Public Speaking

This course systematically examines the elements of an effective speech and goes through an element-by-element examination of the essentials of public speaking while also identifying traits of the individual speaker and how they affect preparation and presentation. This course also demonstrates specific, performance-oriented aspects of public speaking. The themes of information and ethics tie these elements together and are emphasized in every part of the course because they are vitally important to all communicators. Since modern societies have ever-increasing access to information, there are increased demands on the individual to use information effectively and ethically. For example, "the New York Times has more information in one week than individuals in the 1800s would encounter in a lifetime". This illustrates the additional challenges speakers face beyond the common stresses of public speaking anxiety. In spite of that, ethical communication means not only accepting responsibility for the information you present but also speaking up when others abuse their information platforms.

Every speech course includes a unit on listening, even though most people do not associate the subjects with each other. Yet, it is very important that you associate listening habits with public speaking skills and public speaking presentations. A well-known saying is that you should "walk a mile in another man's shoes" in order to understand that person. That also applies to speech audiences; you need to imagine what it would be like to be your own audience. This means assessing your personal listening habits as well as those of your anticipated audience. Unit 4 introduces audience analysis as one of the ways to proceed with that assessment, but in this unit, the focus is on the general traits possessed by all listeners and how you should plan your speech with those traits in mind.

More often than not, the purpose and topic of your speech will be determined for you by outside factors such as the context of your speech and its audience. Nevertheless, it remains your responsibility to narrow the topic of your speech such that it suits the nature of your audience, your own interests, and other factors associated with the setting and occasion. This unit examines all of the elements in the speech context which should influence your decisions. The operational word in the preceding sentence, however, is "should". Many inexperienced speakers do not take the time to fully analyze those elements which "should" determine the nature of their speech. The relationship between purpose and audience is one example of this problem. The only time an effective communicator does not analyze his or her audience with respect to the purpose of a speech is when he or she does not care how an audience receives or reacts to its message. To understand how important this is, consider the four goals of communication, three of which you will encounter in this course: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, and to express. Teachers inform, politicians persuade, comedians entertain, but who expresses? One answer could be artists. What impact does a poet seek in presenting a poem? To answer that, consider first what impact a communicator has with the other types: to inform someone of something, to persuade someone to do something, to entertain someone. But there is no "someone" at the other end of "to express", is there? And what about communicators who are not artists, but who also seek to express themselves anyway? One example of this occurs when an angry person swears. The problem that arises with expression, which could be defined as communicating with no consideration of context or audience, is that the speaker has little control over the effects, as the frequently offensive nature of swearing illustrates. In this unit, you will study the various purposes of speech-giving, as well as tips and suggestions for selecting a topic for your speech.

This course include: 92 hours

Course link: https://learn.saylor.org/course/view.php?id=19