This course is designed to enhance skills in public speaking. Particular emphasis is given to researching issues, developing logically supported arguments that are appropriate to the interests and beliefs of the audience, organizing ideas clearly, and developing an extemporaneous style of presentation.
Students present five graded speeches and engage in additional informal speaking activities.
Thomas Costello Professor Costello is an extraordinarily effective teacher of public speaking to both undergraduate students and professional groups who, since joining the teaching staff in 1979, has been named consistently to the Incomplete List of Instructors Ranked as Excellent by Their Students. Professor Costello is a community leader, and a sought-after speaker and toastmaster. I requirement and the requirement of a public speaking course for those students whose curricula have such a requirement. Cara Finnegan Professor Finnegan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetorical theory and criticism in the Department of Speech Communication, and also currently serves as the Director of Verbal Communication. Her research focuses on how visual images, particularly photographs, influence debate in the public sphere.