It is important that researchers devise methods that not only help with anxiety reduction, but also assist participants in reinterpreting their remaining nerves more positively.

Ben Jackson, Josh Compton, Ashleigh Thornton, & James Dimmock

Inoculation theory offers a framework for protecting individuals against challenges to an existing attitude, belief, or state. Despite the prevalence and damaging effects of public speaking anxiety, inoculation strategies have yet to be used to help individuals remain calm before and during public speaking. We aimed to test the effectiveness of an inoculation mes- sage for reducing the onset of public speaking anxiety, and helping presenters interpret their speech-related anxiety more positively. Participants (Mage = 20.14, SD = 2.72) received either an inoculation (n = 102) or control (n = 128) message prior to engaging a public speak- ing task and reported a range of anxiety-related perceptions. Accounting for personality characteristics and perceptions of task importance, and relative to control participants, those who received the inoculation message reported significantly lower pre-task anxiety, and following the task, reported that they had experienced lower somatic anxiety, and that the inoculation message had caused them to view their nerves in a less debilitating light. Inoculation messages may be an effective strategy for helping participants reframe and reduce their apprehension about public speaking, and investigating their efficacy in other stress-inducing contexts may be worthwhile.

Jackson, B., Compton, J., Thornton, A., & Dimmock, J. (2016, November). Re-thinking anxiety: Using inoculation messages to reduce and reinterpret public speaking fears [paper presentation]. National Communication Association, Philadelphia, PA, United States. *Winner, Top Paper Panel: Communication Apprehension and Competence Division.