Facing the Fear: An Analysis of Speech-anxiety Content in Public Speaking Textbooks

• In Event: The Health of the Discipline: Communication Apprehension and Avoidance

Abstract

Communication apprehension is one of the biggest problems facing novice public speakers. Because students learn about communication apprehension largely through the texts they use, the coverage that top ten selling public-speaking textbooks give to this subject has an effect on students’ perceptions on the subject. A content analysis of five aspects of CA was conducted among the top ten selling public-speaking textbooks. Chi-square analysis was used to determine significant differences among the terms and texts.

Authors

• Lori DeWitt, North Dakota State University

• Vijay Dandamudi, North Dakota State University

• Jeffrey T. Child, North Dakota State Univ

• Judy C. Pearson, North Dakota State Univ