Public speaking centers have the potential to act as places of empowerment for public speaking students as they craft speeches and hone public speaking abilities. Peer consultants in speaking centers are uniquely positioned to serve as sources of empowerment for their peers. Building on current literature around empathetic listening in the center,…

Instagram is one of the most widely used social networking sites for college students (Smith & Anderson, 2018). But using a medium because it is popular does not equate to effective use. During 2018-2019, The University of Tampa's Center for Public Speaking performed an 11-month case study to assess our use of Instagram to examine whether it…

This paper explores students' experiences with communication centers and offers recommendations for new and expanding communication centers. We combine empirical research conducted on student reflection forms with our own insight as tutors, instructors, and directors and with existing literature to offer considerations for enhancing the services…

As a Graduate Assistant with the Speaking Center at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he was privileged to be provided opportunities to assist others with their communication skills not only in an on-campus tutorial setting, but also in the Greensboro community at large. One experience was working with the Homeless Union of Greensboro on…

The introductory course for Communication Studies serves an important role in aiding students in their transition towards critical consumption of the knowledge and practices necessary for the development of their major-specific skill sets. However, it remains the responsibility of University Communication Centers, UCC, otherwise known as Speaking…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many states and cities enacted mask mandates requiring masks be worn indoors. As a result, those universities opting to open their doors to in person learning in the 2020-2021 academic year possibly required students to wear masks in the classroom. This study explores the impact of mask wearing on…

Studies show English language learners (ELLs) experience increased communication apprehension and foreign language anxiety more than primary English speakers. Strategies to better assist ELLs with their public speaking skills are needed, especially within communication centers. One way is to better understand the intercultural aspects of the ELL…

The communicative relationships between scientists and audiences they address beyond their specialized fields have become increasingly strained. These fractures result not simply from an ill-informed lay public, but from deeper trepidation about the ethos of science. This forum offers three distinct, yet intertwined, interdisciplinary perspectives…

In this study, the researchers explore required public speaking tutoring in communication centers and the effect it has on students' grades, speaking apprehension, and expected speech outcomes. Test and control group participants completed the Situational Communication Apprehension Measure after the completion of their persuasive speeches in a…

Communication Centers are well positioned to support communicating science efforts across campus. This manuscript, written by faculty who designed and facilitated a potpourri of support for nanoscience during the 2017-18 academic year, provides a detailed place to start for those who will take on this work at other institutions.

While all Communication Centers support speakers, through consultation, in becoming more confident and competent oral communicators, the staff at one center wondered about the anxiety that speakers bring with them into the consultation. As one would expect, there is public speaking anxiety. With help from staff members who had been recruited from…

The term "Thin Slice," first coined and defined by Ambady and Rosenthal (1992), is a brief sample of behavior, not exceeding five minutes in length, extracted from the full-length behavior stream. These thin slices are an efficient means to form judgments and predict outcomes of interpersonal relations from the full-length behavior…

Every year, more students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are applying and being accepted into universities (Hansen, 2011). Communication centers serve a diverse range of students whose particular needs vary. While current tutor methodology is an effective way of approaching traditional students' needs, students with ASD, and the tutors who…

Effective presentation skills never go out of style, however, the channel by which we deliver presentations has been rapidly changing over the past two decades. Technological developments have made it easier to bring audiences together in virtual spaces and as a result, more and more presentations are taking place every day through digital…

Communication centers often focus on supporting students' communicative competencies in public speaking but some centers have expanded this focus to include support for English language learners (ELLs). Armed with research on the value of conversation in language acquisition, the University Speaking Center has incorporated peer consulting of ELLs,…