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Speech Lab Public Relations CampaignRachel Rainville
For the GVSU Speech Lab
April 9, 2014
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Executive Summary:
This is a Public Relations campaign for the Grand Valley State University Speech Lab. The Speech Lab requested the help of the students in CAP 220-03 in raising awareness for the organization.
This Campaign Plan book was put together after conducting various forms of research about the Speech Lab, and other communication centers. This campaign shares the secondary research found, as well as the primary research including a focus group report and a survey report.
The Action Plan was then created after going through the data collected in the primary research. The goal of this campaign is to affect change in awareness, attitudes, and actions pertaining to the Speech Lab among the Grand Valley Students. The plan includes three objectives, two strategies and three tactics per objective, as well as ways to evaluate and measure each objective.
We sincerely believe that with this Public Relations Campaign Plan, the Grand Valley State Speech Lab will be extremely happy with the results.
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Table of Contents
Research: Pages 4-20
Secondary: Pages 4-9
Secondary References: Page 10
Primary Research: Pages 11-20
Focus group: Pages 11- 15
Survey Results: Pages 16-20
Campaign Action Plan: Pages 21-27
Appendix: Pages 28-
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Research
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Secondary Research
The Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Speech Lab has requested help in raising
awareness of its organization. In order to properly help the GVSU’s Speech Lab, secondary
research has been conducted to address their needs.
In order to help increase the awareness of the GVSU Speech Lab, there needs to be an
understanding of what it is, similar programs to it, the importance of it, and why students
should be interested in it.
It is an uncontested fact that public speaking is one of the most valued skills among any
successful being. It is as essential as a proper education, something that universities as old as
Harvard have identified. In the young years of Harvard students were mandated to give
speeches in front of their fellow peers and faculty. It wasn’t until 1771, in which students
banded together to form the first “speaking club”. Soon after, other academic societies and
universities followed suit, (Fritz, 1929). Fritz also discusses how in that time period there was a
lack of written communication making public speaking vital. Early education academies placed a
strong emphasis on spoken word because the ability to persuade gave people a sense of power
in the community. For this reason, many colleges at the time attempted to focus on this
demand. Therefore, early institutions made speech training an important function of their
educational process. The University of Pennsylvania was another institution that realized the
importance of speech and focused their schooling on it. Many students were required to
participate in extra-curricular debates, “Thus was reflected the great interest in oratory and
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debate which continued in the colleges until after the middle of the nineteenth century,” (Fritz,
1929, p. 109). Clearly, the importance of speech still exists in more recent years of schooling.
The need for speech-specific assistance is rapidly growing. With more and more
students attending universities, the expectation for a standard youth to recite and orate a
speech is exponential. The U.S. Marine Corps issued a story including the following statement,
“The fear of public speaking frequently tops the average phobia in various surveys taken around
the world,” (Irions, 2012). This story states that the marines could go to a speaking workshop
to improve on picking speech topics, assessing their audience, using proper posture, gathering
thoughts and creating a structure in which to format and deliver their speeches confidently.
This workshop, similar to a speech lab, helped marines overcome their fear of public speaking.
By helping the marines with the basics of giving speeches, the skills that they have acquired
assisted them to overcome their phobia of public speaking.
Similar to speaking workshops, Toastmasters is a fun way to get over the fear of public
speaking. Toastmasters is a widespread organization dedicated to empowering individuals with
the ability to achieve more effective communication skills and leadership. It is able to bring a
wide variety of people together to showcase their skills and abilities of being able to present an
oral presentation. With over 14,650 clubs worldwide it can be easily accessible right here on
campus, with Grand Valley’s very own chapter. Toastmasters has a website containing all the
great opportunities as to which their organization possesses.
The Speech Lab was implemented into Grand Valleys Student Aid Organizations three
years ago. It started off very small only generating 18 visits its first semester, and has grown
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significantly having received 673 appointments in fall semester of 2014. In its first year, the
speech lab was essentially based out of an empty storage closet. However, due to the
construction of the multi-million dollar library, a place was specifically designed and allocated
to meet the needs of students requiring help with oral presentations. It has several locations,
including: Lake Michigan Hall, room 154; Steelcase Library on Pew Campus; CHS Building; and
Mary Idema Pew Library’s atrium. There are fourteen student employees, a faculty member
and an Associate Director all aimed to help students with speeches. Carl Brown, the Associate
Director of the Speech Lab stated that it is a National Award Winning Program. When speaking
with the Grand Valley Lanthorn, Carl Brown also stated, “Speech Lab is dedicated to helping all
students with any oral presentation at any point in the presentation creation or delivery
process.” The article clearly pointed out that the Speech Lab is relatively new to Grand Valley.
The National Association of Communications Centers (NACC) has given recognition to
the Grand Valley Speech Lab, along with many other communication centers across the
country. The NACC’s main commitment is to assist college campuses across the nation in
helping to develop speech and communication centers. Part of NACC’s goal includes the
certification of communication centers. Despite the vast amount of colleges listed in their
directory, NACC has only certified twelve colleges. The first one ever to be instated as a certified
communications center was Randolph Macon College in 2010. Their speaking center contains
trained students that help with presentational or small group communication. They are not
experts, and suggest that students who need severe help should enroll in a speech
communication class. They claim that peer tutoring is an advantage because students receiving
help seem to be less threatened and apprehensive in receiving help. Most of their sessions are
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practices that the consultant will watch and critique. All information regarding the NACC was
collected from their website, http://Commcenters.org.
An important component to the Speech Lab is writing. Often, more students are aware
of Writing Centers than they are of Speech Centers. The two concepts are very closely
intertwined. As Writing Centers have been implanted and noticed for much longer than Speech
Labs, their strategies in gaining student attention and foot traffic are important to note. A
study conducted on the Writing Center of the United Arab Emirate University found that 76% of
students who used the Writing Center were encouraged to do so by their friends, (Al Murshidi &
Al Abd, 2014). It is important to note such aspects behind informing students of their options for
success.
Public speaking occurs every day. The purpose behind attending a university is not simply to
receive a diploma but to obtain the skills that will be utilized in future careers and relationships for the
remainder of one’s life. “Oral communication skills were the number one skill that college graduates
found useful in the business world,” (Zekeri, 2004). Furthermore, developing speech skills shows
improvement in critical thinking, another strong asset to possess in the competitive working world.
“Another benefit to public speaking is that it will enhance your ability to conduct and analyze research.
Public speakers must provide credible evidence within their speeches if they are going to persuade
various audiences. So your public speaking course will further refine your ability to find and utilize a
range of sources,” (Why is Public Speaking Important). The benefits of public speaking will largely
enhance a student’s portfolio.
There are often a lot of organizations that students are able to join and feel a part of at
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large universities. Students need a sense of belonging.
“Communication centers can also provide opportunities for student participation in a
more relaxed extracurricular setting. Events such as workshops, speaking and writing
contests, and other activities sponsored by a communication centers, many of which are
organized and staffed by communication center staff who are near-peers, can provide
another venue for participation and a feeling of identity with the campus community,”
(Yook, Sayre, 2012).
Students are not the only ones who need persuasion to use communication centers for help.
“Centers should highlight the assistance students would receive by using a communication
center, persuading faculty (and students through those faculty) that a tutoring session is a
worthwhile use of their time,” (Yook, Sayre, 2012). It is clear that faculty have the strongest
impressions on students. Students are more likely to listen to a recommendation on receiving
outside help if their professor has prompted them that the session would be a beneficial use to
their education.
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References
Al Murshidi, G., & Al Abd, K. (2014). UAE University students' awareness of using the writing
center. Higher Education Studies, 4, 58-63.
Fritz, C. (1929). The teaching of public speaking in the early American colleges. In American
Speech, 2.5, 107-113.
Grand Valley State University. (2014, December). Grand Valley State University Speech Lab.
Retrieved from Grand Valley State University's website http://gvsu.edu/speechlab/
Howard, D. (2014 September 24). GV Speech lab enters its second year. Grand Valley
Lanthorn. Retrieved from http://www.lanthorn.com/article/2014/09/news-speech-lab
National Association of Communication Centers. (2014). About the NACC. Retrieved from
http://commcenters.org/about-us
Public speaking workshops help overcome phobias. (2012, Feb 10). Targeted News Service.
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/docview/922070198?accountid=39473
Who We Are. (2014). Retrieved from Toastmasters International
www.ToastMasters.org/About/Who-We-Are
Writing Commons. (n.d.) Why is public speaking important? Retrieved from Writing Commons
website http://writingcommons.org/open-text/genres/public-speaking/844-why-is-
public- speaking-important
Yook, E., & Sayre, W. (2012). The communication centers and oral communication programs in
higher education: advantages, challenges, and new directions. Lanham, MD: Lexington
Books.
Zekeri, A. A. (2004). College curriculum competencies and skills former students found essential
to their careers. College Student Journal, 38, 412–422
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Focus Group Report
The Grand Valley State University Speech Lab has requested help to raise awareness of
the program. The GVSU Speech Lab is a prominently new resource that the university has
implemented to help the students of Grand Valley. It is a two year old organization that is
meant to help students with any speech, presentation, or oral report. Since the Speech Lab is
still a relatively new resource for students, not many students or faculty really know about it.
The Speech Lab is capable of helping many of the Grand Valley Students, but has only received
minimal customers. The Speech Lab would like to reach out to more students, even faculty of
the university, to help them improve on their performances. In order for the Speech Lab to
reach its full potential as an aid to students, there needs to be more awareness of the
organization.
In order to make Grand Valley University students aware of the Speech Lab, there are a
variety of informational needs that should to be explored. The most important thing to know is
the target audience. In the Speech Labs case, the whole Grand Valley University is the target
audience. This not only includes the current students, but also future students and also faculty.
Students that are already attending the University are able to share information that can help
shed light on what needs to be done in order for the Speech Lab to expand their awareness.
The information needed from the students include topics such as their majors, the type of
classes they are taking, classes that they have took that require presentations, their study
habits, if they have heard of the speech lab, how they heard of it, what they think it is, and their
thoughts of how it is supposed to help them. Other information that would help the Speech
Labs case is to know of other successful university organizations that are aimed in helping
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students in their educational path. It is important to find out what makes these other university
organizations successful to hopefully give a healthy idea of what the Speech Lab can do to
become just as popular.
A focus group of current Grand Valley students were brought together to find out their
thoughts and opinions of the Speech Lab. The moderator introduced the group and explained
that their honesty and time was well appreciated and very helpful. The students in the group
ranged in age, year, and major. The diversity of students was useful in creating a variety of
opinions and thoughts on the speech lab.
Many of the students shared that they were not aware of the Speech Lab, but they were
aware of other resources that Grand Valley has to offer such as the Research Market and
Writing Center. These students were aware of the resources since their first year at the
university. One of the students talked about their experience at the Writing Center, explaining
that the Writing Center was very helpful in developing their paper and making it stronger to get
a better grade. He said that the student sat down, went over the paper and made useful
corrections while thoroughly explaining why those corrections need to be made. When asked
about how the students felt about giving presentations, the older students stated that they
were more confident in giving speeches, making that necessity of going to the Speech Lab not
that appealing to them, while the younger students lacked that confidence, making the Speech
Lab seem like a more beneficial option. The student that seemed to lack the most confidence in
giving a speech explained it was due to anxiety from past speech experiences. She seemed to
think that the Speech Lab seemed like a resource she wanted to use to help her create
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confidence in being able to stand in front of a class without being nervous. The students then
talked about what they feel like they could improve upon while giving a speech, which were
things like body language, being prepared, and feeling comfortable in front of the audience.
As a whole, the information the students provided showed the lack of awareness of the
Speech Lab and what is has to offer. Collectively, the group exchanged ideas of how to make
other students conscientious of what the Speech Lab is and what is has to offer. Things they
discussed were flyers, people randomly giving impromptu speeches about the Speech Lab in
public places such as Fresh or Kliener, having contests, bookmarks that are handed out in the
beginning of the semester, having free candy such as tootsie rolls or suckers handed out after
visiting the speech lab, and having T-shirts made. These students roughly mentioned there
process in making speeches; however none mentioned their willingness to seek outside help.
Most likely because they were not aware of the help that the University has to offer. They all
seemed to leave out what they have done their previous presentations on, which is critical to
note because every speech is different. Some are easier to talk about and maybe even wing
while others take a lot of preparation and practice. They did mention how they previously have
prepared for speeches like writing notecards, having an outline, and practicing in front of teddy
bears or walls. They all agreed that a major incentive to go would be extra credit offered by a
professor. Most of them expressed a lack of interest in going to the Speech Lab because of their
confidence in themselves in giving presentations. A student didn’t mention if the Speech Lab
offered help in creating visuals for a presentation, such as a PowerPoint presentation, that she
would see more incentive in visiting. The group expressed that there was a lack of incentive on
going to the Speech Lab.
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The focus group was able to provide a student’s perspective on the Speech Lab. Through
their thoughts and opinions, many themes are able to be developed. The first theme is a lack of
awareness, which is exactly what the Speech Labs problem is. The lack of awareness stems from
their beginning years at the university. In order to create a larger customer base for the Speech
Lab, it would be important to reach the students at the early ages of their education career. If a
student is aware of the Speech Lab in their first year, they would know of the opportunity to
receive help all throughout their educational career. It would also increase the likelihood of
them sharing the Speech Lab through word of mouth, since students tend to look to their peers
for help, especially in their first years of college.
Another theme that was developed from the focus group was incentive. Most of them
did not see a real value in how the Speech Lab could help them. They mentioned that if a
professor would mention it in class or give extra credit to students who went, they would be
more likely to go. It would be beneficial to the speech lab to help show the true benefits that it
has to offer. To show that there is an incentive on visiting the Speech Lab without the
professors offering up extra credit. The incentive to visit the Speech Lab should be purely to
help make a student’s life easier by assisting them throughout the whole process. This is
already a part of the Speech Lab, but if it should be emphasized. Where to start is often a main
struggle in creating anything, and if a student knew that the Speech Lab helps with everything
of a presentation, even from the beginning they most likely would see more of an incentive to
go.
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Feelings and opinions about giving speeches were discussed. A major factor that
seemed to play a role was the student’s confidence. The students that seemed less confidence
stated they were more likely to visit. This shows that the students seeking for help are looking
to gain confidence. The Speech Lab should make it clear that they are not only there to aid
students with speeches, but also to help increase the student’s self-esteem so they are able to
feel confident in front of an audience while presenting.
The information provided by a few of the students who attend Grand Valley University
in this focus group helps identify what can be done to increase the awareness of the Speech
Lab. The Speech Lab needs to not only make itself known, but also should be sharing all of the
benefits that a student can gain from one visit. Timing is key, by targeting a student from the
beginning of their educational path at Grand Valley they would increase word of mouth, and
the amount of time that a student could find an opportunity to visit the speech lab. The Speech
Lab also needs to emphasize everything they have to offer like helping from the start, as well as
them empowering students to help them gain confidence.
(Moderators guide found in Appendix 1-A)
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Survey Results
The Grand Valley Speech Lab survey that has been conducted received many responses
that will help guide the campaign to what needs to be done in order to help create awareness
of the university organization. The survey addresses the year of school and majors, as well as
confidence in their speaking abilities. It also asks if they have heard of the speech lab, how and
if they have been there to rate their experience. The results varied for all of the answers, which
leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
The survey shows that many of the respondents are not one hundred percent confident
in their speaking ability. This means that the Grand Valley Students definitely could use
guidance or help with in their public speaking abilities. Not a single person marked 5, which
shows the most confidence in giving a speech. If the Grand Valley Speech Lab were to really
emphasize their ability to help improve a student’s speech or presentation to the upmost of
their capability it would help bring in more visits to the Speech Lab. Many of the respondents
stated they would like to improve on their confidence, or nerves. This shows that students are
often concerned with how they are performing. An idea for the Speech Lab to showcase is how
they often deal with helping students feel relaxed. In order for students to know that the
Speech Lab would be beneficial in their confidence in giving speeches, it should be clearly
stated on any of their informational tactics. For example, on the GVSU Speech Lab Website, it
would be beneficial for it to state that they are trained to help with presentation nerves or
helps build confidence while speaking to large groups. Other responses were that they needed
help with stuttering and sounding clearer, or pronunciation problems. They Speech Lab should
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also address that with the help of their student workers that students can learn tips and have
guidance while speaking through out their presentation.
A little over half of the respondents to the survey have never heard of the Grand Valley
State Speech Lab. This is important to note because it is the direct problem of which the Speech
Lab is trying to correct, awareness of the Speech Lab. The respondents who have heard of the
speech lab were able to tell us how they became aware of it. These ways included from class,
professors, the website, word of mouth and a flyer. The answer that was repeated the most
however, was by class. These students also stated that they were either in a communications or
advertising major. It is important to recognize that the students who have heard of the speech
lab are in a major that often has to deal with presenting publically. This shows that awareness
of the Speech Lab needs to reach outside of the realm of these majors. In order to reach a
wider variety of students, it would be valuable if they were to hang flyers or some sort of
informational pamphlet in certain buildings that have a variety of students with different
majors passing through the halls. The pamphlets should boldly state that the Speech Lab is
helpful to all students in different majors. Professors were also a source of which these
students found out about the speech lab. If more professors were aware and spread the word
of the speech lab, it could cause a large increase of awareness in the student population. The
students who were able to report their satisfaction of the speech lab gave back mainly real
positive results. The majority reported 5’s, meaning complete satisfaction. This is incremental in
knowing that the Speech Lab is able to fully satisfy, or help guide a student in their quest of
giving a speech. This means that the student workers in the Speech Lab are doing their job well,
making sure that they are properly adhering to what the student needs help with. The students
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that leave the Speech Lab happy and completely satisfied with what it has to offer, are often
likely to spread the word, and or come back to receive help on any other speech or
presentation.
One of the questions on the survey is what is the students general resource for
information about campus services. The responses varied quite largely, which is a good thing
because that means that there are plenty of tactics to be utilized in spreading the awareness of
the Speech Lab. The Grand Valley website was mentioned many times. The Speech Lab would
benefit from updating their website page more often, and trying to create more awareness of
their page on the Grand Valley website. Email was another resource that seemed to be
prominently mentioned. This shows that an informational email campaign could be quite
beneficial in reaching many students to bring awareness of the Speech Lab. If students were to
receive an email that states what the Speech Lab is, where it is located, and what it does to help
the student with their schooling it definitely could help with raising not only the awareness of
the Speech Lab, but also spread it through word of mouth, which also happened to be one of
the resources listed often. Word of mouth is a major component in how any type of
information spreads. In order to fully utilize the word of mouth method, more people need to
become fully aware of the Speech Lab. The Speech Lab should offer an incentive for people to
want to spread the word of their services. An incentive could be as simple as handing out a
tootsie roll or sucker with a GVSU Speech Lab tag on it. Also, just by asking any of the student
customers that passes through the Speech Lab to mention it to a friend or class and to state
how the Speech Lab helped them. Students often are influenced by what their peers have to
say so it would be a really good way to improve the awareness of the Speech Lab.
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The students often study at home or the Mary Idema Pew Library. None reported that
they study downtown at the Steelcase Library or in another public location. The Mary Idema
Pew Library has plenty of resources for students to seek while they proceed with their
schoolwork. The Speech Lab is one of those resources. In this case, since many of the survey
respondents stated that they use this as a place to study or do homework, it would be
beneficial for the Speech Lab to make their presence well known in the Mary Idema Pew
Library. It would increase more foot traffic due to the convenience of that location since that is
where a majority of students choose to study. A way to increase the awareness of this location
of the Speech Lab would be to have it posted in an obvious spot. The survey also probed the
question of how often students seek outside help. There was not a single 5, which means most
frequent. There were a lot of in the middle responses. This shows that students often do not
seek out help as much as they can. This is another reason as to why bringing more awareness to
the Mary Idema Pew Library location important. If students knew that seeking help is
convenient and easy, they would be more likely to do so.
The final question of the survey asked what would be an incentive for the student to use
the speech lab. This helps find out reasons as to why students would most likely want to use
the speech lab. Awareness was listed many times, meaning students would like to know more
about what the speech lab has to offer. The Speech Lab should make sure that they are always
being very informational with new customers and as helpful as they can be. Another incentive
listed was referral from a professor. If the Speech Lab could get many of the Grand Valley
Professors to at least mention the Speech Lab at the beginning of the semester or if they assign
a presentation to mention the Speech Lab and the benefits that it has to offer students. It
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would make a strong impact on the students likeliness to actually visit the Speech Lab. Referral
from a friend is another incentive mentioned quite a few times. Peer pressure is strong motive
for any person to do something. If students were to have strong testimonies of their experience
at the Speech Lab it would more likely influence another student to set up an appointment or
stop by the speech lab to receive help. Most of the survey respondents showed that extra
credit seemed to be the strongest incentive. This unfortunately is out of the Speech Lab’s
control, however if the Speech Lab were to reach out to more professors for their assistance it
would incrementally change the awareness of their program.
To conclude, the survey was able to reach a wide variety of Grand Valley students from
different grades and majors to help conduct research that is valuable in helping the Grand
Valley State Speech Lab spread the awareness of their program. It was able to shed light on
what some other problems could be causing the lack of awareness of the Speech Lab and has
given ideas as how to overcome those obstacles.
(Survey found in Appendix 1-B)
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Campaign Action Plan
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Situational Analysis
The Grand Valley State Speech Lab is a relatively newer resource for the students attending the university. Many Universities across the nation have a Speech Lab, or a Communications Center, which is essentially the same thing. The Grand Valley Speech Lab is in need of assistance. They would like to increase the awareness of their organization so that they are able to help more students and grow as an organization. Many students at Grand Valley lack the awareness or information containing to the Speech Lab. This means that the students do not know of the services provided to them. They do not know of the locations and free assistance provided to them by the speech lab. Lowerclassmen are more unaware of the speech lab, while the upperclassmen seem not to really care for the aid. The speech lab needs to emphasize their commitment and goal in helping these students reach their full presentational skills and abilities, as well as highlight the fact that they help with any type of public speeches. Freshman and incoming freshman should be targeted and made aware of the organization, while the upperclassmen should be more so encouraged to test it out. Through the following objectives and strategies, these issues can be dealt with.
Objective 1
To increase the awareness of the Speech Labs resources and locations in the underclassmen by 50% by the end of the fall semester, December 10, 2015.
Strategies
1. Inform GVSU students on the north side of campus on what the Speech Lab does and where it is located.
- The North side of the campus is primarily where all freshmen are the majority of the time. By targeting this area, the campaign will be reaching the younger university students. The students will become aware of the Speech Lab and the resources it has to offer as well as the different locations they could visit.
2. Appealing to the freshman students resources needs for assistance in their school projects.
- Freshman students often find coming to a university overwhelming. The course work is more intense and demanding and students may need help in their projects. By appealing to that need of extra help, the newer students will reach out for the free help offered by the Speech Lab if they are aware of it.
Tactics
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o Flyers- Informational flyers spread awareness by bringing attention to the cause. Flyers would catch the attention of any students passing by and share valuable information pertaining to the Speech Lab.
o Informational Booth- This could be set up in one of the dining halls, most likely Kliener, in the beginning of the semester. An employee or two from the speech lab will be there handing out bookmarks with the Speech Lab’s information listed on it. This way, the students could interact with the employees and really be informed on what the Speech Lab has to offer straight from an employee’s mouth.
o Bookmark- This would be what is passed out at the information booth. Bookmarks are valuable to hand out with information of the Speech Lab on them. Students will be able to see the location and the help offered there. They are willing to hold on to them because they are easy to keep track of and are used often in text books or reading books. The Information will always be available to them and it is a constant reminder.
Objective 2
To increase favorable attitudes of the Speech Lab in students who are upper classmen by 25% by the end of fall semester, December 10, 2015.
Strategies
1. Emphasize the benefits of the Speech Lab to the upper classmen.
-By emphasizing the benefits that the Speech Lab has on not only presentations for school but for speeches of any kind would really leave a lasting impression on these students. Their attitude towards the Speech Lab would improve and they would see it as a more beneficial resource not only for school but for any type of oral presentation that they would have throughout their life.
2. Appealing to the students’ social needs to increase word of mouth about the Speech Lab.
- Students often feel a sense of pride when they are able to positively affect a friend. Helping a friend helps them feel better socially as well as academically. To appeal to their social and academic standing on the university would make it where they develop more positive attitudes towards the speech lab.
Tactics
o Twitter- Twitter is a great social media site to utilize to get in touch with students. It is a way to interact and spread awareness. The communication can
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go two ways and is a quick way to interact with students. Funny tweets about giving speeches could be an easy way to gain attention from possible clients and to get people talking.
o Facebook- Having a strong timeline on Facebook would increase students positive attitudes about the Speech Lab. Posting a public speaking tip every week could lead to students checking the Speech Lab’s Facebook page. It is also a great way to spread awareness and information about what is happening with the Speech Lab.
o SpeechLab Website- Keeping up to date and making the Speech Lab’s website more interactive and easier to understand would positively affect the reputation of the Speech Lab. The Speech Labs website should have strong emphasis on the benefits one can take away from a consultation.
Objective 3
To increase the total appointments made by all Grand Valley students to 1,000 by the end of fall semester, December 10, 2015.
Strategies
1. Target the administration on campus to make them aware of Speech Labs free help offered to students.
- Professors have a large impact on students’ actions and opinions. By reaching out to the administration to suggest the speech lab, it would largely increase not only awareness but more so the students actual willingness to visit the speech lab.
2. Appeal to all the students’ majors at GVSU by emphasizing the overall impact it has.
- Many students would change their action in visiting the Speech Lab if it was beneficial to their major. By showing them that the Speech Lab appeals to their major, there would be an incentive for them to visit the Speech Lab.
Tactics
o Email Campaign- These emails would happen at the beginning of the semester, during midterms, and 2 weeks before finals. They will be targeted at administration on campus and focus on the benefits of the Speech Lab. By informing the professors of the Speech Lab they will be able to properly address the free resource to their students during crucial times of the semester.
o Speech Easy Event- This even would be held by the Speech Lab in a room at Kirkhoff. It will include the employees and faculty of the Speech Lab. The
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event will invite all students and communications faculty and administration. This is so that students can mingle with the Speech Lab employees and faculty. During this event, the student employees will give presentations to demonstrate their skills. The event will offer free pizza and punch, and will be in a sense like an old fashioned Speak Easy. Music can be played softly in the background. This is a fun event that students will not only learn about the Speech Lab but actually see the employees doing what they help with at the Speech Lab.
o Press Release- The press release would be for the Speech Easy Event. It would be to inform the GV campus of what the event is, where it is, and what can be done there. It is essential for a good turnout so more students could see the employees of the Speech Lab at work.
Budget
Total Budget 2,000.00$
Tactics Amount CostFlyer/poster 1000 250.00Bookmark 1000 250.00Informational Booth 1 300.00Website Update 1 freeSocial Media unlimited freeEmail Unlimited freePress Release 1 freeSpeech Easy Event 1 700.00Estimated Cost: $1,500.00
This leaves room for addressing varying costs.
Calendar
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Evaluation
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Objective 1
The target audience is the lower classmen, this includes freshmen and sophomores. The goal was to increase their awareness by 50% by the end of the fall semester, 2015. To evaluate whether the campaign was effective in increasing their awareness, a follow up survey should be held. This would be beneficial to send out to mainly the freshmen and sophomores and contain questions as to what they know about the Speech Lab and its services and locations. If more than half of the students taking the survey have heard of the Speech Lab, the objective has been met. If not, then the informational booth should be placed back up during critical times of the semester on the north side of campus. The employees should be more engaging towards the freshmen and really inform them about what they do to help and the locations they could visit.
Objective 2
The target audience is the upperclassmen, including juniors and seniors/super seniors. The goal was to increase favorable attitudes by 25% by the end of the fall semester, 2015. To evaluate whether the campaign was effective in increasing favorable attitudes of the upperclassmen another focus group should be held. The first focus group, 5 out of the 6 upperclassmen shared the consensus that they did not see the resource as a tool necessary to them. The second focus group should ask questions pertaining to the upperclassmen perspective on the Speech Lab. Only 3 people need to share positive attitudes towards the speech lab in the next focus group for the campaign to be considered successful. If this doesn’t happen, in the focus group it could be asked as to what they would think would be effective in gaining better attitudes. A more thorough follow through could be done on social media websites like Twitter and Facebook. The Speech Lab should be continuing to use these sites as assets in spreading positive attitudes and information about their valuable aid.
Objective 3
The target audience is the overall student body. The goal was to have at least 1,000 consultations made by the end of the fall semester, 2015. To evaluate whether this was reached is simple. In fall of 2014, there were 637 visits to the Speech Lab. By the end of fall, 2015 semester, the total consultations made should be greater than 1,000. This would mean that the overall awareness, attitudes, and actions have been changed. If the goal is not reached however, it means that those three things still need to be improved by having the Speech Lab be more interactive with students on campus.
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Appendix
1-A
28
Speech Lab Moderators Guide
Introduction: My name is Rachel Rainville, a Grand Valley PR student campaign representative of the Speech Lab at GVSU.
Thank you for your time today. Your time and cooperation with us is very much appreciated. The Speech Lab at GVSU is a relatively new aid to the University and is looking to expand their client base. An important part to increasing the awareness and activity of this aid is to understand the current students, such as you. We are looking forward to your feedback to help give us an idea on how to expand their assistance to a greater population of the University. Your help is extremely important to us, so thank you again.
We are holding many discussions like this around campus with current students and faculty members. Thank you again for your time and assistance. The discussion are off the record, we just ask for complete honesty and opinions.
Before we begin, do you have any questions?
Then let’s begin.
First, can we go around the table and have each of you introduce yourselves, tell me your first name, where you are from and if you enjoy talking in front of people.
1) Have you ever given an oral report for a class?
-What class?
-What was the report for?
-How did it go?
2) What are your thoughts on public speaking?
-Does it make you nervous?
-Do you think it’s necessary?
-Who do you think does it well?
-What do you think you can obtain from it?
3) How often do you think speeches occur in everyday life?
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-What jobs require it?
-Where does it happen often?
-Do you speak publically often?
4) Where do you think public speaking would be beneficial?
-Jobs?
-Friends?
-Social Gatherings?
5) In what professional fields do you view public speaking important?
-Sales?
-Health fields?
-Foods?
-Politics?
-Why is it in the fields you have mentioned?
6) What are some things that scare you about giving speeches?
-The audience?
-Your preparation?
-Your delivery?
-Confidence?
7) Who is someone you would ask for help with giving a speech?
-Friends?
-Faculty?
-Parents?
8) What does it take to perform a speech?
-Proper planning?
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-An outline?
-Confidence?
-Notecards?
9) Are you aware of the GVSU Speech Lab?
-How did you become aware of it?
-How would you become aware of it if no?
10) What do you think the GVSU Speech Lab has to offer?
-Help with what?
-Practice with what?
-Organization?
-Ideas and topics?
11) What would you like the Speech Lab to do for you?
-What type of advice would you like to receive?
-Constructive criticism?
-Appraisal?
12) What do you think you can benefit from going to the Speech Lab?
-A stronger product?
-Confidence?
-Practice?
13) Are you aware of the different locations?
-The Lake Michigan Hall location?
-Mary Idema Pew Library location?
-The downtown locations?
14) How do you think the Speech Lab can expand their assistance to students?
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-Creating a greater awareness?
-Showcasing their abilities?
-Emphasizing their benefits?
Conclusion: Your cooperation in this group has been very beneficial. We appreciate your willingness to help. We might follow up on some of your responses if that is OK.
1-B
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CAP 220 StudyThe purpose of this survey is to gather information from Grand Valley University students about awareness of the GVSU Speech Lab. This survey should take 5-10
minutes.
* RequiredWhat is your class standing? *
o Freshmano Sophomoreo Junioro Senioro Fifth year +
What is your major? *
How would you rate your public speaking skills? *
1 2 3 4 5
Poor
Great
What would you like to improve on?
Have you heard of the Speech Lab? *o Yeso No
How did you hear about the Speech Lab?o Flyero Websiteo Social mediao Word of moutho Other:
How would you rate your experience at the Speech Lab?
1 2 3 4 5
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Poor
Great
What is your general resource for information about campus services? *ex. Writing center, knowledge market, etc.
o Flyero GV websiteo Emailo Social mediao Word of moutho Other:
Where do you typically study or do homework? *o Homeo Mary Idema Pew library (Allendale)o Steelcase library (Pew)o Public location
How often do you seek out help outside of the classroom? *
1 2 3 4 5
Never
Frequently
What would be an incentive for you to use the speech lab? *o Awarenesso Referral from a professoro Referral from a friendo Extra credito Other:
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2-A Press Release
Speech Lab Welcomes You to Speech Easy Event
The Grand Valley State Speech Lab is holding a Speech Easy event in Kirkhoff center, room 2116 on September 21, 2015. Free pizza and punch will be offered to all students and faculty that attend. The Speech Lab employee’s will be hosting this event in hopes of demonstrating their knowledge as well as interacting with the student body.
The Speech Lab Faculty will also be in attendance. Throughout the event, each employee will demonstrate their skills and abilities to present an oral report of some type. There will be a voting table in the back of the room, and before the night is over they welcome anyone to vote for their favorite employee speech. These votes will be kept anonymous. At the end of the night, which ever employee has the most votes will win the Employee of the Month for the Speech Lab.
The event will go from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Speech Lab is very excited to be hosting this Speech Easy event and hopes it will demonstrate in a way how the Speech Lab works. Any Grand Valley State student is welcome to the free event.
2-B Bookmark page 36
2-C Flyer Page 37
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Speech LabPerfect Your Presentation!
Locations and Hours:154 Lake Michigan Hall (Allendale)
Monday-Thursday 9:00a.m. - 4:00p.m.; Friday 9:00a.m. - 1:00p.m.Mary Idema Pew Knowledge Market
(Allendale)Sunday-Thursday 4:00p.m. -
11:00p.m.Suite 100 CHS Building (Downtown)Monday & Wednesday 10:00a.m. -
12:00p.m.Steelcase Collaboration Zone (Pew
Campus)Monday & Wednesday 1:00p.m. -
2:30p.m.Tuesday & Thursday 9:00a.m. - 11:00a.m. / 1:00p.m. - 2:30p.m.
FREE
Speech Lab helps with:-Topic Selection
-Organization-Supporting Materials
-Practicing DeliveryFor any speech or public
presentation
Visit www.gvsu.edu/speechlab/
to set up a consultation
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Speech Lab helps with:-Topic Selection
-Organization-Supporting Materials
-Practicing DeliveryFor any speech or public
presentation
Visit www.gvsu.edu/speechlab/ to set up a
consultation
154 Lake Michigan Hall (Allendale)Monday-Thursday 9:00a.m. -
4:00p.m.; Friday 9:00a.m. - 1:00p.m.Mary Idema Pew Knowledge Market
(Allendale)Sunday-Thursday 4:00p.m. -
11:00p.m.Suite 100 CHS Building (Downtown)Monday & Wednesday 10:00a.m. -
12:00p.m.Steelcase Collaboration Zone (Pew
Campus)Monday & Wednesday 1:00p.m. -
2:30p.m.Tuesday & Thursday 9:00a.m. - 11:00a.m. / 1:00p.m. - 2:30p.m.
