Acoustic characteristics of public speaking: Anxiety and practice effects

This study describes the relationship between acoustic characteristics, self-ratings, and listener-ratings of public speaking. The specific purpose of this study was to examine the effects of anxiety and practice on speech and voice during public speaking. Further examination of the data was completed to examine the illusion of transparency, which hypothesizes that public speakers think their anxiety is more noticeable to listeners than it really is. Self-rating and acoustic speech data were reported on two separate speeches produced by 16 college-aged individuals completing coursework in interpersonal communication. Results indicated that there were significant relationships between acoustic characteristics of speech and both self- and listener-ratings of anxiety in public speaking. However, self-ratings of anxiety were higher than listener ratings, indicating possible confirmation of the illusion of transparency. Finally, data indicate that practice patterns have a significant effect on the fluency characteristics of public speaking performance, as speakers who started practicing earlier were less disfluent than those who started later. Data are also discussed relative to rehabilitation for individuals with communication disorders that can be associated with public speaking anxiety.