Aim during anxiety in conversation (9)
I believe the answer is:
intention
'aim' is the definition.
(I know that aim can be written as intention)
'during anxiety in conversation' is the wordplay.
'during' becomes 'in' (e.g. during February means in February).
'anxiety' becomes 'tension' (I've seen this in another clue).
'in conversation' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'tension' is a homophone of 'tention'.
'in'+'tention'='INTENTION'
(Other definitions for intention that I've seen before include "Design" , "Aim, plan" , "Plan, purpose" , "end" , "Aim, purpose" .)