University of Hawai'i Maui Community College Speech Department

Speech 151 Overview

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!


The Public Speakers' Resources
|Public Speakers' Page | Speech 151 | Speech 251 | Public Speaking Resources|
|Supporting Your Speech | Sample Speeches | Speech Practice | Speaking Tips|
|Speech Anxiety | Team Presentations | Group Communication | Interviewing|
|Using Visual Aids | ESL Links | Anonymous Feedback | Ron St. John|
|The Learning Center | MCC Library | Maui Language Institute|
|Distance Education Academic Support Services|
|The Ho'oulu OnLine (Student Newspaper)|
|The University of Hawai'i at Manoa|


Page Designer: Ron St. John
Copyright � 2002 - Ka Leo Kumu
Last Revised: August 23, 2005