Public Speaking

Catalog description

This course, designed for students who want to boost their confidence in presenting in front of others, is an introduction to the study and practice of public speaking: the skill of conveying your thoughts and ideas in a compelling manner for your intended audience. This involves, first and foremost, practice: we will focus on improving your ability to speak confidently, eloquently, and engagingly in front of an audience through regular practice of presentation and delivery. However, this course also takes the perspective that being an eloquent speaker requires being a strong critical and rhetorical thinker, as well as a perceptive reader of persuasive texts of all kinds. To that end, you will engage in some theoretical dimensions of speech and persuasion through required readings, class discussions, rhetorical and speech analyses, and written assignments, learning strategies to approach, research, and organize instances of public speech to convey your ideas memorably and effectively. Attendance on speech days is mandatory. Grades will be based on improvement and effort in order to encourage students to focus on their development rather than on final outcomes. This course is designed to strengthen skills that are crucial to your development as an informed and engaged citizen and future professional, as well those skills that will prove immediately useful to you as a university student.