A study was conducted to determine if communication apprehensive students enrolled in a basic speech communication course preferred specific instructional methods and perceived these methods as beneficial in reducing public speaking anxiety. During four consecutive semesters, 620 undergraduate students completed the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) and indicated whether each of a number of instructional methods would help them feel more relaxed and comfortable when delivering their speeches in the course. Grading options, speech preparation procedures, speaking order options, topic selection procedures, and administration procedures were the types of instructional methods tested in the study. The results indicated that administration procedures (audience size, speech length) presented the most significant source of speech anxiety for communication apprehensive students. On the basis of these findings, apprehension about public speaking may be attributed to the process of speaking rather than the content of the speech or the skills of the speaker. However, the findings also demonstrated that apprehensive students prefer a number of procedures that may not always enhance their speaking skills. For example, some prefer that oral comments not be made after their speech. Instructors may counter such fears by explaining the importance of feedback as well as demonstrating it by insuring that sufficient time is available for oral comments between speeches. (HTH)