Oral Communications

Course Description

From Program of Studies:

Oral communication is a form of empowerment.  Come get empowered for business and for your personal life.  It is essential to enhancing one’s personal development, influencing one’s world, and boosting one’s career.  Developing poise and self-confidence for interacting in a global society is imperative for the 21st Century.  Students will learn speech vocabulary, articulation, pronunciation, listening skills, practice speech wording and delivery in order to become comfortable with communicating effectively and appropriately with various audiences.  Communication ethics and protocol will provide insight on how this process comes together in today’s workplace. 

General Description

The focus of this course is to gain an appreciation for (through practice and performance) the importance of communicating effectively through verbal and written expression in a high school community and beyond Speech Communication is an introductory course where you will learn to speak effectively in both formal and informal situations. You will develop insights into the structure and purpose of the basic speech process and appreciate the importance that speech plays in daily living.

---

Course Outline:

Speaking assignments in this course are designed to assess student learning in the areas listed below.  After completing this course, you should be able to:

1. Plan and prepare speeches that inform, persuade, entertain, demonstrate or fulfill the needs of a special occasion;
2. Use presentation aids to enhance your speeches;
3. Outline your speeches in a logical and thorough fashion;
4. Conduct meaningful research on a variety of topics;
5. Analyze your audience and design speeches to reflect your analysis;
6. Evaluate speeches based on a variety of verbal and non-verbal criteria;
7. Listen effectively, regardless of your interest in the subject matter;
8. Understand and explain the communication process.

Developing speeches and presenting them can be intimidating and cause anxiety.  Don’t worry, this course will take you step-by-step through the process and you will learn the techniques and tools to help ease your anxiety of public speaking.

---

Grading: 

• Speeches/Tests/Major Projects=80%
• Quizzes, Class Assignments, Homework, Notes=20%
  • **subject to change

• Final Exam =10% of overall grade   **Check X2 for your grades and/or missing assignments.
  • Projects will be considered as either test scores or quizzes depending on their length and complexity.  This will be disclosed to students upon assignment. It is the student’s responsibility to make up any work missed due to absenteeism. All make-up work is to be completed within 1 week of the due date, after that a  grade of Zero will be recorded.

---

Materials Needed for Course:

• A journal  (electronic/Google Doc  or paper)
• Any additional materials required will be discussed in class.

---

---

Standards: National Standards for Business Education – Communication strand.

Presentation Rubric will be presented at time of assignment introduction.