The Learning Activity titled “An Overview of Anxiety” mentions the four types of communication apprehension. Share a story about a time when you dealt with one of these apprehensions when speaking in front of an audience, and briefly explain how it meets the criteria for the description. What was the outcome of this speech? Based on your experience, how would you prepare for future speeches?
ANXIETY
An Overview of Anxiety
In public speaking, some degree of anxiety is normal; however, not all
anxiety is the same.
Read this section to learn about anxiety and identify the differences
between trait and context anxiety, and audience and situational
anxiety.
All Anxiety Is Not the Same: Sources of Communication
Apprehension
We have said that experiencing some form of anxiety is a normal part
of the communication process. Most people are anxious about being
evaluated by an audience. Interestingly, many people assume that
their nervousness is an experience unique to them. They assume that
other people do not feel anxious when confronting the threat of
public speaking (McCroskey, 2001). Although anxiety is a widely
shared response to the stress of public speaking, not all anxiety is the
same. Many researchers have investigated the differences between
apprehension grounded in personality characteristics and anxiety
prompted by a particular situation at a particular time (Witt, Brown,
Roberts, Sawyer, & Behnke, 2006). McCroskey (2001) argues there
are four types of communication apprehension: anxiety related to
trait, context, audience, and situation. If you understand these
different types of apprehension, you can gain insight into the varied
communication factors that contribute to speaking anxiety.
Trait Anxiety
Some people are just more disposed to communication apprehension
than others. As Witt, Brown, Roberts, Weisel, Sawyer, and Behnke
(2006) explain, “Trait anxiety measures how people generally feel
across situations and time periods” (p. 88). This means that some
people feel more uncomfortable than the average person regardless
of the context, audience, or situation. It does not matter whether you
are raising your hand in a group discussion, talking with people you
meet at a party, or giving presentations at work, you are likely to be
uncomfortable in all these settings if you experience trait anxiety.
Although trait anxiety is not the same as shyness, those with high
trait anxiety are more likely to avoid exposure to public speaking
situations, so their nervousness might be compounded by lack of
experience or skill (Witt et al., 2006). People who experience trait
anxiety may never like public speaking, but through preparation and
practice, they can learn to give effective public speeches when they
need to do so.
Context Anxiety
Several different types of anxiety can impact a speaker’s comfort
level.© Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Thinkstock
Context anxiety refers to anxiety prompted by specific
communication contexts. Some of the major context factors that can
heighten this form of anxiety are formality, uncertainty, and novelty.
Formality
Some individuals can be perfectly composed when talking at a
meeting or in a small group; yet when faced with a more formal
public speaking setting, they become intimidated and nervous. As the
formality of the communication context increases, the stakes are
raised, sometimes prompting more apprehension. Certain
communication contexts, such as a press conference or a courtroom,
can make even the most confident individuals nervous. One reason is
that these communication contexts presuppose an adversarial
relationship between the speaker and some audience members.
Uncertainty
In addition, it is hard to predict and control the flow of information in
such contexts, so the level of uncertainty is high. The feelings of
context anxiety might be similar to those you experience on the first
day of work at a new job. You do not know what to expect, so you are
more nervous participating in everyday speaking than you will be
after your first day or first week.
Novelty
Additionally, most of us are not experienced in high-tension
communication settings. The novelty of the communication context
we encounter is another factor contributing to apprehension. Anxiety
becomes more of an issue in communication environments that are
new to us, even for those who are normally comfortable with
speaking in public. So, you might be perfectly comfortable presenting
to your peers in a conference room you are familiar with, but, when
asked to give the same presentation in a large auditorium, you may
be nervous.
Most people can learn through practice to cope with their anxiety
prompted by formal, uncertain, and novel communication contexts.
Fortunately, most public speaking classroom contexts are not
adversarial. The opportunities you have to practice giving speeches
reduces the novelty and uncertainty of the public speaking context,
enabling most students to learn how to cope with anxiety prompted
by the communication context.
Audience Anxiety
For some individuals, it is not the communication context that
prompts anxiety; it is the people in the audience they face. Audience
anxiety describes communication apprehension prompted by specific
audience characteristics. These characteristics include similarity,
subordinate status, audience size, and familiarity.
We all prefer to talk to an audience that we believe shares our values
more than to one that does not. The more dissimilar we are
compared to our audience members, the more likely we are to be
nervous. Studies have shown that subordinate status can also
contribute to speaking anxiety (Witt et al., 2006). Talking in front of
your boss or teacher may be intimidating, especially if you are being
evaluated. The size of the audience can also play a role: the larger the
audience, the more threatening it may seem. Finally, familiarity can
be a factor. Some of us prefer talking to strangers rather than to
people we know well. Others feel more nervous in front of an
audience of friends and family because there is more pressure to
perform well.
Situational Anxiety
Situational anxiety, McCroskey (2001) explains, is the communication
apprehension created by “the unique combination of influences
generated by audience, time and context” (p. 43). Each
communication event involves several dimensions: physical,
temporal, social-psychological, and cultural. These dimensions
combine to create a unique communication situation that is different
from any previous communication event. The situation created by a
given audience, in a given time, and in a given context can coalesce
into situational anxiety.
Note. Adapted from “All Anxiety Is Not the Same: Sources of
Communication Apprehension,” by J.S. Jones, A. Goding, D.I. Johnson,
& B.A. Attias, 2014, Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of
Public Speaking, Chapter 3, Section 2. Copyright 2014 by Flat World
Knowledge, Inc.