Although much interest has been generated regarding the functions speaking centers serve and the effects consultations can have, minimal research has addressed the dynamics of consultations themselves. This study documents what speaking center clients and consultants identify as barriers in consultations and how they address them. Analysis of…

Presents a follow-up study to further assess the extent to which reticent participants subscribe to beliefs outlined in prior research and to further test the ability of the Penn State program to alter those beliefs. Reveals significant pretreatment differences between reticent and comparison group participants on 7 of 16 beliefs. Shows…

A study assessed the effectiveness of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Reticence Program as a treatment for individuals with communication difficulties, such as communication apprehension, reticence, and shyness. Several standardized tests of social communication problems were used in a pretest-posttest design with a control group and two…

Describes an alternative approach to a communication lab or speaking center known as the Speech Center, which serves the entire university community. Notes that the use of the center is based entirely on voluntary participation by faculty and staff. Reviews methods and operating procedures for this alternative program. (SG)

A study examined the effects of rational-emotive therapy (RET) and visualization as interventions to reduce communication apprehension as measured by the Personal Report of Communication Anxiety-25. Forty-seven undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: RET, visualization, or an attention-placebo group. The RET group…

A study was designed to develop an empathy training program for health professionals that would (1) improve selected predictive, behavioral, and achieved empathetic communication skills for a sample group of registered nurses; (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the training program in attaining its stated goals; and (3) develop a program that could…

Recounts results of project SOUL (Society of Unlimited Learning), a successful program implemented in the summer of 1968 to support black students. Provides a portrait of the unsuccessful student in the successful program. Establishes the value of speech communication education for culturally diverse students, the sustaining effect of speech…

A study measured the reputations of doctoral programs in communication. Approximately 980 surveys were sent to contact people at institutions with communication disciplines. A second sample of approximately 620 names were drawn from Ph.D. level members of the Speech Communication Association (SCA) who do not teach at doctoral granting…

To assess the pervasiveness of quality circles in American corporations, as well as to ascertain perceptions of their impact in terms of various organizational outcomes, a 45-item questionnaire was mailed to personnel directors of the Fortune 500 corporations. Some time after the initial mailing, a follow-up mailing was executed to maximize the…

The effectiveness of a social skills training workshop was assessed by comparing the rated competence of participants in an Interpersonal Skills Training Program to the rated competence of nonparticipants. Subjects' self-ratings were included. This comparison was operationalized through a pretest-posttest design with 12 experimental and 22 control…

Six months after a public speaking workshop was conducted for 15 business executives, the participants were interviewed to determine the longitudinal effects of the training. The interviews were designed to find out which participants reported the greatest behavioral change, whether the training produced any carry-over effects, and what aspects of…

A pilot program was begun at the University of Southern Mississippi to measure the effect of a concentrated period of linguistic and communication skill development at the beginning of college for high risk students. The experiment was designed to follow an experimental group drawn carefully from the 15% of college freshmen with the lowest scores…

A program (entitled "Across the Curriculum") that integrated speaking, listening, reading, and writing instruction into content areas across the curriculum, in Central College, Iowa, is described in this paper. The paper first discusses the formation of the program, which was predicated on a desire shared by faculty members in all academic areas…