Growing to Perform: Student Perceptions on Using Drama to Expand the Comfort Zone in Public Speaking

This study investigates the beliefs about public speaking held by college students and in what way drama allows them to develop their public speaking skills. The perceived potentiality of drama-based pedagogy (DBP) as a viable pedagogical tool and its self-perceived impact on students’ public speaking mindsets was explored through a mainly qualitative analysis of student reflective writing. Accordingly, a case study approach involving students enrolled in a compulsory first-semester communication course at a liberal arts college in the Netherlands was used. Results suggest that drama activities give students valuable opportunities to practice, make mistakes, work with others and see that speaking is fun. This may help expand their comfort zone in public speaking.