State Anxiety

State anxiety is another term used to describe situational anxiety. It is not a permanent trait or a reaction to a specific person, but rather a response to a "perfect storm" of circumstances. For example, you might usually be a confident speaker, but you feel extreme anxiety because you are tired, unprepared, or speaking in a high-stakes environment (like a classroom presentation for a grade). According to Dr. Sunny, a professor of public communication, it is one of the most common forms of communication anxiety because we are afraid of public embarrassment in a public setting. In a later video in this section, Dr. Sunny will provide strategies for managing communication apprehension, like situational anxiety.