Professional Speaking
Units: 6
Professional Speaking provides practical instruction for preparing and delivering professional presentations. Activities and assignments include: developing targeted, strategic messages; structuring content; designing meaningful visuals; working cohesively in a group presentation; exploring new technologies; and speaking extemporaneously. Students engage specific audiences using a communication style (both verbal and nonverbal) suitable for workplace environments. Overall, the course helps students develop confidence and apply effective techniques when speaking in a public setting.
Identify professional standards in various industries and international contexts and devise effective, personalized strategies for preparing and delivering your presentations
• Interpret the needs and expectations of audiences and adapt the content, organization, and format of your message depending on audience, context, and purpose
• Design, write, and present logical, cohesive messages using multimodal approaches as well as standard rhetorical organizational practices (i.e. introductions, signposts, transitions, recaps)
• Create presentations that conform to professional requirements such as time constraints, engaging eye contact, adequate volume, clarity in voice projection, and consistency in pace
• Design and utilize multimodal elements of presentations (i.e. slides, photographs, posters, tables, charts, diagrams, handouts, audience participation, videos) in line with workplace expectations and universal design accessibility standards
• Analyze the implications of visual and non-verbal forms of communication on professional presence (i.e. professional attire, posture, gestures, facial expressions) and adapt those forms of communication for different presentation contexts
• Demonstrate effective collaborative work by planning and delivering a team presentation • Prepare and practice evoking audience response, answering questions, and responding to audience feedback within a wide variety of professional contexts
• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate presentations and give and receive specific, productive, constructive feedback as a professional/managerial skill
• Utilize various techniques and technologies to self-evaluate and diagnose concrete and actionable areas of improvement as a public speaker with a mind towards consistent professional development.
This course assumes fluency in spoken English