Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication
Can three little words improve a person’s public speaking performance? Brooks (2014, Study 2) predicted and found that college students who were instructed to say aloud “I am excited” before delivering a stressful 2-3 min speech reported feeling more excited but not less anxious, compared to partici...
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | Psychology of Language and Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2025-0011 |
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| author | Poynter Michelle Pasqualini Marcia Smith |
| author_facet | Poynter Michelle Pasqualini Marcia Smith |
| author_sort | Poynter Michelle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Can three little words improve a person’s public speaking performance? Brooks (2014, Study 2) predicted and found that college students who were instructed to say aloud “I am excited” before delivering a stressful 2-3 min speech reported feeling more excited but not less anxious, compared to participants who were instructed to say “I am calm.” As Brooks also predicted, independent judges rated the performance of the “excited” group as better than the “calm” group across four indices (persuasive, competent, confident, persistent), and the “excited” group had longer speech duration. In a direct replication and extension, we found nearly identical results for self-report, but no differences between conditions on any observer ratings of performance, nor on an additional indirect measure of anxiety (Emotional Stroop). We discuss why this minimal reappraisal intervention affected self-report but did not result in observable improvements in public speaking. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e2ede2108177457bba97688578cc78a7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2083-8506 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psychology of Language and Communication |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2ede2108177457bba97688578cc78a72025-08-20T03:42:55ZengSciendoPsychology of Language and Communication2083-85062025-01-0129125426510.58734/plc-2025-0011Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A ReplicationPoynter Michelle0Pasqualini Marcia Smith11Institute of Psychology, Avila University, United States1Institute of Psychology, Avila University, United StatesCan three little words improve a person’s public speaking performance? Brooks (2014, Study 2) predicted and found that college students who were instructed to say aloud “I am excited” before delivering a stressful 2-3 min speech reported feeling more excited but not less anxious, compared to participants who were instructed to say “I am calm.” As Brooks also predicted, independent judges rated the performance of the “excited” group as better than the “calm” group across four indices (persuasive, competent, confident, persistent), and the “excited” group had longer speech duration. In a direct replication and extension, we found nearly identical results for self-report, but no differences between conditions on any observer ratings of performance, nor on an additional indirect measure of anxiety (Emotional Stroop). We discuss why this minimal reappraisal intervention affected self-report but did not result in observable improvements in public speaking.https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2025-0011anxietycommunicationreappraisalpublic speakingcommunication education |
| spellingShingle | Poynter Michelle Pasqualini Marcia Smith Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication Psychology of Language and Communication anxiety communication reappraisal public speaking communication education |
| title | Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication |
| title_full | Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication |
| title_fullStr | Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication |
| title_short | Getting Excited About Public Speaking: A Replication |
| title_sort | getting excited about public speaking a replication |
| topic | anxiety communication reappraisal public speaking communication education |
| url | https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2025-0011 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT poyntermichelle gettingexcitedaboutpublicspeakingareplication AT pasqualinimarciasmith gettingexcitedaboutpublicspeakingareplication |