Addressing Public Speaking Anxiety in Real-time Using a Virtual Public Speaking Coach and Physiological Sensors

Oral presentations are important and challenging tasks that most people struggle with due to public speaking anxiety. Virtual agents have been shown to be effective communication skills training coaches and effective as virtual audiences for inducing anxiety in public speaking exposure therapy. To date, there are fewer research interventions, including virtual agents, that are designed to assist presenters manage their anxiety in real-time during presentations. Our research attempts to fill this gap by exploring ways in which technologies, including virtual agents, can help reduce anxiety during presentations. To help presenters manage their anxiety, we will design and evaluate an automated real-time framework for detecting public speaking anxiety and explore behavioral just-in-time techniques that presenters can use while presenting. Our automated framework will be guided by a physiological detection model, use a virtual agent as the user interface, and will assist presenters during their presentation.