I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Public Speaking

2. Course Prefix & Number:
COMM 1430

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

4. Course Description:

This course is designed to introduce students to the basic principles of effective public speaking, focusing on informative and persuasive techniques. Topics included are topic selection and research/development; message and argument construction; audience and occasion analysis, critical thinking and evaluation; outlining and structure; and delivery and presentation skills. Students will also compare and contrast mediated communication performance skills and theory with traditional delivery mediums of public address. MnTC Goals 1 and 2.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

Reading College Level CLC or Reading College Level

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Alexandria Technical and Community College, COMM 1415 Public Speaking, 3 credits
Anoka Ramsey Community College, CMST 2215 Public Speaking, 3 credits
Inver Hills Community College, COMM 1110 Public Speaking, 3 credits

2. Transfer - regional institutions with which this course has a written articulation agreement:

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 1 – Written and Oral Communication
• Goal 2 – Critical Thinking

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate oral communication skills	Successfully complete oral performances for different purposes.
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Complete appropriate outlines for speech type.
Apply ethical principles in decision-making	Demonstrate critical thinking and appropriate ethical choices through persuasive speech research, organization, and speech delivery.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate appropriate topic selection, audience analysis, organization, citation, and content development in a speaker-audience setting (MnTC Goal 1);
• Create and perform a minimum of 4 speeches including at least one informative and one persuasive speech (MnTC Goal 1);
• Practice effective verbal and nonverbal delivery techniques (including effectively using presentational aids) that are well suited to the occasion and audience (MnTC Goal 1);
• Utilize appropriate research strategies to discover and ethically integrate supporting materials from diverse sources and points of view (MnTC Goal 1 and 2);
• Demonstrate the ability to listen, analyze, and provide feedback on public discourse (MnTC Goal 1);
• Demonstrate critical thinking skills though application of communication theory, assessment of claims and arguments, evaluating evidence of credibility, and identifying barriers to critical thinking (MnTC Goal 2); and
• Gather factual information and apply it to a given problem through an outline, draft, and final performance that is relevant, clear, comprehensive, and conscious of possible bias in the information selected (MnTC Goal 2).

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Fundamental Speech Theories
• Transactional communication theory
• Classical origins of speaking
• Semantics: the power of words
• Speaking styles and types of speeches
• Introduction
• Descriptive informative
• Demonstrative informative
• Persuasive
• Extemporaneous
• Special occasion
• Persuasive speech theories
• Role of ethos, pathos, and logos
• Role of critical thinking skills and barriers to critical thinking both rhetorical and emotive
• Motivated sequence and organizing your persuasive speech
• Role of technology
• Fundamentals of mediated communication theories
• Compare and contrasts of mediated vs traditional delivery modes
• Best practices for web-enhanced deliveries
2.  Variables Effecting the Speech Process
• Influence of cultural diversity
• Audience analysis
• Role of perception
• Needs and motivation of audience
• Demographic influence
• Data collection
• Critical thinking: features and forms of argumentation; evaluating evidence, assessming claims and arguments
• Ethics
• Speaker ethics
• Listener ethics
3. Building Your Speech
• Choosing a topic
• Conduct research
• Types of resources and supporting materials
• Evaluating evidence
• Establishing credibility
• Primary and secondary sources
• Media/internet literacy
• Note taking
• Interviewing
• Building a bibliography
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Specify purpose and write a specific thesis statement
• Organizing and formalizing outline
• Principles of outlining
• Preparing from an outline
• Effectively choosing and using presentational aids
• Importance of preparation and practice
4. Listening
• Process and types of Listening
• Overcoming listening obstacles
• Active listening
5. Speech Anxiety
• Communication apprehension
• Overcoming speech anxiety
6. Delivery
• Vocal delivery
• Visual and nonverbal delivery
• Proper breathing
• Confidence and self-talk
7. Performance
• Informative Speech (description or definition) REQUIRED
• Demonstration Speech (RECOMMENDED)
• Persuasive Speech (REQUIRED)
• Speech of Introduction (RECOMMENDED - Can be done earlier in sequence of speeches)
• Other speeches to choose from: Special Occasion, Small Group, Extemporaneous (OPTIONAL IF TIME ALLOWS)