SOCES      2024-2025 Course Information

This course is designed to give students skills, confidence, and fluency in public speaking. Speech is as much about training students to think as it is about oral communication. Students who are trained to speak well are also trained to think well. Students will acquire valuable communication skills in academic, workplace, and social settings. At the beginning of the school year, we will pay special attention to helping students overcome any fears of public speaking, the fundamentals of nonverbal communication, and the development of reasoning and listening skills. Students will have extensive opportunities to speak in class, including practicing communication for social interaction and interviews.  Throughout the course, students will discuss the importance of ethics in communication, as well as how to effectively share ideas in both formal and informal settings.  Students will compose and deliver informative, persuasive, motivational, visual aid, PowerPoint, special occasion, and apologetic speeches. The goal is that this class would be enjoyable while also helping students acquire the crucial skills needed for great communication. Students will have weekly homework and deliver approximately four speeches per month.