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…

Courses: Introduction to Rhetoric and Communication, Basic Course, Public Speaking, Classical Rhetoric. Objectives: To re-establish disciplinary commitment to civic education in perilous democratic times through "imitatio."

Online activism is a space of opportunity for students to encounter social justice issues, explore the possibilities of visual rhetoric, practice persuasive speaking skills, and actively contribute to the momentum of social movements. At the same time, digital activism raises concerns about "slacktivism," limiting the necessary…

As a communication educator, the author's goal is to help students examine and understand how communication addresses--or, in this case, fails to address--public problems such as gun violence. Communication concepts can provide insight about America's bewildering debates about gun violence, and in turn, these debates can help illustrate and refine…

Courses: Critically fun is a single-class activity for communication classes discussing persuasive messages, the effects of mass media, or rhetorical analysis (e.g. public speaking, communication theory, mass media, and rhetoric). Objectives: By the end of the activity, students should be able to analyze critically the rhetorical significance of…

The activity described in this paper was developed in response to the experience of teaching a large lecture introduction course to freshman and sophomore undergraduates called "The Rhetorical Tradition." This course covers, roughly, the last 2500 years of rhetoric. One of the issues faced in this course is that students struggle to…

Rocca's (2010) extensive literature review suggests that some students are reticent in voicing their opinions due to the fear of rejection by their peers when using the persuasive approach and for believing that their voice does not matter in public settings. Similarly, Arnot and Reay (2007) often find an imbalance of power, which fosters the…

When students enter the basic public speaking classroom,When students enter the basic public speaking classroom, they are asked to develop an introductory speech. This assignment typically focuses on a speech of self-introduction for which there are several pedagogical underpinnings: it provides an immediate and relatively stress-free speaking…

Digital oratory can be described as thesis-driven, vocal, embodied public address that is housed within (online) new media platforms (and that ideally takes advantage of the developing/flux-laden conventions that the online video context provides). This new form of public address lies somewhere between traditional speech-giving and media…

Invention deals with the content of a speech, arrangement involves placing the content in an order that is most strategic, style focuses on selecting linguistic devices, such as metaphor, to make the message more appealing, memory assists the speaker in delivering the message correctly, and delivery ideally enables great reception of the message.…

From the earliest roots of rhetoric, practitioners emphasized the need for analyzing one's audience before developing a speech. Textbooks for most basic public speaking courses spend at least one chapter discussing audience analysis. Authors discuss adapting messages to various demographic, cultural, and individual differences. As a result,…

In communication courses, instructors frequently define the term "anecdote," explore the various types of anecdotes, and then encourage students to use anecdotes in their speeches. However, instructors do not often spend time teaching students "how" to construct memorable anecdotes. As a result, many students present weak anecdotes or choose not…

Teaching about elocution in the 21st century classroom has the potential to aid students in learning about not only strategic rhetorical delivery, but also rhetorical empowerment. Normative, stereotypical gender roles still constrain women's performances in the public sphere. Thus elocution informs present day classrooms in at least a couple of…

This article presents a public speaking assignment that takes the study of rhetoric seriously. First, it shifts the approach from the common typology of informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speeches toward forensic, deliberative, and epideictic rhetoric. Second, this assignment takes rhetoric seriously by generating the understanding that all…

Objective: To consider sex roles in public speaking through the conversational style of modern-day political rhetoric. Type of speech: Informative. Point value: 15% of course grade. Requirements: (a) References: 3; (b) Length: 5-7 minutes; (c) Visual aid: No; (d) Outline: Yes; (e) Prerequisite reading: Any biographical information found on the…