An efficacy test of a new therapy (“Communication‐orientation motivation”) for public speaking anxiety

Abstract

The present study performs an efficacy test of Motley's revised model of public‐speaking anxiety (PSA) by way of a written version of the proposed treatment program. High‐PSA subjects received either a) the new written treatment— “COM therapy,” b) systematic desensitization, c) a placebo treatment, or d) no treatment. PSA reductions ware significantly greater for COM‐therapy and systematic‐desensitization subjects than for placebo and control subjects. Moreover, reductions were significantly greater for COM‐therapy subjects than for systematic‐desensitization subjects. The main practical implication is the prospect of making available, via booklet, a method by which anxious speakers may reduce their anxiety without the logistic and other inconveniences of existing therapies.