2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Public communication is a routine expectation for engineers, yet many students report significant speaking apprehension. Utilizing growth-mindset theory, a 95-minute active-learning lesson was developed that had students identify barriers to impromptu speaking, practice oral-exam simulations in small groups, and learn targeted techniques to address those barriers. Pre/post measurement of public speaking apprehension in PhD BME students across the course showed that 60% of students decreased their apprehension, with the largest and statistically significant improvements in the high-apprehension subgroup (mean change −8.8 points, p=0.0081). Results suggest that a single, focused intervention can meaningfully reduce public-speaking anxiety for students who are most affected.