Discovering The Relationship between Communication Strategies and Fear of Oral Presentation among University Students

Effective public speaking is a necessary and desired ability that university graduates need to possess. This is to build into them a sense of confidence and success in communicating in today's challenging, evolving and borderless working world. However, fear or anxiety among university students still prevails and affects the way they communicate, and thus they utilise communication strategies (CS) to help them communicate orally effectively. There are multiple triggers of learners' fear of public speaking which could be externally and internally driven. Therefore, this study aims to continuously explore the influence of CS on fear of oral presentation, the influence of fear on oral presentation and the strength of the relationship between CS and fear of oral presentation. Quantitative data on the influence was analysed utilising the SPSS for mean values and Pearson correlational analysis through a 4-section survey derived from 134 respondents from a public university. Results indicated that CS preferred by most of the respondents were mostly externally influenced in shaping their oral communication and assessment marks and feeling nervous were their largest causes of fear of public speaking. Furthermore, correlational findings revealed that communication strategies may reduce fear of oral presentation to some degree. These results could suggest the need for more formal strategy training to assist and build motivational needs for learners to manage their fear of public speaking to benefit more from communication strategies for effective public speaking.