Intended to help prepare individuals for job seeking, this digest suggests some resources to consult to help improve basic communication skills needed for the interview process. The digest reviews research on teaching interview skills in the classroom, discussing role playing, videotapes, and techniques workshops. The digest also lists practical…

This paper argues that instructors can enhance the effectiveness of oral instruction through attention to both the verbal and nonverbal aspects of their teaching. After defining and offering 2 means of achieving effective speaking, the paper discusses how lecturers should analyze their delivery, and makes 32 recommendations for improving delivery,…

This collection of short papers describes various aspects of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at DePauw University in Indiana. The five papers and their authors are as follows: (1) "The Department of Communication Arts and Sciences," giving an overview of the department; (2) "History" (Robert O. Weiss),…

A communications professor decided to teach an undergraduate "theories of communication" seminar course that had been listed but not taught for 12 years or more. The professor asked for advice on how to teach the course by sending an electronic mail message over an information network. The sometimes contradictory advice concerning the…

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…

Instructors of speaking apprehension courses can get a better picture of how speaking apprehension "feels" by having their students create a visual representation of their fear. One instructor supplied her students with newspapers, magazines, comic books, construction paper, crayons, glue sticks, and small scissors and had them create…

A study examined attitudes that discourage students from competing in rhetorical criticism forensic events. Subjects, 31 students at the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech Association state championship, completed a questionnaire. Results indicated that: (1) only 1 of the 11 subjects who had experience in competitive rhetorical criticism chose to…

A study investigated how masters programs in communication departments which are members of the Central States Communication Association compare to other schools and masters programs. Questionnaires were answered by 28 Speech Communication departmental members of the 1988 Central States Communication Association. Findings included the following:…

This paper presents materials from a workshop which explored the application of oral communication across the curriculum (OCXC) to enhance the learning of course content and the improvement of oral communication skills. Specifically, the paper aims to prepare participants to articulate the need for oral communication across the curriculum,…

This volume of an annual collection of essays relating to instruction in the basic communication course is presented in five sections: (1) Six Approaches to the Introductory Course: A Forum; (2) 1990 Basic Course Committee Award Winning Papers; (3) Instruction in the Introductory Communication Course; (4) Research on the Introductory Communication…

This paper describes a popular and innovative major program of study in speech communication at St. Cloud University in Minnesota: the Speech Communication Interdepartmental Major. The paper provides background on the program, discusses overall program requirements, presents sample student options, identifies ingredients for program success,…

Noting that it is important in communication classes to devise ways to help students to be comfortable with each other, this paper maintains that icebreakers and group builders are strategies that are vital in creating openness and trust in such classes. The paper offers eight icebreakers (activities designed to help students feel comfortable with…

David Clavier advances four arguments for placing administrative control of public relations education programs in the hands of journalism departments: (1) tradition, (2) professional associations, (3) essential skills, and (4) resources. However, there is a trend away from teaching public relations in journalism departments because such curricula…

A person or a group's accent includes not only vowel and consonant articulations, but also a predictable pattern of rhythmic stress placement and tonal or pitch contours, and a combination of configurational features that constitute voice quality setting. English as a second language (ESL) teachers should make their students aware of the habitual…

The intent of a liberal education is to enhance the student's freedom, the faculty of intentional choice. The capacity of humans to step outside of themselves, which allows development of self-concept and subsequently self-esteem, is potentiated by the humans' unique sign, the symbol. Each of the liberal arts is concerned with the development and…