Speech 100—Fundamentals of Speech

Instructor: Hollis F. Glaser, Ph.D.
Office: S 629, Office hours: T 12-2, W 1-2
Phone/E-mail: 212-220-8000 x5592/hglaser@bmcc.cuny.edu

Required Material:
Open source textbook (free and on the internet): www.publicspeakingproject.org.
Famous speeches and various publications posted on the course’s website.

SPE 100 is part of the Creative Expression requirement in Pathways.

Student Learning Goals:
The goal of Fundamentals of Speech is to help you become an effective speaker, as well as a critical thinker and evaluator of public communication.

At the end of this course you will be able to: Assessed by:
Prepare presentations for the listeners All speeches
Present presentations using effective deliv-ery techniques including extemporaneous speaking and eye contact All speeches
Prepare presentations that locate, evaluate, select, and incorporate different forms of supporting material, including visual aids Major speeches and outlines
Demonstrate acceptable ethical standards in research and presentation of materials Informative and Persuasive speeches and mid-term
Research and organize material to support a thesis Informative and Persuasive speeches and final exam
Listen critically and respectfully to others’ speeches Class exercises and feedback forms

Policies:
Accommodations will be made for students with disabilities.

If the student and instructor agree, non-native speakers may be transferred to SPE 102.

Attendance/tardiness: If you come to class after I have taken role, it will count as late at-tendance. Three instances of late attendance will count as one absence.

Cell phone policy: You may not send or receive calls or text messages during class, silent-ly or not.

Late assignments: This class is extremely time-dependent and it is imperative that we all keep to the schedule as much as possible. You are not allowed to give a speech other than the day you sign up for it. If there is an emergency, you must contact me ahead of time and we’ll try to work something out.

Plagiarism: The BMCC policy is as follows. “Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas, words, or artistic/scientific/technical work as one’s own creation. A student who copies or paraphrases published or on-line material, or another person’s research, without properly identifying the source(s) is committing plagiarism. Plagiarism violates the ethical and academic standards of our college. Students will be held responsible for such violations, even when unintentional. To avoid unintended plagiarism, students should consult with their instructors about when and how to document their sources. The library also has both print and digital guides designed to help students cite sources cor-rectly. Plagiarism carries a range of penalties commensurate with severity of the infrac-tion. The instructor may, for example, require the work to be redone, reduce the course grade, fail the student in the course, or refer the case to the Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee (see Article 15.4 of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees). Cases referred to that committee could result in suspension or expulsion from the college.”

Below are the college’s general education learning outcomes.

General Education Learning Outcomes Measurements (means of assessment)
X Communication Skills—Students will be able to write, read, listen and speak critically and effectively Oral presentations and speech outlines
X Information and Technology Literacy—Students will be able to collect, evaluate and interpret information and effectively use information tech-nologies. Oral presentations and speech outlines

Assignments/Grading:
I am offering you a variety of assignments to complete this semester. If you choose to do 5 of them, you will receive an A for the course. Note that all of them must be completed competently and as assigned. If you complete 4 of them, you will earn a B. Completing 3 will earn you a C, 2 a D and only 1 will earn you an F.

There are two required assignments: one informative and one persuasive in class

Speech Assignments: You have two speeches this semester. We will always spend a sig-nificant amount of class time making sure you understand the assignment and how it will be graded. I will hand out my grade sheet so you can see the precise requirements. I will also hand out a sample outline that will help you write your own. Furthermore, you will tell me your topic ahead of time so that we can be sure it is appropriate for the assign-ment. You will always be expected to follow the guidelines of each assignment. In order to pass this course, YOU MUST SPEAK EXTEMPORANEOUSLY. Reading or memo-rizing your speech will result in a grade of no better than a “C”.

You must do the following for the TWO REQUIRED speeches:

1) speak extemporaneously
2) have an organized and interesting speech
3) have a compelling introduction and strong conclusion
4) have clear eye contact and appropriate body language
5) write an organized outline
6) use notecards
7) use proper supporting material
8) cite your sources THREE times—verbally in the speech, in the outline, and in the bibliography

YOU MUST TURN IN AN OUTLINE TO GET CREDIT FOR THE SPEECH AND YOU MUST TURN IN THE OUTLINE PRIOR TO GIVING THE SPEECH. I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO GIVE A SPEECH WITHOUT AN OUTLINE.

Informative Speech: 3-5 minutes. Your goal is to increase the audience’s understanding and knowledge of a particular concept, object, person, or event. You must use a variety of supporting material (quotes, examples, statistics, etc.) and at least three different sources.

Persuasive Speech: 5-7 minutes. Your goal is to make your audience take a specific, im-mediate action on a solution to a problem. We will spend quite a bit of time learning about effective persuasive techniques.

Besides these two speeches, you have your choice to complete up to three of any of the following assignments. Note that each one also requires two typed written pages reflect-ing on your experience. (Describe exactly what you did, then critique it, what went well? What would you change? Like? Dislike?)

1) Read at Trump Tower with Jeff Bergman. (Counts as two assignments.)
2) Twitter. Get in on a discussion early and continue to respond in a meaningful way.
3) New York Times online discussion. Respond to an article as soon as it is published and continue the discussion with other readers.
4) Post a video on youtube of yourself talking about something or explaining some-thing—about 3 minutes long.
5) Give a third speech in class or lead a 10-minute discussion with the class, on a top-ic of your choosing (approved by me), research required. You may only do ONE of these.
6) Open-ended: come up with your own assignment, must be okayed by me, must engage in the public realm somehow, either face-to-face (may be in class) or online in the web.
7) Johari Window. Talk to 5 people close to you and ask them your three strengths and three weaknesses. Summarize in a paper and tell me what you learned.
8) Go to a live talk outside of class and write about it. Describe who spoke, where, what they said then evaluate how they did and how the listeners responded.
9) Give a live talk somewhere outside of class, record it, write about it. Where did you talk, why, what did you say, how did the listeners respond, how did you do. (Counts as two assignments.)

Turning in Optional Assignments: You may turn them in whenever you want. However, you can only turn in one at a time and you cannot turn in a second one until you have re-ceived my feedback from the previous one. I will get you that feedback within one week of turning in your assignment. That means you cannot turn in an assignment more than once every two weeks.

Attendance/participation in class. You are expected to attend and participate in class eve-ry day.
You may miss (for any reason) 3 hours of classes.
Miss 4 classes: 1 grade taken off;
Miss 5 classes: 1 and ½ grades taken off
Miss 6 classes: 2 grades taken off;
Miss 7 classes: 2 and ½ grades taken off;
Miss 8 classes: Course failed.

Spring 2019 schedule: Below is the intended schedule for the semester. However, it may change as we move through the material. I will post any necessary changes on Blackboard. If you must miss class, contact a fellow student about what happened that day. All of the chapters refer to the internet text book, publicspeakingproject.org.

M 1/28 Introduction/Stance, chapters 1 and 3
Th 1/31 Listening, Question Circle, chapter 4

M 2/4 (Monday schedule) Introductions, Conclusions, Outlining, chapters 8 and 9
Th 2/7 Informative Speaking/Research chapter 15

M 2/11 Speech Anxiety/peer groups, chapter 11
Th 2/14 Assign peer groups, speech dates

Th 2/21 Informative Speaking/Research chapter 15

M 2/25 First Speech
Th 2/28 First Speech

M 3/4 First Speech
Th 3/7 First Speech

M 3/11 Movement, Posture, Expressive speaking, chapter 12
Th 3/14 Articulation/Workshop

M 3/18 Assignment reports
Th 3/21 Assignment reports

M 3/25 Assignment reports
Th 3/28 Video on social media

M 4/1 Internet discussion—online class
Th 4/4 Persuasive Speaking, chapter 16

M 4/8 Persuasive Speaking, chapter 16
Th 4/11 Visual Aids, chapter 13

M 4/15 Assign peer groups, speech dates, Assignment Reports
Th 4/18 Workshop

M 4/29 Second Speech
Th 5/2 Second Speech

M 5/6 Second Speech
Th 5/9 Second Speech

M 5/13 Catch-up and Review, prepare for final meeting
Th 5/16 Final Meeting