This study used an open clinical trial to test a cognitive‐behavioral treatment for public‐speaking anxiety that utilized virtual reality as a tool for exposure therapy. Treatment was completed by participants (n=10) meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐IV criteria for social phobia, or panic disorder with agoraphobia in which public speaking was the predominantly feared stimulus. Treatment was conducted by a licensed psychologist in an outpatient clinic. Treatment consisted of eight individual therapy sessions, including four sessions of anxiety management training and four sessions of exposure therapy using a virtual audience, according to a standardized treatment manual. Participants completed standardized self‐report questionnaires assessing public‐speaking anxiety at pre‐treatment, post‐treatment, and 3‐month follow‐up. Participants were asked to give a speech to an actual audience at pre‐ and post‐treatment. Results showed decreases on all self‐report measures of public‐speaking anxiety from pre‐ to post‐treatment, which were maintained at follow‐up (n=8; all P<.05). Participants were no more likely to complete a speech post‐treatment than at pre‐treatment. This study provides preliminary evidence that a cognitive‐behavioral treatment using virtual reality for exposure to public speaking may reduce public‐speaking anxiety and suggests that further research with a controlled design is needed. Depression and Anxiety 22:156–158, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.