Public speakers believe their nervousness is more apparent to others than is actually the case, a phenomenon known as the illusion of transparency. Study 1, in which participants delivered a public speech to an audience, provided evidence of this phenomenon. Despite this, a substantial minority of participants (36%) thought that the audience would…

This article offers a way of using the theory of audience design--how speakers position different audience groups as main addressees, overhearers, or bystanders--for written discourse. It focuses on main addressees, that is, those audience members who are expected to participate in and respond to a speaker's utterances. The text samples are…

Investigates how a speaker's expectations about the audience can influence public speaking anxiety and willingness to speak. Indicates that audience characteristics interact with speaking contexts in complex ways but that, in general, audience pleasantness exerts a stronger influence than audience familiarity, with pleasant friends the most…