COMS 309: Advanced Public Speaking Department of Communication Studies Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication Class Meetings: Mondays, 7:00 p.m. 9:45 p.m. Location: MZ 363 Office Hours: Monday, 2:00 3:00 p.m. & 5:30 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday, 2:00 3:00 p.m. Instructor: Dr. Gina Giotta gina.giotta@csun.edu 818-677-5757 354 MZ COURSE DESCRIPTION Be sincere; be brief; be seated. Franklin D. Roosevelt This course offers advanced instruction and practice in the art of public speaking. It is expected that you have completed a fundamentals of public speaking course (e.g., COMS 151), and are therefore familiar with the principals of public speaking, including audience analysis, topic selection, outlining, argument development, persuasion, and effective modes of delivery. This class builds upon such knowledge, and provides you with a chance to develop these skills further through a series of formal speaking and listening exercises, as well as impromptu in-class activities. This is primarily a performance course, so the bulk of your grade will be determined by your ability to prepare and execute a speech to a given audience with clarity, purpose, and conviction. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. Identify and apply the central tenets of active listening. 2. Identify and apply the central tenets of effective speech development and delivery in a variety of situational contexts and before a variety of given audiences. 3. Evaluate the content, structure, and delivery of a speech. 4. Communicate constructive criticism of peer speeches orally and in writing. LEARNING OUTCOMES SLO 2: Analyze communication practices, structures, messages, and effects in a variety of contexts SLO 4: Identify effective and ethical communication OPTIONAL TEXT O Hair, Dan et al. A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking (4 th Edition). Boston: Bedford St. Martin s, 2013. ASSIGNMENTS There are 100 points available in this class. Points are spread across the following eight categories: Poetry Recitation Impromptu Speeches (3 @ 3-4 min. each): 20 pts. (IS1 = 4 pts.; IS2 = 6 pts.; IS3 = 10 pts.) Demonstration Speech (5 min.): 1 (Outline = ; Speech = 10 pts.) Persuasive Speech (7 min. + 5 min. Q&A): 20 pts. (Outline = ; Speech = 1) Panel Discussion (20 min. + 10 min. Q&A): 1 Peer Critiques (3 @ 2 pages each): 1 ( each) Self-Critique Class Participation:
GRADING Plus-Minus grading will be used in this course. The grading scale is as follows: 100-94%: A 93-90%: A- 89-87%: B+ Realtalk about grading: 86-84%: B 83-80%: B- 79-77%: C+ 76-74%: C 73-70%: C- 69-67%: D+ 66-64%: D 63-60%: D- 59%-Lower: F Neither impromptu nor prepared speeches may be re-scheduled due to absence or tardiness. If you miss class on a day that you are scheduled or asked to give a speech, you will receive a zero for the speech assignment. You must be present for the entire class session to receive credit for your impromptu and formal speeches. In other words, you may not come to class to give your speech and then expect to leave, or arrive so late on your speech day that you miss two or more of your colleagues speeches. Speech outlines, peer critiques, and self critiques are due at the beginning of class and should be typed and formatted as follows: 1 margins, 12 pt. Times, standard heading information on first page (last name and page number in header of subsequent pages), stapled upper left- hand corner. Written work is not accepted via email. A hard copy of all written work is required unless otherwise specified. CLASSROOM RESPONSIBILITIES Be curious, listen charitably, and respond thoughtfully. Also, please refrain from activities that may distract your classmates and therefore compromise their ability to learn. These activities include: arriving late to class and leaving in the middle of class for anything but the most urgent of events. Failure to adhere to these basic standards of classroom decorum will result in your dismissal from the class. If you have concerns about your ability to undertake these responsibilities, please see me early in the semester. CELL PHONES & LAPTOPS Unless specified by DRES, cell phones, laptops, and other electronic devices may not be used during class, and should be placed out of sight for the duration of each meeting. Please also refrain from charging your device during class. On the rare occasion that you absolutely must be reachable (e.g., family medical emergency), I kindly request that you consult me before class so that I am aware of the situation. PLAGIARISM & ACADEMIC FRAUD Plagiarism will result in a 0 for the assignment and (usually) an F for the course. Additionally, the incident will be reported to the Office of the Vice President for Student Life, which may chose to impose further penalties such as probation or expulsion for the offense. I did not know will not be an acceptable excuse in the event that plagiarism is detected in your work. Plagiarism is defined as any of the following forms of scholarly misrepresentation: Presentation of ideas from any sources not credited Use of an author s exact wording/language without appropriate in-speech citation Use of an author s ideas (i.e., paraphrasing) without appropriate in-speech citation Superficial paraphrasing (i.e., changing/eliminating a few of the author s words to suggest that the language is your own) Submitting material written by someone else, be that person a friend, family member, or paid editor Submitting work previously submitted for another class (aka, double-dipping or selfplagiarism ) 2
AVAILABILITY OF MODIFICATIONS If you have a disability and require accommodations, please register with the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) office. The DRES office is located in Bayramian Hall, room 110, and can be reached at (818) 677-2684. Please see me during office hours once you have registered so that we may discuss the required accommodations in a confidential environment. HOMEWORK EXPECTATION For each semester hour of credit that a Communication Studies course carries, students are expected to spend approximately two hours per week outside of class preparing. Based on this formula, you should expect to spend at least six hours per week in out-of-class preparation for this course. WEEK 1 COURSE SCHEDULE This schedule is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class. Monday, 8/29 Course Overview Impromptu Speaking Workshop Producing Your Space (eye contact and body squaring, posture, hands) WEEK 2 Monday, 9/5 NO CLASS - LABOR DAY WEEK 3 Monday, 9/12 POETRY RECITATIONS (25) Impromptu Speeches (8) Active Listening Informative Speaking WEEK 4 Monday, 9/19 Impromptu Speeches (8) Hooks Audience Analysis Ethos-Building WEEK 5 Monday, 9/26 Impromptu Speeches (8) Connectives Oral Citations DUE: Demonstration Speech Full Sentence Outline 3
WEEK 6 Monday, 10/3 Impromptu Speeches (8) Vocal Performance: Enunciation & Pronunciation Dressing to Persuade WEEK 7 Monday, 10/10 DEMONSTRATION SPEECHES (25) WEEK 8 Monday, 10/17 Impromptu Speeches (8) The Personal Narrative Persuasive Speaking DUE: Peer Critique 1 WEEK 9 Monday, 10/24 Impromptu Speeches (8) Vocal Performance: Rate of Speech Vivid Imagery DUE: Persuasive Speech Full Sentence Outline WEEK 10 Monday, 10/31 Impromptu Speeches (8) Effective Visuals Inclusive Language Q&A WEEK 11 Monday, 11/7 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES (13) WEEK 12 Monday, 11/14 PERSUASIVE SPEECHES (12) 4
WEEK 13 Monday, 11/21 Impromptu Speeches (8) Panel Discussions DUE: Peer Critiques 2 & 3 WEEK 14 Monday, 11/28 Impromptu Speeches (8) Group Meetings WEEK 15 Monday, 12/5 PANEL DISCUSSIONS (5) à DUE: Self-critique (by Monday, December 12 at 10:00 p.m. to Moodle dropbox) 5