Review the sentence:
Digging fingernails into his palms, Jerry's speech caused sweatiness
and nervousness.
Digging fingernails into his palms, a participle phrase, is right next to speech, an illogical target. The person, not the speech, has the fingers! (Jerry's, a possessive noun, functions as an adjective describing speech.)
Before you continue, review the rules for misplaced and dangling modifiers.