CMST100--FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

• John M. Sloop
• Office: 213 Calhoun Hall
• Classroom: 218 Calhoun
• ClassTime--MTWRF 1:10-3:00
• Office--322-2988
• Home--269-4760 (after 8AM--before 9PM)
• Fax--343-7918
• Office Hours--3-4 PM daily. And by appointment.
• Email --john.m.sloop@vanderbilt.edu

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Short Cuts to:

• Objectives
• Required Texts
• Grading
• General Approach
• Other Policies

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OBJECTIVES: This course has three primary goals: (1) As is obvious from the title, one of the main goals of the course is to enable you, through critique and practice, to more effectively present your ideas in any public space that requires/allows speaking. (2) Democracy is based upon the participation of all citizens in the process of public argument and decision making. This not only requires that you are able to speak effectively but also that you become a critical thinker when others communicate their ideas. As a community of critical thinkers and speakers, we can come to stronger policies. Hence, we will treat our critical thinking/listening skills as an essential part of the overall process of public speaking. (3) Communication is the essence of what we are as individuals and as a culture. Hence, we will also attempt to note the many ways in which our discussions of public speaking work as metaphors for the communication that takes place, intentionally and unintentionally, subtly and heavy handed, in our everyday lives.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

There is no textbook for this class. I will, however, have a few readings for us to cover during the semester.

Moreover, I have copies of different textbooks in my office if you would like to look through any of them for specific suggestions.

You will also be required to furnish a Mini DVD R (or RW) for each of your spoken efforts during the semester. One class meeting after each speech, you should be prepared to turn in a one page written criticism of your taped speech.

GRADING:

• First Policy Speech10%
• Second Policy Speech 15%
• Interactive Policy 20%
• Contemporary Issue 30%
• Critiques, Attendance, Discussion 25%

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GENERAL APPROACH:

In the liner notes of Miles Davis' classic "Kind of Blue," Bill Evans makes the following observations about the art of improvisation:

There is a Japanese visual art in which the artist is forced to be spontaneous. He (sic) must paint on a thin stretched parchment with a special brush and black water paint in such a way that an unnatural or interrupted stroke will destroy the line or break through the parchment. Erasures or changes are impossible. These artists must practice a particular discipline, that of allowing the idea to express itself in communication with their hands in such a direct way that deliberation cannot interfere. The resulting pictures lack the complex composition and textures of ordinary painting, but it is said that those who see well find something captured that escapes explanation . . . As the painter needs his framework of parchment, the improvising musical group needs its frame work in time.

Regarding this, while I will lecture on themes, ideas, and even "recipes" that I have found useful in the study of public speaking, I also approach "effective" speaking as a practice that we all already understand from experience although we have rarely reflected upon it. (i.e., while you don't need someone to tell you when you've witnessed an effective oration, but you may need help planning one, especially an ethical one). As such, I will expect us to build theory from the bottom up, to comment on what we find to be effective even while we try out approaches that are repeatedly recommended in speech texts and in public speaking classes. At no point, however, should "recipes" take over. One of your jobs is to force us to focus on the dynamism of speaking situations, to make yourself and your classmates more effective no matter what the situation. Finally, I want to emphasize that I take a "hands on" approach in the classroom--if you are going to truly learn, you must put critical and performative skills into practice throughout the semester, and one must find it easy to come see me, or contact me, when problems arise.

So, in short, I take Bill Evans' metaphor of the Japanese art of painting seriously as a metaphor for public speaking as an activity. We will work at providing ourselves some form of structure (the framework of time and space), but the focus is never on rules but on what works in each situation. Constantly ask yourself, "How do I respond to this situation?" "How do I improvise within it?" If you come to understand that the answers to those questions will also be somewhat different, given that all speaking situations differ, your experience will be a successful one.

Other Policies:

• Tardiness:  If you are more than 10 minutes late to class (according to my time piece), I will assume that you are ABSENT on that day.  This absence will count toward the attendance policy discussed in the grade section.  If you leave class more than 10 minutes early, I will mark you as absent on that day.  If you are late, DO NOT walk into the classroom while someone is speaking (wait until the feedback session).
• Cell Phones:  If cell phones are brought to class, they must either be turned off or turned on silent (please do not turn phones on "vibrate").  Class should NEVER be interrupted by sounds made by your personal communication technologies.  If you forget and your phone rings, you may not answer it during class.
• Speech Due Dates:  Unless you have a verifiable emergency or have made arrangements with me beforehand, speeches will be assigned a grade of "0" if you cannot deliver it on the day assigned.  Self-critiques of speeches will be given a "0" if they are not turned in on the class day following your speech.
• Electronic submissions:  I will NOT accept outlines/critiques/any assignment unless it is turned in manually in hard copy.  That is, I will not accept electronic versions of ANYTHING unless we have made prior arrangements for me to do so.