Presentation Anxiety: A challenge for some students and a pit of despair for others

There is emphasis in some tertiary courses on in-class presentations as an important skill and as a means of assessment. Frequently, this appears in the first semester of a student’s enrolment. This may present especial issues for international students, particularly those from countries with significant cultural and linguistic differences to Australia. It may be somewhat confronting to not only have to make an adjustment to a new and different cultural and educational setting, but also be asked within a month or two to place oneself on public display, potentially in what may not be your first language. This paper examines data that compare anxiety levels of incoming international students to local students; some of the associated anxiety issues experienced by international students who have presented at a University Counselling service; and discusses a two-session workshop offered as an intervention. Introduction Jenny (the name has been changed to preserve anonymity) presented at the Counselling Service with a very high level of anxiety about having to do a presentation in her psychology unit. Her concerns seemed out of all proportion to the reality of the situation. Some of her concerns included her physical appearance (“People will look at me and think I’m fat”); how she sounded (“I’ll mess up what I have to say”) and her ability level and the judgment of others about that issue (“Everyone will think I’m stupid”). She doubted her capacity to cope with the requirements of delivering a presentation – from analyzing the topic, gathering information, preparing the content, managing presentation tools, controlling the pace of the session, and coping with discussion and questions. Her anxiety had generalized into the weeks preceding the scheduled presentation to a point where she could barely focus on tasks connected with this course requirement. Additionally, it was beginning to affect her other studies. As the date of the presentation approached, she exhibited physical symptoms of stress such as poor sleep, restlessness and loss of appetite. Jenny’s situation is not an uncommon one, with many courses at a tertiary level requiring students to give oral presentations on which they will be assessed (as well as some that are required but are not assessed). From the perspective of students, concerns about giving such presentations, such as in Jenny’s case, include their ability to prepare and deliver the relevant material, the judgment of others with respect to their personal qualities, and the formal evaluation of their presentation. Anxiety associated with giving oral presentations is an issue that presents to counsellors in university-based settings with reasonable frequency. Whilst this specific issue is not identified in the client data at our own counselling service, our anecdotal experience is that a substantial number of students with this issue present in every semester. In a survey of American college students, 35% of the students surveyed identified either a moderate, high, or very high need for assistance with public speaking anxiety (Bishop, Bower, & Becker, 1998). Thus, it is important to further our understanding of this topic in order to enhance service provision. Two factors that may affect the degree of presentation anxiety experienced by students are gender differences and enrolment status as a citizen/permanent resident or as an international student. Gender differences have been an area of focus for several studies within the presentation anxiety literature (see Bishop et al., 1998; Carrillo et al., 2001; Phillips, Jones, Rieger, & Snell, 1997). Phillips et al. found no gender differences on a self-report measure of presentation anxiety (Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker; PRCS) amongst university students in America. Similarly, Pribyl, Keaten, & Sakamoto (2001) found no gender differences amongst Japanese university students using a Japanese version of the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety. However, other ways of measuring alternative dimensions of presentation anxiety suggest that female university students are more likely to acknowledge a need, and to seek help, for this difficulty (Bishop et al., 1998), moreover that females exhibit greater arousal on some psychophysiological measures (Carrillo et al., 2001). There is a dearth of research investigating the relationship between international student status and presentation anxiety. Most studies into this area have focused on the anxiety surrounding communicating in a second language in the context of learning that language (e.g. Cyphert, 2001; Kitano, 2001). In many instances, students who study abroad are expected to have a certain level of proficiency in the dominant language of the country of study. Thus, international students may be giving presentations in what is not their first language. However, their proficiency in the language is not being explicitly assessed (as would be the case in the context of language learning). This is an area of research that is particularly lacking, especially when we consider that approximately 20% of university students in Australia are international students (Department of Education, Science, and Training, 2003). Coping with language barriers may not be the only barrier to giving effective oral presentations where international students are concerned. Obviously, there are some international students for whom English is a first language. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the level of English ability is not correlated with public speaking anxiety (Pribyl et al., 2001), although it is noted that this study is based on Japanese students giving a presentation in English in the context of language learning. Rather, there also exist other factors that may affect the international student’s ability to deliver an effective presentation. These include differences in accents, being aware of culturally appropriate styles of communication, perhaps having to speak in a language that is not the first language, as well as the ramifications of performance on one’s ability to remain in the country of study (Cyphert, 2001). The above review highlights two areas that stand to benefit from research to further our knowledge, and these form the focus of the studies reported in this paper. The first study comprised a survey of first-year university students on the level of presentation anxiety and the perceived impact of anxiety on performance. The second study reports the findings of a groupbased intervention addressing presentation anxiety that was run in a university-based counselling service. Within the two studies reported in this paper, we sought to examine the impact of gender and enrolment status on the level of presentation anxiety and the perceived impact of anxiety on performance. Based on Phillips et al.’s (1997) findings, it was likely that gender differences would not be manifest on self-report measures of the level of presentation anxiety. However, it may be the case that females are more willing to seek help for this difficulty (cf. Bishop et al., 1998). Regarding the enrolment status of students, it was hypothesized that the issue of presentation anxiety may be more significant for international students than for citizen/permanent residents. Part of the difficulties faced by international students may concern language difficulties, however we were also aware that there might be citizens and permanent residents for whom English is not a first language. Thus, this variable was also one of significant interest. We therefore perceived that it would be helpful to gather data that cast some light on these questions at a general level from the wider student population. The purposes of this paper were thus twofold. First, the results of a survey of the degree of presentation anxiety and its perceived impact on academic performance on students enrolled in first year units will be reported (Study 1). Second, workshops offered to voluntary participants will be outlined, and evaluation data from these workshops will be presented (Study 2). Study 1 Needs Analysis In light of the scarcity of existing research into factors such as gender and international student status, we sought to obtain a clearer picture of these factors by administering a brief in-class questionnaire to examine the degree and nature of presentation anxiety in a university population. Students enrolled in two first-year units were surveyed, and the data were collected within the first two weeks of the first semester. In light of the timing of the administration of these questionnaires, it is acknowledged that many of the respondents may not yet have been directly exposed to a classroom presentation at this university at the time of data collection. However, all respondents would have been aware that they were required to give at least one presentation in the semester. The questionnaire administered to the students is presented in Appendix A. Due to time limitations (resulting from the questionnaires being administered at the start of lectures/tutorials), the questionnaire was constructed to be brief. The questionnaire asked students to respond, on a five-point scale, the degree to which they experience anxiety in anticipation of giving a presentation, when they are giving a presentation, and the perceived impact of anxiety on presentation performance. Respondents were also asked an open-ended question inviting them to provide qualitative data describing the particular concerns invoking anxiety surrounding giving presentations. Students were also asked to provide demographic information relating to age, gender, enrolment status (international student or citizen/permanent resident), first language, and country of origin. Notably, the particular variables of interest on respondents’ first language might sharpen our interpretation of any observed differences between international student and citizen/permanent residents (PR). Similarly