Public speaking arousal as a function of anticipatory activation and autonomic reactivity

Arousal plays an important role in various communication theories, including those that attempt to explain speech anxiety. Because elevated arousal frequently contributes to ineffective delivery, predicting the level of activation that an individual is likely to experience during a public speech should be of considerable interest to communication scholars and educators. Advances in biological theories of emotion and refinements in measurement strategies permit accurate assessment of psychophysiological predictors of public speaking arousal. The findings of the present study, which applies these assessment strategies, indicate that anticipatory activation and autonomic reactivity are significant predictors of physiological arousal during public speaking. Suggestions for further research are discussed along with implications for pedagogical practices and therapeutic intervention.