Students fearing public speaking as an attribute of our time?

Many topics are being discussed in connection with university students these days, one of which is the level of competence of presenting and self-presentation in front of one's classmates and the teacher. For many students, this is a challenging task for multiple reasons. 1) They do not have an established method of searching for and verifying information. Many are convinced that they can understand a topic simply by entering a search term into a search engine on the Internet, whilst not being able to assert the truthfulness and importance of information. 2) The use of modern technologies in teaching has a number of positive consequences for the effectiveness of learning - greater attractiveness, clarity, comprehensibility and “pre-processing” of knowledge. However, it also has negative effects, e.g. it does not develop the ability of students to work only with a text and quickly navigate through it, communicate fluently on the given topic and express themselves accurately, and manage to perform in front of the study group without stress and fear. Stage fright and fear of public appearances are strong enough for some students that they choose not to attend the class when they are supposed to hold a presentation. The fact that students are shy to appear in front of a study group is not only because of the use of modern technologies in the classroom but above all because of their excessive use in their free time. 3) Students frequently do not understand their feelings. Indirect network or mobile communication does not give them the ability to check the faces and expressions of those they communicate with. Therefore, they have not formed the habit of deriving information from the non-verbal manifestations of the face and the body of their communication partners. They do not hone empathy because technology does not require them to do it. They do not learn to perceive, name, control and use their feelings. Direct communication can thus become a demanding, unreadable and unpleasant activity, which is better avoided. To what extent university students are aware of this, how difficult it is for them to present themselves in front of the group and how much they are aware of their experiences is what we have investigated in our research.