How does anxiety manifest itself? Using specific examples, describe your feelings and physical reactions prior to delivering a speech: Are you anxious or confident? What thoughts are running through your head? What parts of your body react? Finally, explain how your physical and emotional responses affect your delivery skills.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

- Anxiety is a chemical reactive condition during which our bodies secrete hormones and adrenaline that eventually overload our physical and emotional responses.
- Your heart begins to beat faster, and your blood pressure starts to rise. More sugar is pumped into your system, and your stomach churns. When you experience these reactions, you may feel as if your body is operating in high gear and that little or nothing can be done about it.
- Specific behaviors:
* Voice; Quivering, too soft, monotonous, too fast, nonemphatic
* Fluency; Stammering, halting, awkward pauses, hunting for words, speech blocks
* Mouth and throat; Breathing heavily, clearing throat often, swallowing repeatedly
* Facial expressions; No eye contact, rolling eyes, tense facial muscles, grimaces, twitches
* Arms and hands; Rigid and tense, fidgeting, waving hands
* Body movement; Swaying, pacing, shuffling feet, weight shifts
* Nonvisible symptoms; Feeling too warm, too much saliva, dry mouth, butterflies in the stomach
- Student's personal examples and descriptions will vary.