Suggested Activities for Chapter 1

1. Have students evaluate the research concerning how employers rate public speaking skills (pp. 10–11 of Speak Up). Ask students (in class or as a written assignment) how these findings relate to their own work experience or advice they have heard from others.
2. Invite a guest speaker or panel of speakers from local reputable companies to give “real-world” examples of public speaking in the workplace. Prior to the guest lecture, have students generate a list of questions or topics for the speaker(s) to address. In addition to these topics, ask the speaker(s) to highlight specific instances where employees communicated well and where they did not communicate well (and how communication could have been corrected). Have the speaker(s) prepare a list of public speaking tips for students (see the “Admired Speaker” activity in the Ready-to-Print Activities of this chapter, p. 109).
3. Have students give a short practice presentation of one to two minutes on a rhetorical tradition not cited in the textbook. Students should briefly explain the cultural context and the rhetorical example.
4. Bring to class letters to the editor from a newspaper or blog entries about current events, or have students bring examples. Request that students underline places in the letters/entries where critical thinking is necessary to understand or challenge the writer’s message. Then have students circle any examples of ethical considerations such as topic choice, argumentation style, or language usage. Ask students how well the writer followed the textbook’s guidelines for critical thinking and ethics.
5. Show a video of a speech in class or have students attend a public speech. Ask the class to analyze how well the speaker uses the guidelines presented in this chapter. Students should address whether the speech demonstrated the four characteristics of public speaking, whether it showed critical thinking and considered ethics, and the ways that the speaker used audience analysis. Using the drawing of the transactional model (p. 19 of Speak Up), students can draw their own model of the speech they experienced, supplying the particular instances of message, feedback, speaker, audience, and noise. This activity serves as a useful summary of the major textbook sections and illustrates the principles in action.