Journal Entries Assignment

Objectives:

1. To record your reactions to activities and techniques covered in class and practiced
outside of class.
2. To evaluate your own progress over the semester by reviewing your journal entries.
3. To provide feedback to your professor about the helpfulness of techniques and your
progress in overcoming communication anxiety.

The journal is your opportunity to share your comments and feelings about the class activities
and techniques. The journal entries will vary in size; just be sure to address each of the topics in
each journal entry.

Typically, you will have one or two journal entries due at each class period. See the due dates
listed on the individual entries on the pages which follow.

Your journals must be typed and are due at the beginning of the class period listed. You should
keep your own copy and submit one to me. Sometimes you will do this through Word e-mail
attachments which are identified with the due dates on the course syllabus, as well as in this
packet.
Journaling Activity #1: How I See Myself as a Communicator

Today, begin writing/typing your journal. Start with an assessment of how you see yourself as a
communicator on this day. By journaling, you will be able to review and keep track of your
progress over time.

Date: Date due: Sept. 3

Due via e-mail or drop off at my office

1. Describe how you see yourself as a communicator today in the following situations:

---In everyday conversations

---In class or group discussions
---In meetings
---In public speaking opportunities
---Overall (in most situations)

2. Please describe how you experience anxiety about public speaking (stomach butterflies,
racing heart, sweating, blushing, shaking limbs, shivering, feelings of panic or doom,
forgetting important points, thinking worrisome or negative thoughts, etc.). Which
sensations would you especially like to conquer?
3. Take the pre-PRCA survey, record your scores, and provide a copy of your scores to the
professor (see course packet).

Journaling Activity #2: How Communication Anxiety has Impacted my Life

Date: Date due: Sept. 10

1. Today, write in your journal how communication anxiety has impacted your life in the
following situations:
---School or academic life
---Career or job
---Social life or friendships

2. Describe your academic, professional, and social goals that developing public speaking
skills will help you attain:
---School or academic goals
---Career or job (professional) goals
---Social or friendship goals

3. Describe how you would envision your life if you had no fear, anxiety, or nervousness
about public speaking:
Journaling Activity #3: What Caused or Contributed to my Speech Anxiety

Date: Date due: Sept. 17

It is helpful to understand your speech anxiety before you try to conquer it. Consider the six
causes below (A-F). In your journal,

1. Describe the situations related to any of the six causes that you think contributed to your
anxiety.
2. Point out which ones you think impacted you the most.
3. Explain which ones you would like to change the most.

Causes of speech anxiety:

A. Learned responses: situations where you learned that speaking in public has negative
consequences or relationships where others modeled avoidance or nervousness about
public speaking.
B. Worrisome thoughts: public speaking situations where you felt nervous because you
feared negative evaluation by the listeners.
C. Performance orientation: situations where you felt nervous because you thought public
speaking required flawless, dignified language and perfect delivery.
D. Perceived lack of skills: situations where you wished you had public speaking skills
E. Excessive activation: public speaking situations where you experienced excessive
activation.
F. Situational aspects: situations where you felt conspicuous or fearful because all eyes
were on you, or because the situation was new, or because the audience was of higher
status than you.

Journaling Activity #4: My Fight-Flight-Freeze Response

Date: Date due: Sept. 17

Today in your journal, you will evaluate if and how you are perceiving public speaking as a
physical or psychological threat. Use the following points to guide your journaling:

1. What do you think is causing you to perceive public speaking as a threat?

2. Picture in your mind your last public speaking experience (or an especially anxious time
when you spoke in front of others). Describe any of the fight-flight-freeze reactions that
you experienced and when you started experiencing them (the night before the speech,
one hour before the speech).
3. Describe the situation and how you would feel if you did not have to experience the fight-
flight-freeze reactions and physical sensations.
4. Which of the following techniques are you looking forward to learning in order to stop
your fight-flight-freeze reactions? (See next page)
 A. Cognitive restructuring
B. Systematic desensitization
C. Deep breathing
D. Visualization
E. Muscle relaxation
F. Physical exercise and interpersonal support
G. Skills training

Journaling Activity #5: Reflection on my BASICS dimensions, Firing Order, and Personal
Plan

Date: Date due: Sept. 24

Today in your journal, you will reflect on your firing order or personality dimensions and what
you have learned about conquering your speech anxiety using the “Firing Order” chart and
corresponding speech anxiety-reduction techniques in the course packet.

1. Explain when and how you will find the time to practice the speech anxiety reduction
techniques you are about to learn. Describe what obstacles you will face in keeping your
personal plan and practice schedule. What will you do to overcome the obstacles?

Journaling Activity #6: Breathing to Reduce Anxiety and Nervousness

Date: Date due: Sept. 24

Listen to and participate in the deep abdominal breathing recording on D2L.

1. Upon completion of DAB recording, contrast your breathing pattern before practicing
deep abdominal breathing with your breathing after practicing deep abdominal breathing.
In other words, describe the effect that deep abdominal breathing has on your body and
its potential to help reduce tension before you give a speech.

Journaling Activity #7: Replacing Irrational Beliefs with Coping Statements: chart due
with journal entry. Also due: Coping Chart due (see course packet)

Date: Date due: Oct. 1

Submit your coping statement chart with your journal entry. Make one copy of the coping
statement chart for me and one for yourself. Address the following in your journal entry:

1. Create a weekly plan for practicing the coping statements. Be specific: what do you plan to
do behaviorally to keep the coping statements on your radar every day?

Journaling Activity #8: Learning a New Relaxation Response to Public Speaking:

 Due via e-mail or drop off at my office
Date: Date due: Oct. 15

Listen to the “Progressive Muscle Relaxation” recording on D2L. Then address the following in
your journal:

1. Reflect on your experience of learning progressive muscle relaxation. Were you able to
do it effectively? If not, do you know why?
2. Which visualization from your hierarchy of events were the most difficult to maintain
while relaxing? Describe your experience in trying to maintain relaxation while
visualizing the situation where you are “presenting your speech before the audience and
seeing faces looking at you.”
3. Discuss how you will fit PMR into your time schedule and personal plan for conquering
speech anxiety.
4. Describe your public speaking anxiety level now after practicing PMR.

Journaling Activity #9: Mental and Behavioral Practice Reduce Public Speaking Anxiety:
Due via e-mail or drop off at my office
Date due: Oct. 22

Date:

Listen to the “Mental Rehearsal/Visualization” recording on D2L. Today in your journal, reflect
on your mental rehearsal practice sessions and discuss how visualizing positive public speaking
experiences is impacting your anxiety level. Use the following points to guide your journaling:

1. Reflect on a situation where mentally rehearsing your conversation before an important

interview or communication encounter helped prepare you for the situation and increased
your success. Describe how this technique helped you.
2. If you participated as an athlete, musician, or in any other activity where visualizing your
success was helpful, discuss how you learned visualization and how you used it before a
competition or other event.
3. Write a short and realistic script of a few paragraphs on how you will visualize yourself
on the day you will give a speech. Include the positive details of the day and your
speech.
4. What obstacles have kept you from practicing mental rehearsal more often? Describe
what you can do to overcome those obstacles.
5. Discuss the impact that mental rehearsal is having on your public speaking anxiety level
now.

Journaling Activity #10: Your Plans for Physical Exercise and Social Support
Date: Date due: Oct. 29

Today, in your journal, you will reflect on your physical exercise plan and the interpersonal
support in your life that can aid in reducing public speaking anxiety. Use the following points to
guide your journaling:

1. Reflect on the stressors (things that cause stress) in your life. Discuss if and how you are
getting enough physical exercise, healthy food, and sleep to combat the stressors in your
life.
2. If you are not getting enough exercise to help reduce stress in your life, describe where
you can go to get help.
3. Discuss your plan to develop a healthy stress-reduction program in your life.
4. Write about your plan to increase social support in your life, especially for conquering
your public speaking anxiety.

Journaling Activity #11: Skills Training

Date: Date due: Nov. 5

Today, in your journal, reflect on your public speaking skills. Discuss the skills you have
learned, the skills you need to learn, and how learning public speaking skills can impact your
public speaking anxiety level. Use the following points to guide your journaling:
1. Identify the effective public speaking skills you have already acquired and how you have
acquired them.
2. Describe the public speaking skills that you need to acquire or enhance.
3. Discuss the impact your perceptions of what you do well and where you need to improve
is having on your public speaking anxiety level or what impact you hope it will have on
you.

Journaling Activity #12: How I See Myself and a Communicator

Date: Date due: On or before Dec. 10

Today, you will reflect on your progress toward conquering your speech anxiety. You will
assess the changes you have made since you first began your journey. Use the following points
to guide your journaling:

1. Describe how you see yourself as a “communicator” now in the following situations:
---In everyday conversations
---In class or group discussions
---In meetings
---In public speaking opportunities
---Overall
2. Review how you described yourself as a communicator in Journaling Activity #1 and
compare it with how you described yourself today. Recount the changes or
improvements you have made.
3. Sum up how your body responds to public speaking now (stomach butterflies, racing
heart, sweating, blushing, shaking limbs, shivering, feelings of panic or doom, forgetting
important points, thinking worrisome or negative thoughts, etc.), then compare it with
what you wrote in Journaling Activity #1. (cont. next page)
4. Describe the firing order of the dimensions involved in your speech anxiety and how you
selected treatment techniques based on your firing order.
5. Describe the anxiety-reduction techniques that you found most helpful.
6. Describe your anxiety level about giving a speech at this time.
7. Take the post-PRCA survey and record your scores. Provide a copy of your scores to the
professor (see course packet).