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Speaking With Confidence: Chapter Objectives: Chapter Outline
Speaking With Confidence: Chapter Objectives: Chapter Outline
org
chapter 11
introduction
“I have to do what?” chapter outline:
chapter objectives:
You receive your syllabus on the After studying this module, you should be able Introduction
first day of history class, and you see to: Classifying Communication
that a significant percentage of your Apprehension (CA)
1. Understand the nature of o Trait-anxiety
overall grade for the semester
communicative o State-anxiety
depends upon one, ten-minute oral o Scrutiny Fear
apprehension (CA), and
presentation in front of the class. The Frames of Reference
be in a better position to
presentation is to be based on an deal with your particular o Habitual Frame of Reference
original research project and is due “brand” of CA o Personal Frame of Reference
in eight weeks. 2. Analyze objectively the Cognitive Restructuring (CR)
formation of your habitual o Sources of Apprehension
You are excited to get an email
frame of reference o Impact of Apprehension
after a very positive job interview. o Learning Confidence
3. Apply cognitive
They ask you to come to a second Techniques for Building
restructuring (CR)
interview prepared to answer a techniques to create a Confidence
number of questions from a panel more positive frame of o Prepare Well
made up of senior management. The reference o Visualize Success
questions are contained in an 4. Understand the o Avoid Gimmicks
attachment. “Please be ready to importance of customized o Breathe and Release
stand in the front of the room to practice to become o Minimize What You Memorize
answer,” the email reads; ending conversant in your topic o Practice Out Loud
5. Create a personal o Customize Your Practice
with “See you next week!”
preparation routine to Conclusion
The plans are finalized: You will minimize your Chapter Activities and Exercises
have dinner to meet your new fiancé’s apprehension Glossary
family on Saturday night – just days References
away. But, then you are told that
your fiancé’s father, a former Marine
and retired police officer, will want to fears in our society: the fear of public
talk about politics and current events speaking, which is referred to as academic, but also to professional
– and that he will likely judge what communication apprehension (CA). success. CA can impact many diverse
sort of person you are based on how If you are one of those folks – take areas; from one’s level of self-esteem
well you can defend your ideas. comfort in the fact that you are not (Adler, 1980) and how you are
alone! Research indicates that 20% or perceived by others (Dwyer & Cruz,
more of the U.S. population has a high 1998),to success in school, achieving
degree of communicative apprehension high grade-point averages, and even
I get nervous when I don't get (McCroskey, 1976). CA is an isolating landing job interview opportunities
nervous. If I'm nervous, I phenomenon; something that makes (Daly & Leth, 1976). People with
know I'm going to have a one feel alone in the struggle. This is higher levels of CA have demonstrated
true even as programs designed to help that they will avoid communicative
good show. people overcome it – like this program interaction in personal and professional
~ Beyonce Knowles and this chapter, for instance – are relationships, social situations, and
spreading nationwide. CA is a real importantly, classrooms. Such
In this chapter, you will learn about phenomenon that represents a well- avoidance can result in miscom-
dealing with one of the most common documented obstacle not only to munication and misunderstanding,
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scrutiny fear
Still other researchers (Mattick et al.,
1989) discuss CA as what is called a
scrutiny fear; which stems from an
activity that does not necessarily
involve interacting with other people,
but is simply the fear of being in a
situation where one is being watched or
observed, or one perceives him or
herself as being watched, while
undertaking an activity. When asked to
categorize their own type of CA, many
people will identify with this
phenomenon.
In order for anybody to effectively
deal with CA, the first step is to
consider what may be its primary
cause. CA is what is known as a
resultant condition; and those who are
dealing with the challenge will
recognize different intensities
associated with different situations or
triggers. This means that overcoming
the condition requires first that you
recognize, and then minimize, the If you are a fan of these book series, habitual frame of reference
cause. Each person is different, and so you know about the anticipation you Developing the habitual frame of
each case of CA is personal and unique. felt as the next film was ready to be reference with regard to public
Trait-anxiety can be one contributing released – you get swept away by the speaking usually comes from a
factor to CA, but is often part of a memories, you look forward to seeing combination of personal experiences
the characters again. Before you even and what has been witnessed. Formal
much larger condition. It is important
to understand that, while the techniques enter the theatre and take your seat, you public speaking opportunities are most
discussed here would help in improving are in a very positive mood and you are prevalent within the context of formal
an individual’s approach to public looking forward to being entertained. education – thus, public presentations
speaking opportunities, we do not claim Perhaps you are even familiar with the are generally student-oriented
details of the story you are about to experiences which are strongly
that these techniques would work with
more significant personality disorders. watch on film; and this only adds to associated with being evaluated or
However, both the presence of state- your feelings of anticipation. Because judged. Because there is such a focus
of your previous experiences, you have upon the grade that results from the
anxiety, and the appearance of scrutiny
fear, can be effectively addressed developed a frame of reference toward assignment, there is much less focus
through the application of cognitive future events. One’s frame of upon the integrity of the presentation
restructuring (CR) and careful, reference is the context, viewpoint, or itself. Studies have even shown that the
deliberate experience. set of presuppositions or evaluative possibility of a negative experience can
criteria within which a person's lead to many students to skip
perception and thinking seem always to assignments or drop a class – even
occur; and which constrains selectively when that class is required for
How little do they see what the course and outcome of these graduation (Pelias, 1989). Students
is, who frame their hasty activities. Once your anticipation is will often worry more about their grade
rewarded, this frame of reference
judgments upon that which becomes how you “approach” the
rather than what is contained in their
seems. presentation. Thus, the act of public
release of each new film in the series – speaking takes on the pressure of taking
~ Robert Southey your frame of reference becomes a final exam with everyone watching.
“habitual.” Evidence for this can be It’s no wonder so many students report
seen in the consistent success of the that they are stressed out by public
frames of reference serial movies – even if critics’ opinions speaking!
Many popular movies are now based are harsh, fans will go see the film.
on multiple-book series like the “Harry
Potter” or “Lord of the Rings” movies.
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with regard to her topic. Consider how audience is reacting. The pressure that your entire speech is ultimately
being conversant in this manner allows arises from trying to remember the next detrimental to your ability to react to
freer, more fluid communication, with word can be considerable, yet that your audience. However, during the
no stress associated with your ability to pressure is entirely avoidable. The goal introduction and conclusion of your
remember what words you wanted to of public speaking should never be speech, the primary concerns are about
use. Being conversant also gives the about loyal recreation of a script – it is connecting with your audience
speaker the best chance to recognize about getting the appropriate response personally; which is something best
and react to audience feedback. If you from your audience. Trying to assured through consistent eye contact.
are completely focused on the integrity remember an entirely scripted speech So, carefully preparing the introduction
of scripted comments, then you will be can result in the rather ironic situation and the conclusion of your speech is a
unable to read and react to your of a person being able confidently and smart strategy – but don’t make the
audience in any meaningful way. smoothly to discuss the topic in casual mistake of scripting everything that you
Imagine how frustrating it would be for conversation, but still quite stressed plan to say. The best rule here:
your friends at that lunch if you would about their ability to remember their Minimize what you memorize –
not respond to any of their questions scripted comments. familiarize instead!
until you were finished reading a few Many students forget their lines
descriptive paragraphs about the movie. while discussing topics like their
They would probably just wait until families and hometowns. Of course If I don't train enough, of
you were done reading and then try to they knew what they were talking
engage you in a conversation! course I'm nervous.
about, but their minds were focused on
the task of remembering specific words ~ Haile Gebrselassie
– a task different from effective
If you wish to forget anything speaking. So, should you write any practice out loud
on the spot, make a note that prepared comments at all? Yes, of Remember the very first time you
course ,you should. Specifically, the tried to do anything – a game, a sport,
this thing is to be feedback you should be most an activity, anything at all. How good
remembered. concerned with will happen during the were you out of the gate? Perhaps you
~ Edgar Allan Poe body of the speech – when you are had talent or were gifted with a “feel”
discussing the substance of your for what you were doing. But even
presentation. It is during the body of then, didn’t you get better with more
Many people have had experience the speech when you need especially to experience? Nobody does anything the
being in a stage play or some other type retain the ability to adjust to how your very best they can on their very first
of performance that involved audience reacts. Thus, memorizing attempt, and everyone – even the most
memorized recitation of a script. Many
of us might recall moments during
rehearsals when our minds would
“freeze” and we might need just a
quick reminder – the next word or
phrase, the next few notes – to get back
on track. This is because people do not
memorize in units, but in phrases or
chunks. The mind attaches to a rhythm
– not to each individual unit, word, or
note. This is why it is best to minimize
what you memorize. Prepare your
opening carefully so that you start
smoothly. Prepare your closing
comments so that you can end sharply
and with style. But avoid preparing
and then memorizing an entire script.
Preparing for a speech by
memorizing a written script engages
your mind at a different level from that
of a conversant speaker. Concentrating
on remembering words is different
from paying attention to how one’s
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review questions
1. What percentage of the general population is likely dealing with CA?
2. What are some of the potential issues or problems that can result from CA?
3. What are some of the different ways researchers classify CA? What are the differences between these ideas?
4. What are some of your sources of CA? Would you classify these as examples of trait-anxiety or state-anxiety?
5. How does Cognitive Restructuring work? Does it work the same for every person who tries it?
7. Why is memorizing a presentation a risky move? Is there any part of your presentation that should be
memorized?
activities
1. Prior to a speech, practice the following relaxation technique from Williams College (from
http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/peerh/stress/relax.html):
a) Tighten the muscles in your toes. Hold for a count of 10. Relax and enjoy the sensation of release from
tension.
b) Flex the muscles in your feet. Hold for a count of 10. Relax.
c) Move slowly up through your body- legs, abdomen, back, neck, face- contracting and relaxing muscles as you
go.
d) Breathe deeply and slowly.
After your speech, evaluate the technique. Did you find that this exercise reduced your nervousness? If so, why do you
think it was effective? If not, what technique do you think would have been more effective?
2. Together with a partner or in a small group, generate a list of relaxation techniques that you currently use to
relieve stress. Once you have run out of ideas, review the list and eliminate the techniques that would not work for
helping you cope with nervousness before a speech. Of the remaining ideas, select the top three that you believe would
help you personally and that you would be willing to try.
3. The author of this chapter says that one of the keys to overcoming nervousness is preparation. Make a list of the
barriers to your own preparation process (e.g. “I don’t know how to use the library,” or “I have young children at home
who make demands on my time”). Having identified some of the things that make it difficult for you to prepare, now
think of at least one way to overcome each obstacle you have listed. If you need to, speak with other people to get their
ideas too.
glossary
references
Adler, R. B., (1980). Integrating Mattick, R. P., Peters, L., & Clarke, J. apprehension. Beverly Hills, CA:
reticence management into the C., (1989) Exposure and cognitive Sage Publications, Inc.
basic communication curriculum. restructuring for social phobia: A McCroskey, J. C. (1976) The Problem
Communication Education, 29, controlled study. Behavior of Communication Apprehension
215-221. Therapy, 20, 3-23. in the Classroom, Paper prepared
Beatty, M.J. (1988). Public speaking McCroskey, J. C., & Anderson, J. for the special edition of
apprehension, decision-making (1976). The relationship between Communication, Journal of the
errors in the selection of speech communication apprehension and Communication Association of the
introduction strategies and academic achievement among Pacific compiled for the C.A.P.
adherence to strategy. Communi- college students, Human Commu- Convention (Kobe, Japan, June
cation Education, 37, 297 - 311. nication Research, 3, 73-81. 1976).
Daly, J. A. & Leth, S. A., (1976), McCroskey, J. C. (1977). Oral Menzel, K. E., &Carrell, L. J., (1994).
Communication Apprehension and Communication Apprehension: A The relationship between
the Personnel Selection Decision, summary of recent theory and preparation and performance in
Paper presented at the International research. Human Communication public speaking, Communication
Communication Association Research, 4, 78-96 Education, 43, 17-26.
Convention, Portland, OR. McCroskey, J. C. (1984). The Pelias, M. H. (1989). Communication
Dwyer, K. & Cruz, A (1998), communication apprehensive apprehension in basic public
Communication Apprehension, perspective. In J. A. Daly & J. C. speaking texts: An examination of
Personality, and Grades in the McCroskey (Eds.), Avoiding contemporary textbooks. Commu-
Basic Course: Are There Corre- communication: Shyness, nication Education, 38(1), 41- 53.
lations? Communication Research reticence, and communication
Reports, 15(4), 436 - 444.
photo credits
p.. 1 Rebiya Kadeer http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commo Conference_2010_-_Day_1.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rebi ns/5/5a/USMC-111028-M-ZU667-58.jpg By Official GDC
ya_Kadeer_Speaking_at_UN_Geneva_(3).jpg By Cpl. Andrew D. Thorburn p. 9 Two men
By United States Mission Geneva p. 7 Man speaking http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kelle
p. 5 Tuvalu woman speaking http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Midd e_Santiago_-_Game_Developers_Conference
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lu_woman_speaking_on_the_climate_threat_ By Måns Sandström By Official GDC
her_culture_and_nation_face.jpg p. 8 98 year-old mother of neuroscience p. 10. Patrick Norton & Veronica Belmont
By Takver http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NGF http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patri
p. 6 Michael Jordan _%2708_Rita_Levi-Montalcini.jpg ck_Norton_Veronica_Belmont_Tekzilla.jpg
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n_by_Lipofsky_16577.jpg p. 9 Kellee Santiago
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p. 6 Woman in wheelchair e_Santiago_-_Game_Developers_
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