Introduction to the Course: Lecture Notes
What follows are some of the basic issues raised in lecture
during
the first week of class. In this section of Lecture notes you
will
find both the content of the PowerPoint slides from lecture as well as
a discussion of issues that we talked about during the class.
These
notes are intended to help out people who joined us late; nevertheless,
they are not a substitute for attendance at lecture. Discussion,
exercises, videos, and examples cannot be translated to the web
site.
For more information consult classmates, textbooks, and
workbooks.
For clarification of ideas contact your lab instructor or Dr. LaWare
LECTURE DAY 1: POWER POINT SLIDE CONTENT
Welcome to Speech Communication 212 Fall 2008
Today's Agenda
WHY are you required to take this course?
WHY?Even in a technological age, public speaking is important. Broadcast of public speeches has increased the potential size of the audience. Information overload has led us to need someone to help us make sense of the material. We want human interaction. Speaking and Listening are recognized as crucial job skills. Each of us will need to communicate ideas orally before groups large or small. Each of us can improve.
Students and public speaking (why it's important that you're in this class!)
Public speaking gives you the ability to share your knowledge, your experience, your brilliant thinking and your enthusiasm.
Public speaking helps you to take advantage of the opportunities the
world offers and to make opportunities for yourself.
A. You want to develop the attitude that you are speaking for the benefit of the audience, not simply to hear yourself speak.III. We must acknowledge that most people take the course Public Speaking to fulfill a requirement, but it is a course that will prove valuable to you now and in the future.B. Developing a "rhetorical sensitivity" means that you become increasingly conscious of how your public speaking choices--of topic, words, delivery style, examples, visual aids--impact the audience impression of you.
1. In a sense what you "meant" to say is irrelevant; in the transient communication moment what the audience "heard" or "understood" is what matters.C. It is of the utmost importance that you come to realize that audiences are not out to "get you", but rather, are out to see you succeed.
2. Rhetorical sensitivity means recognizing the negative impact of asking a teacher something like: "Are we doing anything important today?"1. Almost all of the audiences you face will hope to gain something of value from your presentation.D. In this course we want to see you do well and the syllabus, text, workbook, website, and all of the instructors aim to give you the tools with which you can build your own success.
2. Aim to view that audience disposition as a source of support, as a vote of confidence, rather than as a source of anxiety.
A. For some people public speaking creates Fear, Stress or Worry.LECTURE DAY 2B. But with the Information learned in the course, the hard work you put in, the practice you get, and the time you invest in developing the skills and mastering the concepts, you will soon feel better about meeting the demands of those inevitable speaking opportunities.
C. Even in a technological age, public speaking is important.
I. What do you need to know to be a successful public speaker?
A. Discussion of class reflections on this question from last class and responses to the homework (ex. 2, ch. 1).II. One place to start in developing your skills is to understand more about the dynamic process of communication.B. Reflections indicated the importance of organization, good delivery skills and audience centeredness
among others.
Public speaking skills have been taught for thousands of years. One way to divide up the aspects of
learning and improving speaking skills is by referring to the Roman Rhetorical Cannon which indicates
five areas of focus in building an effective speech.
The Roman Rhetorical Canon
inventio--research, selection of content (main points, evidence, examples, etc.)
dispositio--arrangement of content for maximum effect.
elocutio--style, how to express my content (language)
pronunciatio--delivery--verbal and non-verbal
memoria—memory
A. We call it "The Speech Communication Model."IV. In preparing speeches you can control you nervousness in the following ways:
[See Lucas textbook chapter 1 for definitions and detailed coverage of the model]
B. Important terms to understand include:Speaker--encoder
Message--all of the verbal and non-verbal content you project to the audience
Audience--decoder
Channel--that which carries the message to the audience--radio, air, P.A. system
Feedback--this is the feature that shows that communication is a two-way street; your audience will give you signals concerning its response to you and your information.
Situation--all the dynamics of the speech situation, such as location, time of day, previous speakers, reason for meeting together, etc. will effect your audience's expectations of you and your message.
Interference--anything that prevents the message from getting through clearly; this can be external noise such as a baby crying, or internal noise such as audience members worrying about something irrelevant to the speech or their fervent disagreement with something you said earlier that prevents them from hearing what you say later.
Culture--This is the part of the model not covered in the textbook, but it is important to recognize that every speaking situation is also situated within a particular culture and the expectations of that culture will have an impact on a speaker's range of choices.
Need to THINK as you Speak
Extemporaneous speaking is goal.
Able to respond to feedback.
Able to adjust to situation.
Achieve conversational delivery.
Have fun as you go.
But FEAR inhibits thinking….
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “I believe anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experiences behind him.”