COMM 1300 SPRING 20141

COMM 1300 - PUBLIC SPEAKING

Spring 2014 Version 2 (1/14/2014)

COMM-1300-015TR 08:00 AM - 09:15 AMHLMS259

COMM-1300-012TR 09:30 AM - 10:45 AMDUANG1B25

Instructor:Ricardo V.Munoz, MS

Email:

Office:Hellems 10 (West wing basement) / Hellems 96 (for pigeonhole)

Hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays 2:00PM to 3:00PM and by appointment

Favorite Quotation: Act as if you were already free – Hakim Bey

Required Items and links to resources

  • Internet access to The Public Speaking Project (PSP), and Purdue OWL.
  • D2L
  • Google+ Community
  • Additional readings will be made available online.

Course Description

How is writing a speech different than writing a paper? Why does public speaking seem to come naturally to some, but not to others—or does it? Why are you so nervous? How do gendered norms impact your credibility as a male or female speaker? How do the setting and audience affect your speech?

Undoubtedly, the ability to speak eloquently in a variety of settings is a vital component of public discourse. This course is designed to introduce you to the skills needed to communicate effectively in a variety of public settings – from interview situations and boardroom meetings to public speeches and social contexts to video and YouTube. Most importantly, you will learn how public speaking prepares you for living in a democratic society and inworking with societalissues that require discussion and dialogue. This means we will learn not only how to speak well, but also to listen well and critically engage with the ideas we hear from other speakers. We will focus on the practical application of rhetorical concepts, while maintaining an emphasis on empowerment and constructive civic engagement.

Objectives:

  1. Become a confident, articulate and ethical speaker.
  2. Gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of public speaking.
  3. Learn to analyze and adapt speech content and delivery for different audiences.
  4. Learn to research and organize ideas to create a clear, concise and engaging presentation.
  5. Practice public speaking skills as both a speaker and a listener.
  6. Become familiar with introductory concepts in rhetoric.
  7. Begin to think rhetorically in the context of a democratic society.

About this Syllabus:I expect you to refer to this syllabus frequently as we go along. Most of what you need to know about being successful in this course is contained here, especially the schedule of classes. If you email me with questions that can be answered by the syllabus I will reply “please refer to the syllabus.” This syllabus is available online in case you lose this copy.

Assignments and Grading

AssignmentsPoint ValueApproximate Length

Diagnostic Speech--2-3 minutes

Informative Speech1004-5 minutes

Public Service Announcement 250(distributed below)

  • 2-3 Minute Pitch50
  • Group Storyboard50
  • 1 minute video PSA150

Significant Speech 1006-7 minutes

Ceremonial Speech1004-5minutes

Speech Concepts Exam100

Final Exam150

Class Activity Points TOTAL100(distributed below)

  • Quizzes40
  • Impromptu Speeches15
  • Topic Declarations (5 pts x3)15
  • Speech Reflection Papers (10pts x3)30

Self-Evaluation Video502-3 minutes

Classroom Citizenship/Participation50

1000 total points

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES WILL BE DISTRIBUTED DURING THE SEMESTER

Approximate Letter Grade Distribution for Assignments

A90-100Outstanding. A model for other students.

B80-89Strong effort. Interesting. Completed assignment with style and thoughtfulness.

C70-79Completed the assignment. Ho Hum. Minimum Effort.

D60-69Inadequate. Hardly put any effort at all.

F59-0Failed to complete the assignment.

The final grades for this course will be calculated as follows:

COMM 1300 SPRING 20141

A1000 – 933

A- 932 – 900

B+899 – 866

B865 – 833

B-832 – 800

C+799 – 766

C765 – 733

C- 732 – 700

D+ 699 – 666

D 665 – 633

D- 632 – 600

F599-0

COMM 1300 SPRING 20141

Course Policies

Attendance

Class attendance, especially on days that student speeches are given, is important and expected. Students who do poorly in this course are usually those who fail to attend regularly. There is no penalty for missing three (3)class days during the course of the semester. For every class you miss after three, you will be penalized ten(10) points from your final point total for the class. The only exception to this policy is for a documented religious, legal, University, or physician’s excuse.

Attendance on Speech Dates: You will commit to a speaking schedule for the semester. You are responsible for adhering to this schedule. If you fail to speak on your scheduleddate, you will NOT be able to make-up your speech in class and will earn a ZERO (0) for that assignment. The only exceptions to this policyare for potentially life-changing events such as sudden illness, infectious disease, a death in the family, or a situation that would make it dangerous for you to come to class.

Assignment and Formatting Guidelines

Assignments must be submitted during class hours or during regular office hours. If office hours are difficult, you may also submit this at the Communication Department office with instructions to place these in my pigeonhole.

Assignments must be typed, clearly show your name, date, course/section number, and creative title.

Assignments are due at the start of class in hard copy unless I specify otherwise. The format isalways TYPED (1-inch margins, 12 point Times New Roman font, double-spaced). I will provide assignment templates that you can download and just type over as needed. You are free to use your own format but it must conform to the rules above.

Stapling: If an assignment exceeds 1 sheet it must be stapled. Repeat stapled. Please staple. No folded/torn corners—stapled. If an assignment that should be stapled isn’t, the paper will receive an automatic 10% deduction.Stapled assignments make me happy; staple, please, staple.

Late work may be accepted at the cost of 10% of the assignment grade per class day late. For example, if an assignment is worth 10 points and it is 2 days late, I deduct 2 points automatically.Class day 1 begins immediately after the class session when an assignment is due.

Do not email me assignments.E-mail attachments are not acceptable unless prior arrangements have been made. This is very important; I get a lot of email. If you email me an assignment I will reply “please print this and give it to me during class or office hours.”

Classroom Citizenship

Part of your final grade, worth 50 points, is a purely subjective assessment of your attitude in class throughout the semester. In this class we will have discussions, some lectures, speech practice, and class presentations. Learning involves more than the simple dissemination of factual information. This is especially true when we are working on building our communication skills. If we are to engage this material completely, we will need to build a classroom space that is grounded in mutual respect. This entails that we all come to class ready to engage with each other. Your attitude towards learning is the key to doing well in this course.

You will be expected to be attentive and listening to your classmate’s speeches. Paying attention during speeches is also good practice towards learning effective public speaking. At least once for each speech assignment, you will be asked to help me rate the speeches made during that day. This procedure will be explained prior to each speech date.

Technology during lectures, discussions and while listening to speeches: Aristotle did not have a laptop. This course is about engaging each other using speech;there is no reason to use a laptop, iBook, iPad, iPod, cellphone, smartphone, Kindle, Android tablet, Windows tablet, or anysimilar device that might be invented during the course of thesemester. Unless you need accommodations, there are no electronic technologies allowed in class—none.The only electronic devices that will be used regularly are my laptop and a video recorder. Phones should be turned off or silenced before class begins.I can see you using your phoneand this will affect your citizenship accordingly.Exception: You are encouraged to use a laptop or similar device during outline workshops for the purpose of researching citations.

Disruptive behavior, such as talking while others are speaking, reading the newspaper, napping, working on your laptop, wearing headphones, eating lunch, or reading materials from another class negatively impacts the learning environment and will negatively impact your citizenship grade. I note these down especially during speeches when people are prone to think that I may not notice.

Grading

This is a difficult course that requires a substantial workload. Working towards delivering good speeches requires preparatory work. Preparatory work is a key practice towards making a good speechand, in consequence, getting a good grade for each graded item.

Speech Grading: The delivery of your speeches represents more than half your final grade—they are the most important determinant of your final grade. I work very hard to reduce subjectivity in evaluating your speech performance. While the grading criteria for each speech are different, many of the criteria for evaluation remain consistent throughout. Volume, articulation, pausing and pacing, verbal fillers, are all applied consistently throughout the speeches. Other matters such as organization and style are different from speech to speech and I will discuss with you how these will be evaluated as I assign each speech.

The speech assignment sheets I hand out in class clearly spell out the requirements for each speech. You will have an opportunity to read each assignment well before the speech date and I expect you will have questions about speech assignments. Questions are good if they result from reading the text and thinking about the assignment. If you have read the textbook and applied it towards the assignment, you will probably be graded well. If you merely fulfill the requirement of the assignment, don’t expect more than an average grade. If you appear unprepared, expect a low or failing grade. I will be able to tell from the quality of the speech whether or not you have prepared for it adequately. The clues are fairly obvious: these include frequent stumbling over words you are unsure of, not having a clear organization, excessive use of verbal fillers (“uhm” and “like”). Remember, preparation is the key to doing well.

Speech Outlines: I attach 10% of the points to the speech outline or manuscriptthat you submit to meimmediately prior to each speech. Even if you give a good speech, a poorly prepared outline will bring down your grade. If you do not submit an outline, you will automatically lose 10% of your speech grade.

All the speeches count and are graded independently. I don’t give plus points for improvement on speeches over the course of the semester—every speech counts. I do consider overall improvement when evaluating your final grade if I can see that you had been working to improve.

Impromptu speeches are done periodically (note the syllabus) and last around 1–2 minutes (I won’t time you but I’ll signal you if you are taking too long). I won’t warn you ahead of time what the topics are (because that’s what impromptu means). Impromptu does not mean you can speak sloppily—I will expect you to use what you have learned, such as maintaining good articulation and being organized. These are tests to see how much you have internalized the course material so that you can bring them out naturally whenever needed.

Speech Evaluations:You will be asked to evaluate one of your classmates for each speech. I will hand out these evaluation sheets at the beginning of each speech date for the informative, advocacy, and significant speeches. Each evaluation is worth five points. Don’t be afraid to be critical. It’s important that you understand how to evaluate a speech as an audience member in terms of the assignment. For example, if you catch a logical fallacy in the argument of a speech, be sure to point it out. If you felt the speaker needed more volume, point it out. If you felt the speaker used too many vocalized fillers, point it out. If you felt the speech was delivered competently with good arguments, point it out. If I think you didn’t evaluate with care and consideration for the assignment, you will get a lower grade for the evaluation.

Technology for your speeches: This is an exception to the technology rule during lectures and discussions. Generally, you will not need to use anything other than the lectern and your printed outline. However, when used well, technology can also help enrich a speech. You may make use of my laptop for the purpose of your presentation but let me know ahead of time that you intend to do so and send me any files/images/videos you will use. Otherwise,you are responsible for your own technology. Any problem from their use reflects inadequate preparation and will affect your grade.

Video PSA: This assignment represents the largest portion of your final grade. The public service announcement is a short video advocating a social issue of your choice. This assignment will be done in groups and will consist of three parts: one minute pitch you will make individually, a storyboard presentation as a group, and a one minute video as a final product. Like other major assignments this will be assigned and discussed separately during the semester.

Quizzes: There will be a total of 40 points given through quizzes. I will announce these ahead of time and will be used to help correct deficiencies I notice in the course of learning.

Final grades: all coursework must be in by the last class session. Late work will be deducted points as per above. I will not accept any coursework after the end of the last class session. You canmonitor your progress on D2L under “grades.” The best time to question a grade is on the first opportunity after I have posted it, not on the last day of class. I will post the final exam grades within 48 hours of giving it and you will see your final calculated grade accordingly. If you wish to discuss this grade with me please come see me.

Communication

Talking to me:The best time to talk to me about your grades is during my office hours (see the schedule on Page 1). I try to answer emails in a timely manner but it may take as long as 24 hours during weekdays or longer during weekends. You may also speak with me just before or just after class but I may not be able to attend to your specific needs while inside the classroom, especially on matters of grades. So as far as possible, come and see me either during office hours or make an appointment for an alternative time. Hellems 10 is on the west side of the building in the basement. There’s a very lovely courtyard if you approach Hellems from the west and I encourage you to enjoy it before or after meeting with me.

I do not discuss specific grades over email. If it’s a question about a grade you received, you should definitely come see me. If you email me about a grade I will always reply “As per the course syllabus, I do not discuss specific grades over email. Please come and see me during office hours or by appointment.”

University Policies

Honor Code: All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Additional information on the Honor Code can be found at

Disability Statement: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at303-492-8671or by e-mail .

If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Injuries under Quick Links at Disability Services website ( and discuss your needs with your professor.

Religious Observance: Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. If you have a potential class conflict because of religious observance, you must inform me by the 3rd week of class. See policy details at

Classroom Behavior: Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at
policies/classbehavior.htmland at
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