GET1008: Public speaking and Critical Reasoning
Time: 2015/16 Sem 2
Lecturer: Mrs Cardoza
Tutor: Ms Jenny Lam
This module focuses on training our speech writing, organization and delivery. Since I was never a very good speaker especially infront of a large group of people, I decided to take this module to improve my verbal skills, and I was not disappointed!! We are required to purchase a textbook “The Art of Public Speaking” by Stephen Lucas. It’s quite pricey but the content is worth it! During the lecture, Mrs Cardoza will talk about the various techniques of writing a speech, the literary devices to use and the delivery of speech [theoretical stuff]. I find the lecture content to be repetitive (oops) of what the textbook says (which is why a lot of students skip it). The tutorial, on the other hand, focuses on the practical side, from crafting the speech, to delivery and review.
Speeches:
- Introductory [3min] , Commemorative [4min] , Informative [6min], Persuasive [8min], Critique [6min], Improvisational [3-4min]
Grading Scheme:
- Informative Speech
- Persuasive Speech
- Responder’s Critique to persuasive speech
- Group project (video)
- Class Quiz
- Tutorial Participation
For the speeches, there will be a fixed outline template that we have to keep to – it’s helpful for clueless people like me to get on track, but perhaps it’ll be a bit restrictive for others.We will deliver a speech in our tutorial class approximately every other 2-3 weeks, so it is very stressful. Tutorial classes are small, about 10 students per class so this increases the teacher-students interactions. Ms Jenny Lam is a very patient and she replies to emails really quickly. She is also a very good speaker herself so I think we did learn alot from her during class time as she speaks.
The process of writing the speech is a tough but insightful one that taught me alot through the researching, drafting and editing process. It’s kind of like writing any other thesis- the sources must be reliable, and we have to cite it (APA/MLA) and verbally cite it too if we are referring to them in our speech so we have to blend them in nicely. The editing process is so important as it will highlight all the mistakes/repetitive parts along the way. This script-writing can be applicable to all types of writing (especially academic papers) because it cultivates logical thinking and organised writing skills.
Since each speech will be strictly timed, we need to really time ourselves during our individual practices. This again involves some heartbreaking necessity to delete paragraphs boohoohoo im so sad. We also need to practice the articulation, projection, posture, movement, eye contact, expression etc etc (there’s a detailed rubrics to refer to) so it’s very exhausting. I took 1.5 days just to practice the 4min commemorative speech so as the length of the speeches increase, we will need to devote even more time to practice the speeches (aka we have to finish the speech earlier). But if you rehearsed the speech sufficiently, and delivered it fairly smoothly, the satisfaction after that is so fulfilling.
There’s this “love notes” component after each class, where the listeners will take notes of the speakers’ merit and to-be-improved parts on small slips of paper, then pass it to them after class. I like it very much because the listeners will receive feed backs (from both the teacher and students) of multiple perspectives, that will aid their improvement. (and also it’s quite sweet la haha) We also have to ask someone to help us video our speech while we are delivering, firstly to facilitate our revision of the speeches, and secondly to facilitate the teachers’ marking process, so do remember to bring a charged phone (or computer)!
The creative group video was really fun HAHAHA. For this semester, we are required to do a critique on a 20min highly-partisan video, and analyze the fallacies made by the speaker. It sounds boring at first but when we started to record, it became very enjoyable. Since my group weren’t able to meet up during the day, we met at 10pm and recorded the whole thing till 1am… It’s fun.
All in all, I find the module really useful in many ways, as it has taught me alot about public speaking and delivery. It also forced me out of my comfy little introverted corner and made me speak to people… so that’s good 🙂
afloatingeyot 