FROM SHAKY HANDS TO STEADY VOICES: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF STUDENTS’ EMOTIONAL JOURNEYS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING TRAINING = DARIPADA TANGAN YANG MENGGIGIL KEPADA SUARA YANG MANTAP: SATU PENEROKAAN KUALITATIF TERHADAP PERJALANAN EMOSI PELAJAR DALAM LATIHAN PENGUCAPAN AWAM

Abstract

This study examines how structured public speaking training influenced the emotional and cognitive development of 16 first-semester engineering students at a Malaysian polytechnic. Over an 11-week intervention, participants produced reflective journals documenting their experiences within a staged, emotionally supportive training programme. Thematic analysis of 176 journal entries identified five interconnected emotional trajectories: initial pervasive nervousness and physiological anxiety; heightened self-doubt driven by peer comparison; progressive confidence gains through repeated, scaffolded practice; increased comfort derived from audience familiarity; and gradual regulation of physical anxiety symptoms. The findings indicate that public speaking anxiety was not merely a performance-related obstacle but a deeply embodied and identity-linked challenge. Confidence growth did not emerge from technical instruction alone; rather, it developed through emotionally responsive pedagogical strategies that fostered mastery experiences, peer support, and reflective learning. Through structured practice and guided reflection, students learned to reinterpret physiological arousal, reframe negative self-perceptions, and approach speaking tasks with greater resilience and agency. By foregrounding student voice and tracing emotional transformation over time, this qualitative action research contributes a longitudinal, learner-centred perspective to communication pedagogy. The study argues for a reconceptualisation of public speaking instruction, positioning emotional safety, reflective practice, and scaffolded exposure as foundational conditions for sustainable communicative competence.