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CMST 220:

Public Speaking

Professor: Sam Sloan

Email: Ssloan@pierce.ctc.edu

Office Hours: As an adjunct, I do not have a permanent

office, but Temporarily – I will try to hold office hours in

AAH110 from 11am-12pm, M-Th – Please send a message

before coming, or to arrange a longer meeting

CMST 220 is a beginning course in public

speaking that emphasizes speech organiza-

tion, audience analysis, organization, and

delivery. Frequent presentations will be

made before the class in which the student

will be given the opportunity to explore his/

her speaking capabilities.

Course Catalog Description Recommended Text: O’Hair,

Dan, Rob Stewart, and Han-

nah Rubenstein.

A Speaker’s Guidebook: Text

and Reference. 6th Ed.

(Later Editions Okay, as well)

COURSE OUTCOMES:

1. Recognize benefits of public speaking for personal and profes-

sional development

2. Acquire a general knowledge of techniques to use for managing

speech anxiety

3. Recognize the similarities and differences between public

speaking and other communication formats such as small groups

and interpersonal communication settings

4. Apply the guidelines of ethical public speaking conduct

5. Identify and apply multiple strategies for discovering the nature

of your audience and adapting your message accordingly

6. Identify and apply multiple strategies for developing thoughtful

topic selection techniques

7. Demonstrate the ability to design a research plan for informa-

tion gathering

8. Demonstrate skill in selecting relevant proofs to support claims

9. Identify and use a variety of proofs to support claims

10. Evaluate the effectiveness of research plan

11. Demonstrate ability to incorporate and cite research in oral

presentation

12. Discern and apply the 4 essential components of an introduc-

tion

13. Discern and apply the 3 essential components of a conclusion

14. Design an effective outline that reflects the organizational

choices of the speaker

15. Identify and choose from various organizational strategies

for persuasive speaking contexts

16. Understand the anatomy of an argument (claims, data,

warrants)

17. Construct logical arguments for the audience

18. Apply knowledge of argument strategies to persuasive ad-

dress. Understand and apply various persuasive strategies.

19. Use rhetorical devices to enhance the quality of the persua-

sive message

20. Acquire skills for critiquing public address from a variety of

standards such as ‘conformity to the principles of the art’ or

‘historical justification standard’

21. Demonstrate knowledge of the four primary delivery

modes

22. Demonstrate particular skill with extemporaneous delivery

23. Incorporate relevant visual aids into a presentation

24. Assess when visual aids are necessary

8318 M-F 12-12:50am (CTR-252)

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1. Two Exams: designed to demonstrate basic un-

derstanding and application of selected concepts and

terminology introduced in the text and lecture/

discussions.

2. Four Public Speeches: designed to increase your

skill in creating, organizing, delivering and inter-

preting informative and persuasive messages.

3. Three Full-Sentence Outlines: designed to dem-

onstrate mastery of research and organizational skill.

These correspond to the formal speeches.

4. Two Short Reflection Projects: designed to help

you assess strengths and weaknesses in your public

speaking skills.

5. Attendance and Participation: is an important

part of your responsibility as a member of this class.

Several written & oral assignments will be assigned

and completed in class, such the memorized per-

formance assignment.

Course Policies

You are allowed up to 4 (four) absences

without penalty.

There are no exceptions for absences, so

treat these as “sick days.”

After you have used your absences, I re-

serve the right to deduct your FINAL nu-

meric grade by up to 5% per additional ab-

sence.

Arriving more than 10 minutes late (after

the Question of the Day) or leaving early

counts a tardy, and every three of these

count as an absence.

If you are tardy or need

to leave early, PLEASE

write me a CANVAS

NOTE with your name,

the date, and the class

time in order to be

counted late, not absent.

Missing a speech: Failure to speak on the day you are scheduled to present will

result in a grade of zero (0) for the speech, except in the case of legitimate,

documented emergencies and at the instructor’s discretion.

As members of a learning community, instructors and students agree to a tacit social contract.

That contract ensures that all participants will attend every class meeting, engage one another

in an informed and spirited manner, and complete all assigned responsibilities on time. If you

are unable to fully attend a class meeting (coming to class engaged, willing, and ready to par-

ticipate), you are absent.

Be aware that even though you are allowed to miss 4 days without overall

penalty, this may still affect your grade, because in a speech class, you cannot practice the

skills we are learning, if you are not present.

Faith and Conscience (New Absence Policy):

Reasonable Accommodations for Faith/Conscience: Students who will be absent from or endure sig-

nificant hardship in course activities due to reasons of faith or conscience may seek reasonable ac-

commodations so that grades are not impacted. Such requests must be made in writing within the

first two weeks of the beginning of the course. Students should review the Accommodations for

Faith/Conscience Policy and follow the procedures: https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/policy-faith-

conscience.

Course Requirements Attendance and Participation

Sam Sloan

4/5/2016 @ 9am

Sorry I was late

today!

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Grade Policies

Please keep in mind that an “A” represents

exceptional work. This is work that doesn’t just

meet the standards of the assignment, but exceeds

them with creativity and enthusiasm.

A “B” represents work that is above average. This

work meets all assignment requirements and does

exceptional on several of them.

A “C” grade is average. This is not a bad grade. It

is an average grade. It means you met the bare

minimum requirements for the assignment.

A “D” means you did not meet all the requirements

of the assignment in a satisfactory way.

An “F” means you did not meet any of the

assignment requirements.

Your grade is the result of your mastery and

application of the material. I do not “curve” grades

relative to the class as a whole.

All assignments will receive a raw numerical score

that will be posted on Canvas as soon as possible

so that you can track your progress.

To protect your privacy, I will not discuss your

grade over phone/email, or with anyone other than

you, unless I am presented with a written, signed

waiver on your part. Please meet with me in person

to discuss any concerns or questions about your

grades.

If you have a problem or concern about your grade,

I ask that you wait 24 hours after the grade has

been posted before discussing it with me. This

gives you time to examine specific issues with the

assignment in a calm, rational way so that you can

best argue on your behalf. However, please do ad-

dress these concerns in a timely manner. Waiting

until the end of class is not advised and will proba-

bly not have the desired result.

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Academic Honesty:

We welcome you to this classroom

community with the assumption that the work you do

will be your own. You should know that presenting an-

other’s work as your own is a very serious violation of

the Student Code of Conduct. This policy applies to

both papers and speeches.

The conduct code identifies academic dishonesty as “plagiarism, misrepresentation of self or stu-

dent work product or representation of work of other’s as your own.” Whether quoting, paraphras-

ing, or summarizing someone else’s work, you should cite your sources.

Suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated, and if plagiarism is substantiated, the

person found to have plagiarized material may face failing the assignment, failing the course, disci-

plinary censure, and/or suspension from the college, depending on the details of the case. More de-

tail is in the Student Code of Conduct. As a general rule: when in doubt, cite where the information is

coming from. If you are uncertain whether you are citing sources sufficiently and appropriately enough to

avoid plagiarism, please talk to me before submitting an assignment. If you have questions about

whether you are sufficiently citing something, please talk to me before you turn your assignment in.

Plagiarism:

Quick Rules:

Come to class

Be Involved (Take notes, Warm Up, Play!)

Be cool to each other

Do Original Work—Follow your Passion!

Communicate Early and Often

Respect:

Students are expected to actively

participate in discussions and class

activities, and should expect a comfort-

able and supportive environment to do

so. Personal attacks, slurs, and the like

will not be tolerated. No one in this class

is stupid, and neither are their ideas. If

you have questions related to specific

details on harassment or disrupting

class, you can turn to the:

You may be asked to leave if you show

disrespect to your classmates or professor.

I take your work seriously, and recognize that

being in front of an audience can be stressful or

even scary for some folks.

I expect you to be good audience members to

each other.

respect

/rəˈspekt/ noun

1. a feeling of admiring someone or something that is

good, valuable, important, etc

2. a feeling or understanding that someone or something

is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an

appropriate way

Pierce College Student Code of Conduct:

http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/about/policy/

studentrr

Here are a few simple guidelines to help:

Failure to prepare for class inhibits your participation and is disrespectful to those who did prepare and

are ready to work.

Turn your cell phones to silent (not vibrate). PUT AWAY HEADPHONES! Make sure computers or tablets

are muted. Unless these things are being used for a specific activity, they should not be making noise.

When others are speaking, you should be paying attention. That means you should NOT be:

reviewing notes for other classes, reading, doing puzzles, surfing the internet, etc. You should also avoid

heckling, interrupting, or distracting the performer(s). I reserve the right to deduct your grade up to 10%

for disturbing another performer.

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Pierce College Policy:

Pierce College values diversity and inclusion; we are committed to fostering mutual respect and full partici-pation for all students. My goal is to create a learning environment that is equitable, inclusive, and welcom-ing. If you have or think you may have a disability that may affect your work in this class and feel you need accommodations, contact Access and Disability Services at ADS@pierce.ctc.edu or (253) 964-6468 to see if you are eligible to receive services.

If you are already approved for accommodations through the ADS, have requested your accommodations for this quarter and would like to use your accommoda-tions in my class please connect with me outside of class time to discuss your needs.

Accessibility:

My policy:

As a personal philosophy, I strive to be conscious of

and sensitive to disability issues. In the spirit of the

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), I wish to

make this course as accessible as possible to stu-

dents with disabilities, temporary medical condi-

tions, or mental or emotional health issues that may

affect any aspect of course assignments or partici-

pation.

I invite you to communicate with me at the beginning

of the quarter or at your discretion about any rea-

sonable accommodations that will improve your ex-

perience of or access to the course.

ADS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Reason-

able accommodations are established through an interactive process between you and the ADS manager,

and I am available to help facilitate them in this class. If you have not yet established services through

ADS, but have a temporary or permanent disability that requires accommodations, you are encouraged to

contact ADS at 253 - 964 - 6526 (Fort Steilacoom) or 253 - 840 - 8335 (Puyallup).

Communication: As a student at Pierce College, you are expected and required to regularly check your college issued

email address and Canvas account. If you wish to email me, please email me respectfully and be sure to

identify who you are. Please put the COURSE AND CLASS TIME in the subject field of the message, so

that I can quickly identify student emails. Not doing so may result in a delay of response. (Remember, I

may have seven students named “Katie,” who are in one or the other of my classes).

Although I would love to be available to you 24 hours a day, I do have other commitments in my life. I will

do my best to respond to your email as soon as possible, but know that I am less likely to immediately re-

spond to emails on the weekend. My email is Ssloan2@pierce.ctc.edu, BUT: Messages sent through

Canvas are more likely to be answered quickly as they ping an alert to my phone.

If some major life issue comes up that will impact your work in this class, let me know through the Canvas

message system. Also, feel free to let me know why you are absent, should you need to miss. There will be

no way to make up class experiences missed from absences, but it lets me know what’s going on, if there

are any larger issues.

If you will be absent, it’s your responsibility to check the syllabus AND Canvas for work you will miss.

Generally, I will accept assignments turned in early, but anything turned into

Canvas late or any missed speeches will generally result in a ZERO Grade (0) for

the assignment. So, talk to me about turning in assignments early, if you know

you will miss.

NOTE:

We will be using CANVAS for most of the class assignments, so make sure you

have access to a computer or device that will let you complete your assignments

and upload them BEFORE THE DEADLINE. I will not accept late work because

you procrastinated and were having “internet problems.”

Get your work finished early, and make sure that you are submitting before the

last possible minute. If Canvas is giving you issues, you may always submit an

email of the assignment into me before the deadline to prove it is completed, but

be sure to get Canvas assignments uploaded before the deadline.

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Speech Days: IF YOU HAPPEN TO ARRIVE LATE ON A SPEECH DAY, WAIT POLITELY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR,

UNTIL YOU HEAR APPLAUSE, BEFORE YOU ENTER!

PRESENCE:

Please be present on ALL speech days, even if you’re not speaking. One easy way for me to tell that you

don’t care about your grade in this class is to show that you have no respect for your fellow students. I no-

tice people who habitually miss. Typically, these students do not perform as well on their speeches.

We will select a speech performance day about a week or so before speech week. IT IS YOUR RESPONSI-

BILITY TO SELECT A DAY YOU WILL BE AVAILABLE AND IN CLASS. If you miss selection day, come see

me to get your speech day. I WILL NOT CHASE YOU DOWN.

I may allow two students to trade days BEFORE speech day, but as a rule, I GENERALLY DO NOT ALLOW

YOU TO CHANGE DAYS AFTER YOUR INITIAL SELECTION. Once your speech day has begun, make sure

you make it to class.

It’s funny how many people “get sick” overnight or have to “attend sudden funerals” on speech days, with-

out warning… THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY DAYS FOR US TO USE ON SPEECHES, SO IF YOU’RE NOT

PRESENT AND READY TO PERFORM ON YOUR DAY WHEN I CALL YOUR NAME, YOU CAN EXPECT A

ZERO GRADE. If I get a message from you about an issue SEVERAL DAYS before your speech, we can

have a conversation, but if I get an excuse after the fact, it’s a typically going to be a ZERO.

We have limited time to get through all of your speeches, so delays cost us CLASS TIME, and your class-

mates will LOOSE OUT on the value of their education. Be present, on time, on the days you speak so that

you don’t disappoint them or me.

TIMING:

Timing is a critical component of the speech-making process, and therefore time limits for speeches will

be strictly enforced. I will give you a GOAL TIME for each speech.

You will have ONE MINUTE on either side of that GOAL TIME where I will not deduct any points.

(Example: if 5 Minutes is your Goal Time, you can give a speech between 4-6 minutes without penalty, but

times like 3:59, 2:00 7:00, and 6:10 WILL be penalized.)

Each speech will be worth a different point amount, but generally, 20% of the value of EACH SPEECH will

come from having a speech of the appropriate length.

THINK OF IT THIS WAY:

If your speech is too short, I will literally be struggling to grade you, and it’ll be hard for me to make sense

of what you’re doing – you don’t want to be in that position.

If your speech is way too long, you’re going to make it hard for other students to complete their speeches

in a reasonable time, and you’re likely to wander off topic.

This is a class that teaches communication and effective speaking skills. One of the skills you will be

graded is the effective presentation of material, within constraints given for each assignment.

In College and in your Career and Life, you will likely be called upon to give presentations and given similar limitations. Think of this as a practice for that. Here, the stakes are a few points, in the future, it might mean losing a job or missing a promotion. THIS is the place to learn these valuable skills. ;D

You will learn everything you need to know about editing a speech to time for this class, but in general, students who fail to meet their speech time are almost always the ones who don’t practice.

(As a note, I almost never have students who fail to meet time and also actually practice the amount suggest for each speech. Give yourself AT LEAST 4 DAYS TO COMPLETE YOUR SPEECH: ONE DAY to complete your Outline and THREE FULL DAYS to rehearse and move your speech from a paper, to a LIVING, EMBODIED SPEECH, with NOTE CARDS and VOCAL CHOICES that are FULLY REHEARSED. )

We will discuss this as the “5-5-5 Method”

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EXAMS:

Two exams will be administered in this section on the assigned dates (see course calendar for dates). These exams will focus on lecture, handouts, text, posted material on Canvas, and any other course ma-terial deemed appropriate and discussed in class.

You are strongly encouraged to keep up with your reading and to attend every class. Only those with proper documentation will be provided a make up test; those without documentation will not be permit-ted to take the exam. I am more likely to allow a makeup if we have been having a conversation for a long time. Last minute or “day after” excuses will al-ways make you sound like you’re unprepared. There will be no makeups for “just being unprepared.”

Even if you’re less prepared than you’d like for a SPEECH or an EXAM, just do it! You’re definitely going to have a better grade than an automatic ZERO.

Excused or not, those who fail to take the makeup within one week of the absence will be assigned a grade of zero (0) for the exam.

INCOMPLETES, PASS/NO PASS, and WITHDRAWAL:

In general, I do not grant incompletes or Pass/No Pass options, however, if an ex-treme circumstance arises, please talk to me about what your options are. It is your responsibility to withdraw from the course prior to the college deadline. I will not approve instructor’s withdrawals. For more information on these policies, please see the Pierce College Catalog.

Practice Speeches using the “5-5-5 METHOD” that we will discuss:

COMPLETE YOUR OUTLINE, then:

DAY ONE: Practice 5 times with a timer, reading off your paper and adjusting the length of the speech to fit the GOAL TIME.

DAY TWO: Practice 5 times with a timer, moving notes over to note cards, standing, and thinking about how you will deliver your speech out loud. Make notations on your cards and make sure you’re hitting your time consistently.

DAY THREE: Practice 5 times with a timer, full out, with final note cards and all the gestures you will use in your speech. FULLY EMBODY YOUR SPEECH, WITH EMOTION AND MOVEMENT!

MISCELLANY:

We have a Writing Center on Campus. If you are having issues, please set up an appointment with them:

https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/dist/writers

Almost all assignments for this class require you to have access to a computer and to be familiar with

Canvas. Your outlines will be uploaded there, and other assignments may be turned in there.

You can quickly and directly login at http://pierce.instructure.com. If you have a computer issue (internet

went out, computer crashed, goldfish ate your Ethernet cable, etc.) you’re expected to have made back-

ups of your assignments and to find a computer lab or another computer to submit work on time.

Please be proactive in checking your assignments on Canvas and uploading well before the time an as-signment is due to avoid any technical glitches.

Free programs like DROPBOX Can help: https://www.dropbox.com

Generally, I would like to receive .doc, .docx, or .pdf files for assignments turned in on Canvas. Certain

formats like .odt, .pages, .wpf, and others may not work well with the Canvas software. Please make sure your final assignment is compatible with Canvas specifications for a given assignment.

ALSO: Double check uploaded assignments to make sure they are present! If you upload several times,

(revisions, for instance), I will see all uploads, and I will grade the most recent one.

This syllabus and course schedule are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances. Any changes or alterations to the schedule or syllabus will be announced in class and posted to Canvas. Please check Canvas & the Course Schedule regularly, if you find yourself missing class.

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Emergency Procedure:

It is your responsibility to know and understand emergency procedures. In the event of an emergency call 911 as soon as it is

safe to do so, if possible, also call Campus Safety at 253-964-6751 (Fort Steilacoom) or 253-840-8481 (Puyallup).

Escorts- Safety escorts are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (not available at JBLM). Call Campus Safety in Puyallup at 253-840-8481, at Fort Steilacoom 253-964-6751.

Fire Alarm- During an emergency evacuation, take your valuables ONLY if it is safe to do so. You could put yourself or someone else at risk by delaying your exit. Plan to return to class once the alarm has stopped. Do not return until you have received an official all-clear.

Earthquake- DROP, COVER, and HOLD ON. Once the shaking stops, take your valuables and leave the building. Do not plan to return for the rest of the day. Do not return to the building until you have received an official all-clear.

Active Shooter- RUN, HIDE, FIGHT; run if possible, hide and/or barricade if escape is not possible, fight as a last resort. Most classroom and lab doors are kept locked. If you decide to barricade in a classroom or lab know how to secure the door so it is locked. This may be done by pulling the door fully closed or by sliding the lock block and pulling the door closed. Know how the door locks ahead of time.

Campus Alerts- Sign up for Pierce College emergency alerts on the College website. https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/

news/20161205/sign-today-receive-emergency-alerts-pierce-college-0