Below are the policies for the speeches for COM 101. You are expected to meet these requirements in all your speeches.
- Prior to delivering your speeches students are required to complete a worksheet for each speech.
- The worksheets are located in the Quiz section of D2L
- Questions for the worksheets are also available in the content section of D2L so you can review the questions before you actually complete the worksheet.
- Students are required to deliver three speeches for this course.
- Speeches must be between 5 and 10 minutes in length. The timing begins when your speech starts and ends when you conclude. Showing your audience and the Q&A portion is not included in your speech time of 5-10 minutes.
- If you do not locate at five people to present to, you will earn an F for the entire speech. Do not post a speech with an audience of less than 5 people.
- If you do not show your audience on your video before you begin your speech, you will earn an F for the entire speech. Do not post a speech if you did not show your audience on camera beforehand.
- If you do not complete all three speeches, you will fail the course, regardless of your other grades in the class.
- Dress: Students are expected to dress appropriately for the situation in which they are presenting the speech and deliver the speech in a professional and ethical manner. Business casual is recommended. Inappropriate clothing includes but is not limited to hats, sweatpants, and hoodies. If you are presenting in your home, please still wear shoes. Presenting in socks or slippers will not give you realistic public speaking experience in terms of dress.
- Do not present the speech sitting down unless you have a disability or medical reason for not standing.
- All speeches must be presented extemporaneously (you may use a small set of notes to jog your memory while speaking). Do not read your speech and do not memorize your entire speech.
- Speeches need to be your original creation, supported by solid evidence (do not find a speech already written and deliver it - this is unethical and violates academic integrity)
Audience and Environment:
- Speeches must be presented to an audience of at least 5 people. Points will be awarded for the number of members in your audience and the location of the speech. Please refer to the rubric for the distribution of points for specific information.
- Gather a minimum of five adults for your presentation (remember, if you gather the minimum you will earn the minimum grade for the audience portion). Babies and young children will not count, nor will pets. If you have a question on what constitutes an appropriate audience in terms of age, get in touch with me before you record your video.
- The audience needs to be live. Having someone on Facetime or on the phone will not count toward your audience number.
- If your camera person is part of your audience, that person must show his or her face on camera as well. Only people who are shown on camera will be counted toward the number of people in your audience. Pan slowly before you begin your speech to show me who is in your audience.
- "Random people" (someone who may be walking by your office break room, for example) will not be counted towards your audience. People must be there specifically for your speech. The audience should be attentive.
- Point Spread:
- 5 pts: Presenting to five (5) family members/friends.
- 7.5 pts: Presenting to five to ten (5-10) peers or other clients such as work colleagues, students belonging to a club, etc.
- 10 pts.: Presenting to a professional audience of more than ten (10) people. This could include nurses or hospital personnel, members of a senior center, groups at church, co-workers, etc.
- Students are expected to adapt their speeches so they are appropriate to the audience they will be speaking to. This means that the goal for your speech should be to create some change in the actual audience you will be speaking to. You should personalize the speech and use examples and comments that your audience can relate to. Do not develop a general speech and deliver it to your family or other audience of friends or colleagues. Adapt a topic for your particular audience that will be specific for them and make a change that you want to see in them.
- You will need to locate a place to present and record your speech. You will earn points based on how professional of an environment you are in.
- 5 points: Presenting at your home/dorm room or similar environment which includes seating for the audience. If the space is crowded or there is not seating for your audience, you will earn zero points for the environment. Do not present in a public place or noisy environment (if at home, please turn off all televisions).
- 7.5 points: Presenting in a professional environment, such as a conference room or classroom. Other events should not be taking place around you.
- 10 pts.: Professional setting, such as a classroom, conference room, etc., that includes ample seating for the audience and access to audiovisuals if needed. Examples of situations include but aren't limited to: Eulogy or speech at memorial service, Speech at a wedding or banquet, presentation in boardroom, etc.
- Before beginning your presentation, show all of your audience members. The person recording your presentation needs to be on camera as well. Only people who are on camera will count towards your audience. If you do not show your audience before starting your speech, you will automatically receive a zero for your entire presentation.
- Do not "cut and paste" any portion of your video. You should show your audience then go straight into your speech (do not edit an audience into your video or perform other editing that violates academic integrity)
- Allow for any questions or audience comments to be recorded (do not stop recording the speech once you conclude).
- Practice recording first to be sure the quality and the orientation are both sufficient. If your video is highly grainy or too dark, I will ask that you re-record it. Do not post a video that is sideways. I will as you to re-record your video. If any part of the quality of the speech hinders my ability to effectively evaluate it, I will ask that you re-record it.
- Do not delete your files until the end of the semester/after all speeches are graded.
For detailed instructions on how to upload your video to D2L, please click on "Assignment Instructions" and "How to upload your videos to D2L." There is a detailed document on that page that provides step by step instructions on how to upload your speech.