Course Goals: 

This course will help you overcome fears you may have of sharing your ideas in public. You will be introduced to the communication process, assess your attitudes and orientation to public speaking, develop better communication skills, and utilize standard American English articulation. The Critical Inquiry approach will be used to prepare for and aid in discussing all reading materials. The overall goal of this course is to help you more capably express your ideas extemporaneously, with confidence and in a clearly organized and coherent manner.  By the end of the course the students will:
Be more comfortable speaking in public. Be able to listen empathetically and critically. Better understanding voice production and control. Be able to Organize, Develop, Support, and Deliver ideas in a logical substantive manner. 

Required Book, Supplies & Other items:

• Bebbe & Beebe. (2006). A concise public speaking handbook. 2nd ed. Boston, MA.: Allyn and Bacon. [NOTE: An online version of the longer textbook is available.]
• 8"X5" white cards
• USB jump drive - 512 kb or larger
• JJAY e-mail address - to get your e-mail set up CLICK HERE
• A collegiate dictionary. 

Course Requirements:

• ATTENDANCE--You are allowed TWO unexcused absences. Bring a doctor's note for an EXCUSED absence.
• ASSIGNMENTS--All work must be completed on time. Late work automatically loses points. Three major speeches must be completed to pass the course.
• GRADING--Your final grade will be determined on the basis of an accumulation of points which are earned throughout the semester. SEE BELOW

Class Focus:

Discussions of Terminology and Testing – You will be tested on speech-making terminology discussed in class and in your text book.

Listening Panel -- This course will help you to develop listening skills. You are required to evaluate three student speeches. Try to develop a technique for listening comprehensively, analytically (able to apply reasoning) and evaluatively (making personal judgments on the value of the speech to your world view).
It should be your goal to become an active citizen in our democracy by becoming skeptical listeners.

Standard American English - You will be expected to deliver all speeches utilizing standard English articulation and grammar.

Formal Outlining -- All of your speeches must be outlined and delivered extemporaneously.

Extemporaneous Delivery -- All speeches will be delivered from outlined notes; each time you deliver the speech the exact wording may change, but the ideas and organization will remain the same.
A read speech will receive a low or failing grade.

Study Skills Units -- Study Skill introduce several skill sets needed to carry out the oral presentations required to pass the course. This work is EXTRA CREDIT, and will be accepted only on its due date. See the class schedule.

Research Techniques -- Speeches will be based on researched materials. Supporting materials will be found in credible websites and databases, though other academic sources will be discussed.

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Oral Presentations:

1. Introductory Speech - Tell us about a favorite entertainment
2. Group Presentation - Critiquing a speech presentation
3. PowerPoint Speech - Required
4. Informative Speech - Required
5. Persuasive Speech - Required

INTRODUCTORY SPEECH - Brief (1 - 2- minutes)

Each student will present an informal presentation. The speech will cover the following organization. Use a 5 X 8 card for brief notes:

1. Introduce yourself and major.
2. Tell the class your favorite – book, film, television  show, or music.
3. Briefly explain why this choice was made.
4. Use an example from your choice

POWERPOINT SPEECH - Show the class an interesting website (2 - 3 minutes):

Assignment Goal -- You will learn a variety of presentational skills: Organizing and outlining, delivering your ideas, researching for information and creating visual aids in PowerPoint. You will create a simple PowerPoint presentation and practice a technique for multi-media presentations using the classroom Smart Podium and projector.

Each Student will share a credible and important website. The professor must agree with your website choice. If you wish you can use the Webbies (www.webbies.com) to find a website to present. The Webbies is an organization that gives awards to the best website in a variety of categories.
Do the following to complete this assignment:

1. Find an interesting and credible website to share.
If you use the Webbies website be sure to use the following categories -- Activism - Blog/Political - Broad Band - Charitable Org & Nonprofits - Cultural Institutions - Government - Health - Law - Magazine - News - Newspaper - Politics - Science - Student

2. Outline your speech.
You will have two to three minutes to discuss in your own words three main ideas about the website you/ve chosen. Follow this outline form carefully. See below for the main points that need to be developed:

See Outlining Forms for more on organzing the PowerPoint Presentation.

3.. Rehearse your presentation at home and/or at the college. Consider practicing in one of the classrooms with the same equipment you will be using.

Length of the speech -- 2- 3 minutes.

Listening Panel Responsibilities -- For every presentation you are required to respond to other student speeches. For this first speech you need to do the following for two other presenters:

1. Listen carefully to the speech and take notes on what you thought the speaker did well and what the speaker needs to work on. Note if the speaker followed directions.
2. After the presentation you can ask the speaker about the website or anything the speaker said. You could ask the speaker to clarify an aspect of the presentation that you did not understand or to further explain an idea that you did not fully understand. You can ask to look at a part of the website under discussion.
3. Directly after each presentation, hand-in your notes and evaluation of the speech. This work will not be accepted late and you will receive no points unless all of the work is handed-in. CLICK HERE for the Listening Worksheet document.

INFORMATION SPEECH - Facts on a focused aspect of a current social / political event or important person in the news (4 to 5 minutes ):

Assignment Goal – Inform your audience about a current event or person affecting our world today. This is the midterm presentation. This speech must include a well formed introduction and conclusion. It is important that this speech is unbiased and that the overall tenure of the presentation is informational. In other words this speech must not include the speaker's opinion on the issue.

Follow these steps to complete the assignment:

1. Find a focused event or person in the news. Find a particular aspect of the event or person you want to discuss. Do NOT be general. This is not an overview, but a detailed investigation of a particular aspect of your topic. Use your focused topic to conduct your research, thesis writing and outlining.
2. This presentation will require research and must be based on at least three credible, expert sources. These could include websites, magazines, newspapers, journals, database articles, television or radio news shows or books.
3. Write the specific purpose and thesis (central idea) of your speech. Write out an informational question which your speech will answer. The one sentence answer to your searching question will be your thesis. The thesis includes the main points of the speech.
4. Organize your informative speech into an outline with two or three main points.
5. Develop the outline with sub points and sub sub points. HINT: Supporting material will go at the sub sub point level. Include your sources within the outline.
6. Develop a PowerPoint slide show. Each main point will be on an individual slide. You should not use images or pictures in this slide show. Focus on presenting the skeleton of your outline.
7. Write a bibliography of the three sources that you used. See your textbook for help in forming APA formatted bibliographic entries. Refer to the JJAY library web site for further information on APA bibliographic formatting (see "ARRANGING SOURCES IN THE REFERENCE LIST").

The following search engines may help you find your focused topic, as well as supporting materials for your presentation :
>> http://www.google.com/ is an excellent web search tool that is quick and easy. Begin by typing in the issue and/or other key words that are used in naming the issue.
>> http://www.vivisimo.com/ is another web search engine that you can try. Vivisimo will organize your search into handy sub topics as shown in class.
>> Public Agenda - is a web site that lists major issues and links to credible websites that focus on those issues.

Remember, this is NOT a persuasive speech. Do not tell us your opinion.
You must explain your focused informative topic with supporting materials: Definitions, statistics , testimony , and examples .

Listening Panel Responsibilities -- For this mid-term speech you need to be on a single panel and do the following:

1. Take notes as each student presents.
2. Participate in a discussion of the presenter's speech. You will be asked to comment on aspects of the speech that worked well or not. Reference to terminology and ideas discussed in class, as well as in the text will receive higher points. Critical Thinking and critical listening is key to receiving a high grade.
3. Hand-in your notes for the presenters. This work will not be accepted late.

PERSUASIVE SPEECH - Arguing a Contemporary Issue (5 to 7 minutes):

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not choose Capital Punishment or Abortion topics unless you speak with the professor first.

Assignment Goal -- This presentation will allow you to practice all of the rhetorical, vocal, and critical thinking skills we've been working on this semester.

This presentation is your final project; this project is given the most weight towards your overall grade. You will demonstrate all of the research, organizational (outlining) and presentational skills you have been learning and practicing this semester. Unlike previous speeches this semester, your main goal is to convince your audience that your point of view is correct. You will need to use logic, organization, and most importantly, credible sources to argue your points. In a sense, a persuasive speech is an information speech with a point of view that is proven with logic and credible evidence . This presentation can be either a single persuasive speech or debate between two students.

The following are the steps you must follow to complete the assignment:

1. Choose an issue topic; this topic could be based on the topic you used in your Informative Speech. Write a Specific Purpose statement. Create a focused CONCLUSION (or proposition - your point of view on a searching question) which you have to prove. Like a thesis this needs to be in one sentence.
2. Research for credible sources (books, journals, databases, websites ) which will support your proposition. You can use the sources that you have been using all semester, but you must refer to at least five (5) sources.
3. Read through and become familiar with the research materials. Annotate as you read your research materials.
4. Organize your argument into an outline . Be sure to read Chapters 25 and 26 [in a A Concise Public Speaking Handbook] to be able to create a useful outline. You need to know the sort of persuasive speech you are presenting - Is it a question of fact, value or policy persuasive speech?
5. Complete the bibliography in APA academic form on a 8 x 5 card. You must have at least five sources.
6. This speech requires at least one visual aid.  More visual content is recommended for a higher grade.
7. Meeting with the Professor to review your outline prior to your presentation: Prior to the presentation, you will be assigned a time to meet with the professor to go over your preliminary outline. This outline should be a complete sentence outline with at least three main points, sub points and sub sub points. You cannot complete your speech without having this meeting.

Listening Panel Responsibilities -- For this final speech you need to do the following for two or three presenters:

1. Sit on a Listening Panel for three student speeches.
2. Take notes as the student presents.
3. Participate in a discussion of the presenter's speech. You will be asked to comment on aspects of the speech that worked well or not. Reference to terminology and ideas discussed in class as well as in the text will receive higher points. Critical Thinking and critical listening is key to receiving a high grade.
4. Hand-in your notes for the presenters.

Grading - Point System:

TESTS:

• Terminology Tests - 15 pts. (5/10)
• Departmental Final - 10 pts.

PRESENTATIONS:

• Group Work - 10 pts.
• PowerPoint - 10 pts. - REQUIRED
• Informative - 20 pts. - REQUIRED
• Persuasive - 40 pts. - REQUIRED

SPEAKER'S OUTLINE:

• PowerPoint - 5 pts.
• Informative - 10 pts.
• Persuasive - 20 pts.
• Pers. outline meeting - 20 pts.

LISTENING PANELS: 30 pts. (5/10/15)

College Play Analysis: 10 pts.

EXTRA CREDIT - 10% [20PTS.]
Study Skills Units
Online Text Quizzes

If you miss a speech--

If you do not present a REQUIRED speech, you must meet with the professor to go over your outline and speaker's cards. You will also present the speech for the professor and an invited audience. You cannot receive better than a "C" for any such make-up speech.