Public speaking creates discomfort for many students. Instead of seeking to avoid this inevitable discomfort, six speech-variation activities explained in this paper are intentionally designed for, a little bit at a time, embracing momentary discomfort in public speaking. By embracing the inevitable discomfort of public speaking head-on in a fun…

Traditionally, informative speeches are relegated to be passive. The classic scope of informative speeches does not consider "live" or "lived" rhetoric. After teaching public speaking for most of my career, there are times when one needs to reinvigorate assignments. This assignment challenges how we utilize memory and place to…

This activity aims to assist students with persuasive tactics for argumentative speeches. The activity involves students creating an argumentative speech to defend a hot-take assertion chosen from a list provided by the instructor. In small groups, students will craft an argument supporting their hot-take assertion and present it to the class.…

This unit activity describes a series of lessons designed to enhance STEM students' technical communication abilities. The lessons culminate in two separate yet interconnected projects: (1) the development of a children's book explaining a complex topic and (2) presentations of those books to members of the local community. Students learn the…

This original teaching idea is designed for a course unit on protest communication. It consists of a performed protest speech, dubbed the "fantastical speech," and a post-speech reflective analysis. Students utilize the subversive genre of fanfiction to compose a protest speech in which, as a fictional character, they convince their…

Institutions are increasingly supplementing their traditional class formats with hybrid approaches that mix in-person, remote synchronous, and remote asynchronous delivery methods. Even when the student population expects and appreciates more flexibility in scheduling, students still struggle with technology-enhanced instruction when course design…

Courses: Public speaking. Objectives: This assignment reduces speech anxiety through the affect-reframing power of gratitude, and enables students to consolidate their gains by experiencing social support from a staff mentor.

Traditionally, feedback is regarded as crucial in the context of learning and teaching public speaking. In the current course, we analyzed the feedback provided to students by an artificial intelligence (AI) coach and students' learning experiences in developing public-speaking skills via this tool. The MySpeaker Rhetorich speech coach application…

We describe how a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) "enrolling" educational institution can transform its practices to embrace and include student voices and become HSI "affirming and thriving" by focusing on the introductory semester-long public-speaking course as a site for liberatory learning outcomes and by using digital…

This activity is designed to help students recognize ableist assumptions in rhetoric and how we evaluate what constitutes a "good" speaker and their ethos. It will highlight how ableism is embedded in social norms, using classroom public-speaking rubrics to do so. Students learn how to identify these ableist assumptions better and…

This paper introduces generative AI for the graphic design of student presentation aids in a university public-speaking classroom. Students learn to use generative AI as an efficient enhancement to the creative process while preserving the integrity of the content. Students' slide presentations show improvement resulting from the activity, and…

Rubrics are a commonly used tool to evaluate student work in the introductory communication course. Although rubrics may appear objective, they are continually interpreted by both instructors and students, often reflecting traditional classroom power dynamics. In order to understand how rubrics constrain as well as expand opportunities for the…

Recent analyses of common public-speaking rubrics, grading practices, and course content have found widespread bias and inequities. This article contributes to the efforts to remedy some of the causes of these biases. It begins with a discussion of the disciplinary biases and institutional pressures that reinforce discriminatory assessment…

Courses: English Language Arts (9-12), Media Studies, Public Speaking. English Language Arts (9-12), Media Studies, Public Speaking. Objectives: The unit's goals are for students to build a foundation for analytical thinking, acquire tools for critical reading and analysis of graphic and digital texts, and use visual analysis to engage readers and…

Courses: Public Speaking, Survey of Communication Studies, Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication. Objectives: This activity focuses on helping students (1) become aware of their implicit biases, (2) understand the relationship between implicit biases and the quality of arguments (i.e. unfounded ad hominem arguments), and (3)…