Public Speaking Syllabus

Instructor:  Tara Sanchez

VUB Summer 2002

Goals of this class:
  1. students will learn to give informative and persuasive speeches.
  2. students will learn to prepare a speech outline.
  3. students will learn to participate appropriately in class discussions.
  4. students will keep up with current events
Requirements of the class:
  1. you must complete all assignments, both oral and written.
  2. you must participate in class in the form of asking questions, commenting, taking notes, paying attention, supporting other students.
My expectations of you:
  1. you must complete all assignments on time.
  2. you must come to class on time-this means, be sitting in your seat with your coat off and notebook and pen ready at the time when class is scheduled to start.
  3. you must come to every class prepared -this means, having done all assignments and readings, with all supplies (like pen and paper), and ready to participate.
  4. you must not ask questions at inappropriate times.
[what does this mean? do not misunderstand-ALL questions are legitimate. NO question is "too dumb." However, you are not 3 years old and you cannot yell out questions whenever you want. RAISE YOUR HAND and I will call on you when I finish my thought. If I say, "Any questions?", that's a good time for a question. If your question is unrelated to that day's class, wait until the end of class. If you are afraid you'll forget the question, write it down.]         #  you must be considerate of other classmates. You can disagree, but don't insult.

Your grade-your grade in my class will be composed of the following:

Speech 1 20%
Speech 2 20%
Speech 3 20%
Speech 4 20%
Class participation 20%
 

Two things are important here.

  1. if you do not participate in class, the highest grade you can get is a B, and you can only get this if you get a perfect score on every speech (which has never happened before).
  2. the grade for each speech is composed of two parts: your outline and your presentation. If you don't hand in any outlines, but give all the speeches and participate in class, the highest grade you can get is a D, and only if you get a perfect score on class participation and every presentation (which has never happened before).
Speeches: Each speech will be graded according to content, organization, and delivery. You will turn in an OUTLINE of every speech the week before you give the speech in class. If you don't turn in an outline, you will not give a speech. Speeches are graded as follows:

Content 6 points

Organization 7 points Delivery 7 points Class activities:
    1. During class, I will lecture. What I say and what I write on the board is important-you should take notes.
    2. We will do class activities. The purpose of these activities is for you to apply and practice concepts that I lecture about. You should learn something. You will not be graded on how well you do the activities (so, it's OK to make mistakes). However, if you refuse to participate, your grade in the class will go down.
    3. You will give speeches regularly. You should practice these in advance-you will be graded on them.
Class readings: There is no textbook for this class. You should take notes in class. Also, I will distribute a couple of articles for you to read. We will discuss them in class. YOU MUST read the articles! Occasionally, I will give you handouts-treat these as you would a textbook. Put them in your notebook, don't lose them, refer to them when doing homework.
 
 

How to contact me: tsanchez@babel.ling.upenn.edu

This is my e-mail address. E-mail is the only way you can contact me, so I suggest you learn to do this ASAP. You should let me know 24 hours in advance if you will be late to class, absent from class, late with an assignment, whatever.
 
 

Below, you will find the class schedule and assignment due dates. This is SUPERimportant. Do NOT lose this syllabus!
 
Date of Class
Class Topic Assignment Due Preparation
May 15
introductions

course description

good/bad speeches 

   
May 22
informative speeches

outlining

self introduction speeches (not graded but required) Read Chapters 3 and 4
May 29
delivery informative speech OUTLINE have topic for informative speech
June 5
 NO CLASS DUE TO  VUB GRADUATION
June 12
handouts and visual aids; about academic presentations; presenting other people's work  informative speech  practice speech
June 19
about persuasive speeches    Read Chapters 5, 13, 17
June 26
  informative speech practice speech
July 3
supporting your ideas    Read Chapters 12, 15, 16
July 10
organizing arguments   Read Chapters 9, 10, 11;

have topic for persuasive speech

July 17
  persuasive speech practice speech
July 24
dealing with audience questions    Read Chapters 6, 7, 8;
have topic for persuasive speech
July 31
 persuasive speech practice speech