The effects of skills training on communication satisfaction and communication anxiety in the basic speech course

Abstract

This study was designed to test the effects of skills training and experience on communication satisfaction and communication anxiety in the basic speech course. Skills training was operationalized as completion of COMM 15000, Theory and Practice of Oral Discourse, and experience was operationalized as multiple rhetorical performances. The results showed that students of the basic speech course experienced an increase in communication satisfaction and a decrease in communication anxiety following skills training for this sample. Moreover, highly apprehensive students reported being more satisfied with their communication interchanges following completion of the basic speech course.