Course Syllabus

This course examines the elements of an effective speech and identifies traits of the individual speaker and how these traits affect preparation and delivery. Additionally, this course demonstrates specific performance-oriented aspects of public speaking. The themes of information and ethics tie these elements together and are emphasized in every part of the course because they are vitally important to all communicators. Since modern societies have ever-increasing access to information, there are increased demands on the individual to effectively and ethically use information. For example, "The New York Times has more information in one week than individuals in the 1800s would encounter in a lifetime". This illustrates the challenges speakers face beyond the common stresses of public speaking anxiety. In spite of that, ethical communication means not only accepting responsibility for the information you present but also speaking up when others abuse their information platforms.

This course includes the following units:

• Unit 1: The Speech Communication Process
• Unit 2: Audience Analysis and Effective Listening
• Unit 3: Preparing for a Speech Assignment
• Unit 4: Researching and Supporting Your Ideas
• Unit 5: Organizing Your Speech
• Unit 6: Delivery and Presentation Aids
• Unit 7: Speaking to Inform and Entertain
• Unit 8: Persuasive Speaking

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the ethical responsibilities of speakers in various speaking situations
• Apply techniques of critical listening and constructive criticism of content as a listener and speaker
• Apply audience analysis to improve public speaking situations, which includes purpose, topic selection, and delivery strategies
• Evaluate online and library-based research to find and critique the credibility of sources of information
• Cite sources of information appropriately, accurately, and clearly in both spoken and written contexts
• Select an effective pattern of organization for presenting different types of information to a listening audience
• Describe effective use of an introduction and conclusion in constructing a speech
• Evaluate keyword and sentence outlines for informative and persuasive speeches
• Apply techniques to improve the fluidity and clarity of verbal delivery
• Describe non-verbal techniques that communicate the speaker's confidence and credibility in a sample speech
• Describe effective visual resources used to present informative and/or persuasive speeches
• Apply strategies to manage communication apprehension

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link: Resources.

Only the final examination is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn 70% or higher on the final exam.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. There is a 14-day waiting period between each attempt. You may only attempt the final exam a maximum of three times. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam after three attempts, you will not complete this course.

There is also a practice exam that you may take as many times as you want to help you prepare for the final exam. The course also contains end-of-unit assessments in this course. The end-of-unit assessments are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want to until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments at this link: Quizzes.

The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays not only the program hours you completed, but also continuing education credits (CEUs) for documenting successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 2.2 CEUs.

COMM101: Principles of Public Speaking is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or an assigned schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 22 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a comfortable pace that allows you to make regular progress. It's also a good idea to schedule your study time in advance and try to stick to that schedule as best as you can.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

• Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
• As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory and will make you more likely to retain information over time.

This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor University account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access some of the course without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor University mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

This course is entirely free to enroll in and to access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, is available for no charge. This course also contains a free final exam which will award you a course completion certificate.