Principles of effective oral communication applied to several public speaking assignments which emphasize the development of support and organization of ideas, audience analysis, public speaking anxiety, and effective delivery styles.

General approach to rational decision making and argumentative analysis including structuring written and oral arguments and rebuttals, gathering relevant evidence for arguments, and identifying logical fallacies.

Study of communication theory in small group situations. Emphasis will be placed on researching, organizing, and delivering oral presentations. Investigation of the role of communication in various group processes, problem solving, leadership, team building, effective decision making, and conflict.

Study of communication skills associated with establishing and maintaining satisfying interpersonal relationships. Various approaches to effective communication in multiple interpersonal contexts will be discussed. Factors influencing interpersonal communication are analyzed, such as: language, perception, non-verbal and communication climate.

The study of intercultural communication theory relates to perception, context, language, verbal, nonverbal messages, and adaptation. Emphasis will be placed on developing effective intercultural communication skills. Students will demonstrate effective intercultural communications skills by oral presentations, group/interpersonal interactions.

In this course, students learn and apply foundational rhetorical theories and techniques of public speaking in a multicultural democratic society. Students discover, develop, and critically analyze ideas in public discourse through research, reasoning, organization, composition, delivery to a live audience and evaluation of various types of speeches, including informative and persuasive speeches. Additionally, a focus on audience analysis, ethical considerations, effective use of visual aids, and addressing public speaking anxiety will be addressed.