Intro to
Public Speaking
Speech 1 Course
Syllabus, Spring 2008
Instructor Dr. Timothy Elizondo
Contact Info: elizondot@yosemite.cc.ca.us
Office phone number 209-588-5210
Office: Tamarack 215
Office Hours: Mondays:
Wednesdays:
Text: The Art of
Public Speaking 9th Edition. Stephen E.
Lucas
Videotape: VHS tape
labeled with your name, instructor's name, and the class time.
II. Objective and
Overview
Effective public
speaking is a valuable asset in some of the most significant settings of life:
in the classroom, in the board room, on the street corner, in the town hall, in
the courtroom, in front of the camera, and in the church or synagogue. It is at
the heart of any democratic society. Under the guarantee of free speech, we
bring our ideas together in various community settings for discussion and
debate. In a system of free economic enterprise, we market ideas that will
better serve our livelihood. In a society that affords us free exercise of
religion, we practice and promote our beliefs with conviction and fervor. This
class will help prepare you to be a responsible, influential participant in
public communication. In this spirit, the course is designed to offer you the
opportunity to develop confidence and ability to effectively inform and
persuade before a live audience.
To help equip you
for informative and persuasive public presentations, course topics will fall
into three essential categories of instruction: prerequisites for public
speaking, preparing speeches, and presenting speeches. Prerequisites for public
speaking will include discussions of the nature of language and public
speaking, the ingredients of "good" communication, and skills for
constructive, critical listening and thinking. Preparing speeches will cover
how to bring focus to a speech topic and analyze an audience, what kinds of
information can support a speech and where to find that information, and how
that information can be effectively organized for a speech. Presenting speeches
will incorporate verbal and non-verbal dimensions of speaking, how to prepare
and use speaking notes and audio/visual aids, and how to effectively manage
speaking anxiety.
The course includes two graded
speeches: a speech to inform and teach and a speech to persuade audience
members to take some particular action.
Several written
assignments accompany the graded speeches: a graded set of speaking notes and
bibliography of sources is due with the persuasive speech; a thorough critique (self
or peer) is due after completing each major speech. Coursework also includes a
final examination.
III. Policies
A. Assignments. All written
and oral assignments are due when collected by the instructor during the due
date class period. For known assignment schedule conflicts (including
university sanctioned activities or religious holidays), arrangements must be
made prior to the assignment due date to avoid a point deduction for a late
assignment. Late written assignments due to unexpected emergencies must be
accompanied by legitimate documentation to avoid a point deduction. Late
written assignments due to non-emergencies, or without documentation of an
emergency, will receive a deduction of 10% of the total grade possible for each
class period they are late. Only if there is time available, missed speeches
may be made up at the end of the last scheduled speaking day for speeches of
the same type. Late speeches will receive a deduction of 20% of the total grade
possible (regardless of the reason for missing the speech). If there is no time
to make up the speech in class, you will receive '0" (zero) points for the
assignment.
B. Attendance. Missing class will
affect your grade. Your presence and participation will enhance the
learning experience for both you and others in the course. Missed lecture
material, assignment instructions, class discussions, and in-class exercises
will degrade your own learning experience, as well as decrease your performance
on graded assignments and tests. If you miss class(es), expect your grade to be
affected. If you are absent, please do not ask, "Was anything important
covered in class?" Instead, arrange an appointment with a classmate to
cover the class material. After you have obtained the missed material, I can
answer any questions you might have during office hours, by e-mail, or by
appointment. Arriving late for class is rude and disruptive, so plan ahead to
arrive on time. If you stop attending (i.e., "drop") the class, it is
your responsibility to complete course withdrawal paperwork in a timely manner.
Attendance is expected and required.
Each absence in excess of one will result in a lower participation grade (I do
not distinguish between '"excused" and "unexcused"
absences.) Similarly, habitual lateness will lower your course grade. Under no
circumstances, enter the classroom late when one of your peers is speaking.
Please note you are responsible for all announcements and information which you
miss.
Regardless of
attendance history, attendance is mandatory on speaking days. Absences on any
speech day will result in a lower participation grade for each absence.
C. Academic Integrity. The oral and
written assignments required in this course will provide you with ample
opportunities to plagiarize; that is, to use the ideas or statements of others
without giving them proper credit. Please do not exercise these opportunities.
If you borrow an idea from anyone, you MUST identify the source of that idea.
Every information source you use during oral presentations in this course must
be verbally identified. Fabricating information or evidence sources is also a
form of plagiarism. Cheating and plagiarism are essentially stealing what belongs
to another and/or lying about its authorship. Any cheating on tests, or
plagiarism on written or oral work, will result in a course grade of "F,"
and a report of the incident will be filed with the school.
D. Appropriate Interaction. Because this is a course
in public communication, it serves as an extension of the public forum-a place
for idea exchange. Consequently, all oral presentations and class discussions
must maintain an appropriate balance between the responsibility to be
evaluative toward the ideas of others and the responsibility to be respectful
toward the ideas of others. Likewise, all oral presentations and class
discussions must maintain an appropriate balance between the responsibility to
be zealous about our own ideas and the responsibility to be teachable about our
own ideas. We should not disregard one out of enthusiasm for the other. By
keeping these important communication responsibilities in a constructive state
of tension, we will be able to foster a positive (albeit sometimes uncomfortable)
learning environment. Anyone who demonstrates a persistent unwillingness to
shoulder these dual tensions will be dropped from the course. Due to the nature of this course, course
content will contain language/ideas that may be considered either politically,
morally, or culturally controversial.
E. American with Disabilities Act: In
compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans
with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students
with documented disabilities on a case by case basis. Students must register
with Academic Support Services and provide appropriate documentation to the
college before any academic adjustment will be provided.
IV. Grading
Speech to Inform 100 points
Speech to Persuade (convince) 250 points
Leadership Points 100
points
Midterm 50
Points
Final 100
Points
Final Outline 50
points
Speech Reviews 50
points
Total 700
points
V. Graded
Assignment Descriptions
1. Informative
Speech (100 points). The first major speech (4-6 minutes in length) has a
point value that is half of the other two major speeches. Consequently, this
speech is an opportunity for you to make "less expensive" mistakes
and learn from those mistakes. This is an informative speech that has as its
objective to educate the audience in one of two ways: either to teach or to
train the audience with knowledge or skills that are relevant and useful to the
audience members. You are to either teach audience members to understand something
they do not yet know, or else you are to train audience members to do something
they do not yet know how to do. This speech needs to be augmented with visual
aids (as many as are necessary, but at least one), and information from a
minimum of three researched sources is to be integrated into this speech.
Guidelines for organizing this speech will be provided during class lecture. Two
days after delivering your speech please turn in a two page self-evaluation
discussing what you feel you did well in your speech and areas that you feel
are areas you need to improve on.
2. Self/Peer-Evaluations: (25 points each) Two
days after delivering your speech please turn in a two page self-evaluation
discussing your speech and areas you need to improve on or find noteworthy for
other reasons. Papers will be
evaluated on the following criteria:
-Does paper address
strengths, weakness, and way to improve upon performance?
-Does paper contain
any factual inaccuracies?
-Is paper free from
any formatting, grammatical, spelling, or other errors?
-Does paper utilize
specific examples, terminology, or ideas from either class or the textbook?
3. Speech to
persuade (Convince or Convict). (250 points). The second major speech
(6-8 minutes in length) is a persuasive speech on a question of policy. A
speech to convince is in support of a specific factual claim, or proposition of
fact, and your goal is to persuade audience members to believe that your
factual claim is true. The speech needs to be augmented with visual aids (as
many as are necessary, but at least one), and information from a minimum of
four researched sources is to be integrated into the speech. Guidelines for
organizing this speech will be provided during class lecture. Two days after
delivering your speech please turn in a three page self-evaluation discussing
areas strength and areas of improvement.
Examinations.‑(150 points). Test
material for both examinations will be drawn from assigned readings as well as
class lectures, discussions, and exercises. Class meetings will not
comprehensively cover the assigned reading material. Instead, additional
material will be introduced during class meetings that spring from the assigned
readings. Midterm will cover material
from the following chapters: Chapters One through ten. Final will be comprehensive
5. Classroom Leadership (100 points) Classroom leadership involves
the overall attitude you express: the acceptance of alternative points of view
on controversial issues (you do not have to agree, but you have to respect
another's right to her/his point of view), providing relevant examples, and
participation in activities and discussion. Constant moaning and groaning,
reading the paper or other materials in class, resistance to course activities,
talking to your friends while others are speaking, falling asleep, arriving
late to class, and continuously asking if we are going to get out early are
examples of poor leadership.
VI. Course
Schedule
Date Assignments Due
Sept 29th Informative Speeches Begin
· outline due
· critique due 2 class periods after you give speech
Oct 8th Midterm
Begin Nov 25th Persuasive Speeches Begin
· outline due
· critique due 2 class periods after you give speech
Week of Finals begin Dec 8th Final