Personal and Public Speech 151 is an introductory course
designed to increase your understanding of basic communication processes so
that you can improve your communication skills. The course is divided into three units: (1) Interviewing,
(2) group/team
communication, (3) and public speaking. By the end of the course, students will
have become more competent interviewers and interpersonal communicators; group
and team communicators; public speakers.
By the end of this course students will obtain skills needed to function
effectively in today's society.
Interviewing:
First you will exchange bio-sheets with a
classmate/interview partner. Then
you may use some of the information from the bio-sheet to develop a list of
questions (an interview schedule) to interview a classmate in order to reduce
uncertainty, and to become familiar with the interviewing process. Your interview schedule will include an
opening, a body with at least 10 open questions, and a closing. You will record the information (field
notes) gathered from your interview and develop an outline based on the
information you would like to share with our class about your interviewee. You will then share the information
with our class in the form of a brief but memorable presentation. This is our first opportunity to learn
about each other. You may include
a Visual Aid (extra credit). This
can be a drawing, painting, collage, and/or some form of visual representation
of the person you will be introducing to our class. Have fun with this opportunity. Your enthusiasm builds our enthusiasm for the person you
will be introducing.
Interviewing Opportunities:
Additional interview opportunities will be to develop an INTERVIEW
SCHEDULE for
the interview of a person outside of class. You are required to do at least one additional interview
after the interview of a classmate.
You may do an interview in order to gather information for your Team
Project to gain a
better understanding of your topic/issue, and to further develop your interviewing
skills. Another interview could be
for your informative speech to gather information for your speech. READ our text & check out the Public Speakers' Site pertaining to interviewing.
Public Speaking:
Your first presentation will be the introduction of your
partner. You will have the
opportunity to present several other times in class. Two such times will be when you present the Bad Speech and the Vision Speech that are each 2-minute
speeches. You will have the
opportunity to present three Impromptu speeches. You will be given a prompt in class and you will give a
short speech on the prompt you are given.
You will also do at least two Team Presentations of Chapters from our
text. You will be assigned the
Team that you will present with and the Chapters that you will present.
The Commemorative Speech:
You will commemorate and pay tribute to an individual who you know or have known. The presentation will be given without any outline or manuscript, no notes...nothing. It is not memorized and it is not impromptu. You will prepare what you want to say and you will practice your speech. You will simply "speak from your heart."
A good person to commemorate would be someone who has made a big difference in your life. Perhaps a role model. You could commemorate your Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Friend, Son, Daughter, Auntie, Uncle, Grandparent(s), your entire family, your best friend, your spouse or significant other.
It makes this opportunity much easier and more effective if you choose someone who you love or who you have loved.
If you choose the right person this opportunity will be easy for you and inspiring for us. The byproduct of the commemorative speech is inspiration. You will inspire us with your words.
Major
Speech:
You will give one major individual presentation. The presentation will be an
informative speech
where you will be informing the class about SOMETHING THAT YOU KNOW WELL. A good topic would be one you are interested in, and are knowledgeable on. For example: Hiking; bicycling; music;
surfing; diving; painting; photography; the Internet; Web page design;
computers; the History of Green Tea; or any other topic you think you could
competently inform our class about---and your audience (our class) will find intellectually
stimulating. It is very important
that you choose a topic that is interesting to you and you are motivated to
share your information with us.
You can find a long list of
potential topics on The Public Speakers' Web Site.
If you are having trouble coming up with a topic, please ask
me--I can help you brainstorm one.
You could also ask your friends and family for help deciding on a
topic. In addition to the informative
speech you have the opportunity to give several impromptu speeches and other
types of speaking opportunities throughout the semester. Fine tune your listening skills, and
follow the schedule. If you have
any questions
please ask.
Begin
Preparation Now: First start a list of
possible topics/issues that you are interested in and you think you could
inform the class about. From your
list decide which ones you are most interested in and committed to. Then let me know what topics you have
chosen. After you decide on a
topic you can begin to develop a specific purpose, and a central idea/thesis
statement. Now, with a better idea of the direction of your topic, you need to
develop an audience analysis questionnaire. Once you have analyzed
your audience you will want to tailor your specific purpose and central
idea to better fit your audience.
With a concise specific purpose, and clear central idea in hand you are
now ready to gather materials and information for your speech.
Once you have researched your topic you can now put together
a preparation outline for your speech. The informative speech organization
materials and sample outlines will also be helpful as you prepare for your
informative speech. There is a Word 97
Template of an Informative Speech Preparation Outline that is available on
the Public Speakers' Web Site that will help you to
prepare your informative speech preparation outline. I hope it will also save
you some time.
Evaluation:
Throughout this course you will be evaluating your
classmates' speeches, and other presentations. After you evaluate your Classmate's presentation you will
give them feedback to help them improve their communication skills and to help
yourself gain an understanding of how others communicate. The evaluations will also help you
better understand how you communicate and what you can do to improve your
communication skills. You will learn from others and they will learn from your valuable feedback.
The course is designed to teach you techniques of critical
analysis and evaluation by giving and receiving evaluations. You are expected to participate in the
constructive process of evaluating other student's presentations and communication styles. By observing and evaluating others
performing a skill you will learn through the successes and failures of
others--the improvements and progress of others. We are a team in this class and the more effort we put into
helping our classmates improve with our evaluations and positive feedback
during all presentations the more we will improve our own communication
skills. Don't be afraid to help others
improve. There is difference
between a Critique
of your work and being Criticized. Feedback and
Critiques from your peers will be extremely helpful in this class. It is not personal it is business. You are not evaluating the person. You
are evaluating the work--the speech.
Don't take it personal. We
are all here to learn and to help each other learn.
If you put more effort than is expected from you into
this class, and into your assignments throughout the semester--you are assured to achieve the course outcomes and more. I
encourage you to stop by my office often, and as soon as possible.
Help me help you succeed!