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Effect of Public Speaking Training on Health Presentation Skills among Public Health Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Effective public speaking is an important competency in public health practice because public health professionals frequently communicate health information to communities, policymakers, healthcare workers, organizations, and other stakeholders. Public health students require strong presentation skills to communicate health messages clearly, confidently, accurately, and appropriately to different audiences. However, limited opportunities for structured public speaking practice, fear of speaking before an audience, inadequate presentation experience, poor organization of health messages, and limited confidence may affect students' ability to deliver effective health presentations. Public speaking training provides an opportunity to strengthen students' communication abilities, confidence, presentation techniques, and capacity to effectively communicate public health information. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of public speaking training on health presentation skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on Social Cognitive Theory, Experiential Learning Theory, and the Health Belief Model. Social Cognitive Theory explains how observational learning, modelling, self-efficacy, feedback, and reinforcement may influence students' confidence and ability to deliver effective presentations. Experiential Learning Theory emphasizes learning through practical experience, reflection, observation, and application, making it relevant to repeated public speaking exercises, presentations, simulations, and feedback sessions. The Health Belief Model explains how perceived barriers such as fear of public speaking, perceived benefits of effective communication, perceived self-efficacy, and cues to action may influence students' willingness to participate in public speaking activities. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how public speaking training may influence health presentation skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate and postgraduate public health students enrolled in selected universities and other accredited tertiary institutions offering public health programmes in Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, institutions, public health departments, academic levels, and eligible students. Public speaking training will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to structured speaking sessions, frequency and duration of training, speech organization, audience analysis, voice projection, pronunciation, pacing, non-verbal communication, eye contact, use of presentation aids, storytelling techniques, question-and-answer management, handling of difficult questions, confidence-building exercises, presentation rehearsal, peer feedback, instructor feedback, and simulated health-presentation activities. Health presentation skills will be assessed using indicators such as ability to organize health information logically, communicate health messages clearly, use appropriate public health terminology, adapt presentations to different audiences, maintain audience engagement, demonstrate confidence, use appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication, effectively use presentation materials, explain health concepts accurately, respond appropriately to questions, manage presentation time, and deliver evidence-based health messages effectively. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized public-speaking confidence scales, health-presentation skills assessment checklists, observed presentation tasks, scenario-based assessments, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, previous presentation experience, exposure to public speaking training, and baseline health presentation skills. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of public speaking training on health presentation skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, presentation-skill scores before and after the training may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that public speaking training has a significant positive effect on health presentation skills among public health students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured and practical public speaking training are expected to demonstrate greater confidence and competence in delivering health presentations than students without comparable training. Training may improve students' ability to organize health information, communicate clearly, maintain eye contact, project their voices, use appropriate presentation aids, engage audiences, manage questions, and deliver health messages within appropriate time limits. Repeated presentation practice, role-play, simulated public health presentations, and constructive feedback may further strengthen students' confidence and ability to communicate effectively with different audiences. However, fear of public speaking, limited training time, large class sizes, inadequate presentation facilities, limited opportunities for repeated practice, and differences in students' baseline communication abilities may reduce the effectiveness of training alone. The study therefore expects practical, competency-based, participatory, and adequately supervised public speaking training to contribute significantly to improved health presentation skills among public health students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on public health education, health communication, public speaking, presentation skills, communication competencies, health promotion, experiential learning, and professional development in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, universities, schools of public health, public health departments, professional and accreditation bodies, healthcare organizations, public health practitioners, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening communication competencies among future public health professionals. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating structured public speaking training into public health curricula, increasing opportunities for supervised health presentations, incorporating simulation and role-play activities, strengthening peer and instructor feedback mechanisms, and developing competency-based communication programmes that prepare public health students to deliver effective health presentations to diverse audiences across Nigeria.

Keywords: Public speaking training, health presentation skills, public health students, health communication, presentation skills, communication competency, public health education, health promotion, experiential learning, Nigeria.