Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

The Shakedown Of Warm-Ups: An Assessment Of Pre-Speech Exercises' Impact On Public Speaking Anxiety, Joshua Westwick, Kelli J. Chromey, Karla Hunter, Andrea Carlile

Communication Studies Publications

Academics have suggested that the use of warm-up exercises like those used by forensics competitors before a competition may reduce students’ public speaking anxiety (PSA). However, little empirical work has assessed these anecdotal claims. Thus, to assess the impact of using warm-up exercises in the foundational course, we developed and tested a uniform warm-up protocol for students enrolled in our standardized, multi-section public speaking course. This study sought to discover whether students who engaged in physical and vocal function exercises prior to speech delivery would have lower speaking anxiety over the course of the semester than students in the control …