With the goal of identifying the characteristics or traits students bring to the classroom that predispose them to panic when faced with the threat of presenting in front of an audience, this study introduced a subtype of public-speaking state anxiety--anxious arousal. Specifically, this study examined the extent to which trait anxiety and physiological reactivity predicted anxious arousal during a public-speaking presentation. When combined with trait anxiety, physiological reactivity accounted for 73.3% of anxious arousal. Suggestions for pedagogical and therapeutic practice are included. (Contains 1 table and 2 notes.)