Virtual Reality as a Tool for Training Public Speaking Skills in Higher Education Students

Virtual Reality as a Tool for Training Public Speaking Skills in Higher Education Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

According to the scientific literature, public speaking (PS) is an important skill for students to master. However, a large proportion of students do not feel comfortable speaking in public. PS anxiety impacts oral communication (i.e., voice and fluency). These changes can affect speaker's academic and professional success, as well as his credibility. Performing a high-quality PPP with confidence is therefore rarely an innate skill, but fortunately it can be trained and improved. Therefore, training PS skills in representative settings is crucial but often challenging for PS professionals (e.g., speech therapists, vocologists, coaches).

This project examines how oral communication skills training including simulations in virtual reality (VR) supports the acquisition of effective oral PS skills. Using acoustic analyses, outcomes from participants in the intervention group (N = 40) will be compared with those of a wait-list control group (N = 40) to determine whether significant differences emerge in filled pauses, speech rate, and vocal intonation during PS. Changes in PS self-efficacy will also be assessed. Regarding secondary outcomes, the study will evaluate changes in self-reported and physiological PS anxiety, as well as self-reported confidence as a speaker. Finally, self-perceived vocal effort during PS will be examined.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy Adult; Voice; Speech; Virtual Reality Simulation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Indirect Method; Behavioral: Direct Method

Detailed Description

The present study is a randomized wait-list control trial, i.e. participants are randomly assigned to either the group that receives the intervention directly or the group that receives the intervention after a waiting period. First, both groups will receive a 1-hour session of information on general advice about PS (indirect method). Then the participants in the experimental group will receive three 1-hour sessions of voice and fluency training with VR practice moments for a period of 3 weeks (direct method). The control wait-list group will first wait for 3 weeks and then get the direct method training. The investigators will collect data from all participants in the first week (before the start of intervention for the experimental group), fourth week (right after the intervention for the experimental group and right before the first intervention session for the control group) and seventh week (three weeks after the intervention for the experimental group and right after the intervention for the control group).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Liège
    • Liège, Liège, Belgium, 4000
      • Recruiting
      • University of Liege
      • Contact: Lamia Bettahi; Phone Number: +32 4 3664651; Email: lamia.bettahi@uliege.be

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Higher education student
• Speaking french fluently

Exclusion Criteria:

• Hearing impairment
• Voice or fluency disorder at the time of the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Arm; Indirect method: one information session on general advice about PS; Direct method: three sessions of PS training including VR simulations over a course of 3 weeks.	Behavioral: Indirect Method; • General information and advice on PS; Behavioral: Direct Method; • Learning effective PS oral skills using speech therapy exercises (e.g., modeling, audiovisual feedback) and VR simulations
Other: Wait-list control arm; Indirect method: one information session on general advice about PS; Delayed direct method: after a waiting period of three weeks, three sessions of PS training including simulations over a course of 3 weeks.	Behavioral: Indirect Method; • General information and advice on PS; Behavioral: Direct Method; • Learning effective PS oral skills using speech therapy exercises (e.g., modeling, audiovisual feedback) and VR simulations

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Filled pauses	Measurements of participants' filled pauses (percentage of the total number of syllables produced) when PS in VR	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7
Speech rate	Measurements of participants' speech rate (in syllables per second) when PS in VR	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7
Voice intonation	Acoustic measurements of participants' voice variation (in semitones) when PS in VR	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7
PS self-efficacy	Questionnaire on self-efficacy in PS	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self-reported PS anxiety	Self-assessment of perceived anxiety using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS)	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7
Physiological PS anxiety	Measurements of participants' heart rate (in bpm) when PS in VR	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7
Self-reported confidence as a speaker	Self-assessment of confidence as a speaker using the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker (PRCS) short-form questionnaire	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7
Self-perceived vocal effort	Self-assessment of perceived vocal effort using the Adapted BORG Category Ratio (CR-10) physical exertion scale	Week 1(baseline), 4 and 7

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Liege
• Collaborators: Fonds pour la Recherche Scientifique (FRS-FNRS)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): March 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 30, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 30, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 30, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Training; Anxiety; Virtual Reality; Students; Speech Therapy; Speech Fluency; Voice; Public Speaking; Oral Communication; Glossophobia; Verbal Behavior
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Signs and Symptoms; Communication; Anxiety Disorders; Communication Disorders; Speech; Glossophobia; Verbal Behavior
• Other Study ID Numbers: CE 2526-003 - FRESH FC 52277

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No