Abstract:

The research focuses on the fear of public speaking, or glossophobia, of postgraduate students in Spain. The main objective is to evaluate the levels of glossophobia of this group, with special attention to online public speaking. COVID-19 has forced the on-line performance of multiple academic activities, including defenses for Final Master's Projects (MT). For this, a mixed research (qualitative-quantitative) was carried out through a survey (500 responses) among the student group carried out at the time of presentation of their MT (June-July 2020). Fifteen experts previously validated the questionnaire. The resulting Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which measures its reliability, was 0.82. The main result is that this group is aware, in a vast majority, of their oratorical weakness. Almost all show interest in improving this competence and consider that presenting the MT has been the greatest speaking challenge in their lives. Among the main ones, the need to introduce specific training in public speaking in the students' curriculum stands out. It should be included in the teaching offer of postgraduate programs, regardless of their specialty, with special emphasis on online interactions. Glossophobia has been shown to be transversal and affects all types of students. The proposal that is made is currently non-existent in Spain.

Keywords:

Glossophobia, stage fright, postgraduate studies, public speaking, phobia, rhetoric communication, COVID-19.