SPCH 101: Fundamentals of Public Speaking

Overview

In today's business environment, it is crucial that employees demonstrate competence not only in their job but also in their ability to communicate. This means that people must be able to articulate their thoughts, ideas, and desires clearly and concisely. Unfortunately, most people are anxious and self-conscious about speaking in front of a large group. It is no surprise, then, that speaking in public ranks as one of the top fears of people living in the U.S.

This course covers the fundamentals of public speaking and will help you to develop fluency and poise with your oral communication proficiency by learning transferable skills such as: creative thinking, organizing, listening, analyzing, and speaking.

No matter what career you choose, effective communication skills are essential. This course will help you to gain self-confidence as well as to develop practical skills as a public speaker. You will first learn about some basic communication theories that focus on the relationship between speaker and audience. Then this course will become very practical as it encourages students to examine how to develop, prepare, and deliver presentations for a variety of purposes. Types of speeches included will be for informative and persuasive speaking.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and implement strategies for coping with speaker anxiety.
• Conduct an analysis of the audience and the speaking environment in preparation for a speech.
• Demonstrate ability to write a specific purpose statement and a thesis statement.
• Identify organizational patterns for developing key ideas; and then demonstrate ability to outline the introduction, body, and conclusion effectively.
• Identify how public speakers can make their language more vivid and effective.
• Identify the concepts and challenges of technology-mediated presentations.
• Demonstrate abilities of effective vocal and physical delivery.
• Select an appropriate visual aid to a presentation.
• Implement strategies for becoming an effective, informative, and persuasive speaker.
• Apply the process of persuasion when giving a speech to persuade.

Course Requirements

Microsoft PowerPoint, microphone

Required Texts
SPCH 101 texts are available from the JIU/MBS bookstore