Effects of Virtual Reality–Based Speech Practice on Psychological States and Performance

Abstract

Many individuals experience anxiety while delivering a speech. One therapeutic approach for mitigating such anxiety is exposure therapy, in which individuals are gradually exposed to anxiety-inducing situations of increasing intensity. A psychological intervention known as Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) has been developed in recent years. VRET enables simulated exposure therapy by constructing anxiety-provoking environments within a virtual space and having the participants wear a head-mounted display. Prior studies targeting speech anxiety have used virtual reality (VR) speech venues in which the audience’s attitude and size were manipulated to vary the level of perceived anxiety. This study aimed to determine the most effective repetition pattern of practice and to propose a more effective method for VR-based speech training. In the experiment, we established three anxiety levels for the VR speech venue. Participants then participated in VR speech practice sessions in which their anxiety levels were manipulated. The participants were divided into four groups: groups that repeatedly practiced at Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 and a group that practiced with gradually increasing levels from 1 to 3. Before and after the VR practice sessions, the participants delivered face-to-face speeches to evaluate changes in performance. For face-to-face speeches, both self-evaluations by the speakers and external evaluations by audience members (experimental assistants) were collected. In this experiment, changes in the pattern of practice repetition did not have a substantial effect on the psychological state or performance. As opposed to the specific pattern of repetition, repeated practice itself and the resulting habituation may contribute to reductions in nervousness and anxiety as well as improvements in subjective performance evaluations.

Keywords: Public Speaking Anxiety, Virtual Reality, Performance, Speech Audience, Physiological Monitoring

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007342