation and use the breathing as well as relaxation techniques?
1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will contribute to a better understanding of language anxiety experienced by

CFSIIUM students. It will also provide some information on the scale of anxiety feel by the

students and the reasons of public speaking anxiety occurred on them.

Furthermore, it will give students a chance to evaluate themselves and their emotional state when

speaking in public. Perhaps it will help them to identify their weaknesses and let them

understand the problem that they are facing when speaking publicly. Moreover, it will make the

students realize that they are not alone in this matter. Perhaps, they will know the best way to

overcome this anxiety disorder.

In addition, this research hopes to make the lecturers realize that some good students

might not able to perform their actual standards due to effective reasons like in this study,

speaking anxiety. Besides that, it will give them the opportunity to understand the reasons and to

be aware of the difficulties that have been faced by the students when speaking in public.

This investigation will also assist the CFSIIUM students in developing their confidence

and self-esteem in speaking publicly. The information from the study will also aid the lecturers

in managing their students and it will help them respond to their students’ speaking anxiety

appropriately.

Besides the above, the study hopes to help students in facing their future such as to be

confident during interview session and to be able to cooperate with working partners confidently.

Last but not least, the most important purpose of this study is to contribute to the research in

speaking anxiety in the future.

 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Public speaking anxiety is a psychological response and also analyzed as social anxiety

disorder which is non-generalized type at clinical levels. It is also related with significant

distress and impairment in a substantial portion of the population (Aderka et al., 2012). Perhaps

it is difficult to define in a simple manner, as it depends on the individual’s perception on

something or situations based on their unique frame of reference and experience (Eharman,

1996). People may fear public speaking more than anything else. Anxiety that occurs because of

a simple thing or situation can be exhausting. Moreover, sufferers are typically ashamed and

declined to admit they have a problem with that kind of skill. They will hide a deep concern

about the phobia’s effect on their profession in an industry that demands for the presentation

skills so highly. Therefore, it is a great importance to conduct this study to help those people

overcome this big problem.

At a global level, several things are thought to be correlated with public speaking anxiety

disorder. Some examples include an experience of stuttering, insomnia, or writer’s block and it

can lead to an ironic increase in those very conditions (cf., Asher & Schotte, 1999; Wegner,

1997; Wegner, Broome & Blumberg, 1997). Kitano (2001) also notes that “… speaking skill is

usually the first thing that learners compare with that of peers, teachers, and native speakers”.

Besides that, from Bodie (2010) perspectives, “the competence in public speaking is paramount

to students’ success in and out of the classroom”. Hence, learners’ low self perception of

speaking ability is a cause or source of anxiety for all people especially the students. Some

individuals may also experience arousal, negative self talk, or behavioral actions in response to

an upcoming or actual presentation (Daly, McRoskey, Ayres, Hopf & Ayres, 1997). Hence, for
more than a century, researchers have been interested in helping those people to overcome or

reduce public speaking anxiety by using different means.

The first research to reduce public speaking anxiety is by using Virtual Reality Therapy

(VRT) that has been proposed by Heuett (2011). The treatment has been conducted by exposing

the patient to a virtual environment containing the feared situation rather than taking the patient

into the real environment. It can also be used to analyze and treat psychological conditions that

cause patients difficulty. It proved that it is possible to use VRT to help people reduce public

speaking anxiety. Besides that, Savitsky and Gilovich (2003) have a different ways to help those

with anxiety in public speaking. The field of their studies is the illusion of transparency and the

alleviation of speech anxiety. Based on their studies, speakers who were informed that their

nervousness was not as apparent as they thought were able to do better in speaking publicly

compared to those who has not been informed about it. The similar scope of study has also been

done by McInnis, C., Mackinnon, P. and MacIntyre, D. (2010) except that they also investigated

about the normative beliefs of anxiety during public speaking. They proved that there is a belief

that public speaking anxiety is common. As a result, the audience will expect the speakers to be

anxious and react to the speakers that confirmed the situation. They potentially added to the

speaker’s anxiousness. This will be one of the causes of anxiousness in public speakers. My

study will focus on the other causes of public speaking anxiety as well as the suitable way to

overcome this phobia especially for the university’s students.

In previous research made by Morgan and Schmidt (2012), public speaking anxiety can

be overcome by three different methods: the value of cognitive restructuring, skills training and

systematic desensitization. Their studies showed that all the three methods are suitable to reduce

public speaking anxiety. Acceptance-based exposure therapy for public speaking anxiety is the
other research that has been conducted by a group of researchers (England, L., Herbert, D.,

Horman, M., Rabin, J., Juarasico, A., & Goldstein, P., 2012). They investigated the acceptability

and the effectiveness of the acceptance-based exposure treatment (ABE) than standard

habituation-based exposure (HAB) for public speaking anxiety (PSA) in a clinical society. At the

end of the experiment, both groups show improvement in their confidence level, social skill as

well as communication skill. As public speaking anxiety can be troublesome to some people,

hence it is a need to develop effective treatment techniques to aid people in handling this

problem. Thus, further research should be considered to identify the causes and other means that

are helpful to overcome the public speaking anxiety among students.

All in all, investigation within the scope of public speaking anxiety is becoming widely

day by day. This is because it is one of the most important fields that need to be mastered by

people from all walk of ages especially university students who will become the next leader for

future generation. Negative thoughts and poor preparation have been confirmed as some of the

bad effects associated with public speaking anxiety. As a result, the individuals may receive

lower grades for presentation or grouping work. Consequently, public speaking anxiety

negatively affects students’ academic performance. Therefore, the objectives of this research are

to identify the causes or reasons for anxiety during public speaking as well as the best way to

overcome it within CFSIIUM’s students. Hence, with this study the underlying factors of anxiety

will be more observable and with that the suitable solution to be practiced by the students can be

identified.
 3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Design

This study is descriptive research as to identify the causes and the reliability of the solutions to

overcome public speaking anxiety. Before the actual data collection period, a pilot study will be

conducted to test validity of the questionnaires as well as to get feedbacks and suggestions from

the respondents.

3.2 Participants

The research will be carried out at Centre for Foundation Studies International Islamic

University Malaysia (CFSIIUM). A total of 30 students, most in their first and second year,

studying in CFSIIUM will be chosen for this experiment. All the students are both male and

female Malay students. English is their second language and they are from Arts and Science

programs.

3.3 Materials/Instruments

For the experiment, I administered a survey and a questionnaire to my subjects. I have prepared a

list of causes or reasons for public speaking anxiety for the subjects to fill. Next, I chose Personal

Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) questionnaire (McCroskey, 1970; McCroskey &

Richmond, 1992) to be filled by them in order to identify the level of public speaking they

experienced while speaking in public. The questionnaire consists of 34 questions measuring

feelings associated with giving a presentation. Subjects were asked to indicate the degree to

which the statements apply to them, by marking whether they strongly agree (1), agree (2), are

undecided (3), disagree (4), strongly disagree, (5) with each statement. It is highly reliable (alpha

estimates > .90).

3.4 Procedure

I make an appointment with the subjects whom consist of my schoolmates, classmates and

roommates. They will be meeting me in a group of 2 people and above. I explained to them that I

am one of the ENCOM’s students and I was given an assignment regarding to my Basic

Research Methodology subject. I will simply hand out the survey and questionnaires to them.

The instructions for completing the survey and questionnaire were at the top of the page and

were self-explanatory for all. After completing both the paper, they were taught two ways to

overcome the anxiety in order to reduce public speaking anxiety during 3 hours of their classes.

After the 3 hours of their classes, I will meet them again and the students were given the same

questionnaires of PRPSA. The change or improvement of their public speaking anxiety will be

recorded. All that completed the questionnaires and surveys received some token of appreciation

for doing so after the second meeting.

The questionnaire was completed without any of the participants’ personal identification (except
sex and program) to ensure anonymity and increase the probability of honest responses.

The reliability of the scale in this investigation is .86.

 4.0 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Chart 1: The causes of anxiety among CFSIIUM students

The percentage of causes in public speaking

anxiety among CFSIIUM students
Fear of standing in
front of the public
Fear of appearing
18% 20% nervous
Concern that others
are judging you
4% Past failures

7% Poor preparation

20% Dissatisfaction with

9% your abilities
Discomfrot with own
body movement
2% 20% Comparing
yourselves to others

Based on the investigation that has been conducted for 1 month, the researcher has

identified the three main causes of public speaking anxiety among CFSIIUM students. The three

of them have the same percentage of the causes of public speaking anxiety which is 20% for

each. They are; (1) fearing of appearing nervous, (2) fearing of standing in front of a large group

of people and (3) feeling concern that others are judging them. The least percentage of reason

why students feel anxiety in speaking publicly is because of their past failures. It shows that most

of the students are not affected by their past experience.

 Besides that, the investigator has also found out that the students are more afraid if they

were given a task to speak in front of the people that they know which includes their families,

friends and lecturers. I can infer that they are worried as their families and closed friends might

realize and discover if they make some mistakes compared to strangers who do not know them

very well. This is because they know them better and can easily detect if they are something that

is not right with them. Hence, they prefer speaking in front of the strangers rather than their

loved ones. This can be referred from chart 2 below.

Chart 2: The type of audiences that they students afraid the most.

The type of audiences that can increase students'

anxiety in public speaking
18
16
The number of students

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
People that they know People that they do not know
The type of audiences

The researcher also wanted to examine whether practicing before presentation and using

the breathing as well as relaxation techniques will help the students to overcome students’

anxiety in speaking publicly. From the result in Chart 2 above, it can be concluded that those

methods aids in reducing the anxiety in public speaking among CFSIIUM students.
 Besides that, the researcher has also explored that a large number of students who have

high anxiety level in speaking publicly has reduced after they were teaching the breathing and

relaxation techniques as well as practicing before the presentation. As we can see, the number of

students who have high anxiety level has decreased from 5 to 2 people while those who have a

low anxiety level has increased from 7 to 9 individuals. We can make an assumption that the

effective strategies that were practiced by them has high reliability. The result in Chart 3 below

will support this statement.

Chart 3: The level of public speaking anxiety among CFSIIUM students.

The level of public speaking anxiety among

CFSIIUM students
20
The number of CFSIIUM students

18

16

14

12 Before teaching of
10
affective startegies
8 After teaching of
affective strategies
6

0
very low low moderate high

The level of public speaking anxiety

 5.0 CONCLUSION

Any normal people may feel anxiety when they are required to talk in front of the public.

No matter it is their first time or the hundred time, they will feel anxiety in speaking publicly due

to many reasons such as the fear of appearing nervous, fear of standing in front of a large group

of people or feel discomfort with their own body movement. Some realized that the anxiety will

affect their present day as well as the future, but they do not know the ways to deal with the

scenario. Hence, they may end up feeling distress, frustration and depression.

The goals of this study were to explore the reasons of public speaking anxiety among

CFSIIUM students as well as to identify the reliability of the practicing, relaxation and breathing

techniques towards the students in beating the anxiety in public speaking. The results indicate

that there are three main causes of public speaking anxiety which are feeling afraid of standing in

front of many people, feeling scared of appearing nervous and also feeling concern of others

judging them. It shows that the students are quite concerned with the perception of other people

towards them rather than their view towards themselves.In addition, most students experienced

less anxiety after they had been taught and practiced how to overcome their distress. It indicates

that this phobia can be overcome if the individual knows how to manage them by using the

effective strategies.

During conducting my research I have found out that there are some limitations in my

research. Firstly, the students were given a little time to practice the effective strategies in

reducing public speaking anxiety as the time for my research is quite short. Hence, the results are

not very obvious. Secondly, the number of participants for my research was also less, so the

results could be inaccurate if I make an assumption that it will be the same with other students.
Lastly, the results might also be inaccurate as I was not there when they are having the public

speaking and I could not guarantee if they were really using the effective strategies that I have

taught to them.

I suggest that this research should be conducted for 3 months so that the students can

have enough time to practice the effective strategies in reducing their public speaking anxiety.

Besides that, the number of participants should be increased to at least 50 persons for this

research as it will increase the reliability of the results. Furthermore, the specific time should be

allocated to measure the level of public speaking anxiety among students. For instance, take

about 2 hours with them and use that time to measure the level of public speaking anxiety before

and after they have been taught the effective strategies in aiding them to reduce the anxiety in

public speaking. They should sit in groups consist of 5 persons for each group and that is the

place where they will be using those strategies. As a consequence the data will be accurate and

the reliability of the results might increase.

The research should be continued on finding other reasons causing public speaking

anxiety and better ways for the students to manage them. Future research could examine the

anxiety in speaking publicly related to the culture of the society or the type of families they are

living in. Thus, we believe that future studies of PSA would benefit not only one society but all

societies over the world.

 REFERENCES

 North, M., & Rives, J. (2001). Virtual reality therapy in aid of public speaking.

International Journal of Virtual Reality, 3, 2-7.

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desensitization and an integrative approach in treating public speaking anxiety: a 10

literature review and a preliminary investigation. Imagination, Cognition and

Personality, 9, 49-66.

 Engler, B. (1999). Personality Theories, fifth edition. Boston, NY. Houghton Mifflin

Company.

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 Ascher, L. M., & Schotte, D. E. (1999). Paradoxical intention and recursive anxiety.

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Communication: Shyness, Reticence, & Communication Apprehension (2nd ed.).

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 Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the College Japanese Classroom. [Electronic version].

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 Heuett, L, & Heuett, B. (2011). Virtual Reality Therapy: A Means of Reducing Public

Speaking Anxiety. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 1, No.

16; November 2011.

 Savitsky, K, & Gilovich, T. (2003). The illusion of transparency and the alleviation of

speech anxiety. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 39 (2003) 618-625.

 Morgan, T, & Schimdt, T. (2012). Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety for Native and

Non-Native English Speakers: The Value of Systematic Desensitization, Cognitive

Restructuring and Skills Training. Cross-Cultural Communication, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp 16-

19.

 England, L., Herbert, D., Horman, M., Rabin, J., Juarasico, A., & Goldstein, P. (2012).

Acceptance-based Exposure Therapy for Public Speaking Anxiety. Journal of Contextual

Behavioral Science 1 (2012) 66-72.

 MacInnis, C., Mackinnon, P. & MacIntyre, D. (2010). The Illusion of Transparency and

Normative Beliefs about Anxiety during Public Speaking. Current Research in Social

Psycholoy, Vol. 15, No. 4.

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Therapy for Public Speaking Anxiety: One-Year Follow-up. Behavior Modification, 36,

235-246.
 APPENDIX

Questionnaire on Public Speaking Anxiety

Matric No.: ___________ Gender: Male/Female Course: Arts/Sciences

1. Have you ever spoken in public before? (Please tick one)
Yes ( ) No ( )
2. When do you usually speaking publicly? (Please tick one)
During presentation ( )
During discussion with friends ( )
During class when giving opinions ( )
During public speaking/debate competition ( )
3. Did you feel anxious when speaking in public? (Please tick one)
Yes ( ) No ( )
4. Which audiences do you prefer? (Please tick one)
People that you know ( ) People that you do not know ( )
5. Based on your knowledge or experiences, what are the main causes of public speaking
anxiety? (Please tick three)
Fear of standing in front of large groups of people ( )
Fear of appearing nervous ( )
Concern that others are judging you ( )
Past failures ( )
Poor or insufficient preparation ( )
Dissatisfaction with your abilities ( )
Discomfort with your body movement ( )
Comparing ourselves to others ( )
 Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA)
Matric No.: ___________ Gender: Male/Female Course: Arts/Sciences
Directions: Below are 34 statements that people sometimes make about themselves. Please
indicate whether or not you believe each statement applies to you by marking whether you:

Strongly Disagree = 1; Disagree = 2; Neutral = 3; Agree = 4; Strongly Agree = 5.

1 2 3 4 5

1. While preparing for giving a speech, I feel tense and

nervous.

2. I feel tense when I see the words “speech” and “public

speech” on a course outline when studying.

3. My thoughts become confused and jumbled when I am

giving a speech.

4. Right after giving a speech I feel that I have had a pleasant

experience.

5. I get anxious when I think about a speech coming up.

6. I have no fear of giving a speech.

7. Although I am nervous just before starting a speech, I soon

settle down after starting and feel calm and comfortable.

8. I look forward to giving a speech.

9. When the instructor announces a speaking assignment in

class, I can feel myself getting tense.

10. My hands tremble when I am giving a speech.

11. I feel relaxed while giving a speech.

12. I enjoy preparing for a speech.

13. I am in constant fear of forgetting what I prepared to say.

14. I get anxious if someone asks me something about my topic

that I don’t know.

15. I face the prospect of giving a speech with confidence.

16. I feel that I am in complete possession of myself while

giving a speech.
17. My mind is clear when giving a speech.

18. I do not dread giving a speech.

19. I perspire just before starting a speech.

20. My heart beats very fast just as I start a speech.

21. I experience considerable anxiety while sitting in the room

just before my speech starts.

22. Certain parts of my body feel very tense and rigid while
giving a speech.

23. Realizing that only a little time remains in a speech makes

me very tense and anxious.

24. While giving a speech, I know I can control my feelings of

tension and stress.

25. I breathe faster just before starting a speech.

26. I feel comfortable and relaxed in the hour or so just before

giving a speech.

27. I do poorer on speeches because I am anxious.

28. I feel anxious when the teacher announces the date of a

speaking assignment.

29. When I make a mistake while giving a speech, I find it hard

to concentrate on the parts that follow.

30. During an important speech I experience a feeling of

helplessness building up inside me.

31. I have trouble falling asleep the night before a speech.

32. My heart beats very fast while I present a speech.

33. I feel anxious while waiting to give my speech.

34. While giving a speech, I get so nervous I forget facts I really

know.

McCroskey, J. C. (1970) . Measures of communication-bound anxiety. Speech Monographs,