Carnegie Mellon University

Beliefs About Public Speaking Scale

What is it and how does it work?

The Beliefs about Public Speaking Scale is a 31-item self-report rating scale that measures four dimensions of public speaking: transmission, transaction, recursive process, and audience orientation (Stewart et al., 2017). Adapted from the Beliefs About Writing Survey (BWS), the measure has been validated with undergraduate student populations (Stewart et al., 2017; Sanders-Reio et al., 2014).  

Surveys may be administered multiple times in a semester to collect longitudinal data. Instructors can configure the survey to release results to students for feedback purposes.

Which skill(s) are targeted?

The Beliefs About Public Speaking Scale can be used to collect students' self-report ratings of of audience orientation and openness to recursion:

  • Produce content that is credible and compelling to a target audience across multiple formats (oral, written, and visual).
  • Prepare coherent and clearly organized oral, written, and visual products based on purpose, genre, context, and audience.
  • Develop independent processes for setting communication goals, seeking and incorporating feedback, and revising to improve effectiveness.

Who has used it?

  • Dietrich College General Education Program

  • First-Year Writing Program

  • Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholar Development (OURSD)

  • 99-101: Core@CMU

Beliefs About Public Speaking Scale article image

icon indicating less than 1 hour time commitmentEducator time commitment

Approximately 15 minutes

icon indicating a time commitment of less than an hourStudent time commitment

Approximately 5 minutes

Contact eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu for help with incorporating this resource.

Educator how-to steps

  1. Download and review the Beliefs about Public Speaking Scale.
  2. Decide when students should complete the Beliefs about Public Speaking Scale and then include this in the corresponding assignments/instructions to students.
  3. Set up the assignment in Canvas (or as you normally would). NOTE: We have a Canvas assignment shell with the Beliefs about Public Speaking Scale that you can copy to your Canvas course. Contact eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu to ask for help with this.)

References

Stewart, C. O., McConnell III, J. R., Stallings, L. A., & Roscoe, R. D. (2019). Growth mindset: Associations with apprehension, self-perceived competence, and beliefs about public speaking. Basic Communication Course Annual, 31(1), 6.

Sanders-Reio, J., Alexander, P. A., Reio Jr, T. G., & Newman, I. (2014). Do students' beliefs about writing relate to their writing self-efficacy, apprehension, and performance?. Learning and Instruction, 33, 1-11.