Blog and activity developed and written by Laura Sells, Communication Instructor, Nicolet College. Sells is the author of the Instructor's Manual for Joshua Gunn's Speech Craft.   At the start of every semester, I remind myself about the old saw “start as you intend to proceed.” Crucial to setting the tone for the semester, the first day of class is a rich opportunity that many instructors unknowingly misspend and then wonder why the semester proceeds with students who are disengaged or reticent to participate in discussion. If instructors kick off their class without meaningful engagement, students tend to limit their participation and investment. In online and Zoom settings, something we’re all a little more familiar with now, engagement can be difficult to cultivate, making the process of tone-setting even more crucial. Going over the legalese of the syllabus can set a pattern that we will lecture and spoon-feed students the instructions for the duration of the course. Yet we often feel pressured to cover syllabus material in great detail. Online instructors have the right approach when they quiz students over the syllabus and policies during the first week of class, because it shows students how to take responsibility for their own learning and requires students to engage with the material. But some may think this approach impractical and heavy handed for face-to-face and Zoom-style classes. What follows is an active-learning activity for the first day of class to get students talking in groups about the syllabus, processing policy statements, and thinking about what will happen in the course. It also serves as a productive ice breaker to get students conversing with one another. It circumvents legalistic droning, though it does not eliminate it entirely. It also reduces the number of first-day repeat questions, because students often answer their own questions for each other through their small group discussions.   ACTIVITY Setup: Have students review the syllabus and make notes or write questions in the margins. Tell students that you will be doing an activity with the syllabus instead of going over it with them the way it’s traditionally done in most classes, so they need to read the syllabus instead of waiting for you to cover it. If they try to ask questions, gently defer them for the group activity. Step 1: Write on the board, show a document/PowerPoint, or give a handout with the three questions below. Have students write the answers to the questions. Pace them. Depending on how much time you allot for this activity, it should take about 5 – 7 minutes to answer these questions. 1. What are your hopes about this class? 2. What are your fears about this class? 3. What are your questions about this class, the syllabus, the textbook, the assignments, giving speeches, the instructor, etc.? Step 2: Put students in small groups or breakout rooms of about 4 or 5. Remember, the larger the size of the group, the longer it will take to finish the activity. Tell students to introduce themselves, discuss what they wrote,, and pick someone to report back to the class. Tell them to also pick their #1 burning question that they had for question 3. So, for example, they are usually able to figure out the answers to most of their questions through discussion, but they’ll have one or two questions left over that become their questions to ask during the class discussion. Once students are in groups, be sure to check in at least twice to set the pattern of good group work. The first time, check for understanding, but deflect questions about class for the debriefing. The second time, check pacing and make sure the group picked someone to report back to class. This helps keeps students on task. Step 2 can be accomplished fairly quickly, in about five minutes, but if you allow longer time, the students have an opportunity to bond over commonalities and the activity becomes an icebreaker. Pay attention to the flow of conversation and regroup when the flow of conversation has shifted to general social talk or awkward silence. Step 3: Go from group to group and call on the student who volunteered to report back to class. Have that student: 1. Introduce the group’s members 2. Summarize the answers to questions #1 and #2 3. Ask the group’s burning question Step 4: After answering the group’s burning question, the instructor can ask for a second question from the group or go on to the next group as desired. Once all the questions are asked and answered, usually all the primary points that need coverage are addressed and the instructor can cover the finer points more quickly. Although covering the syllabus in this fashion is less linear, it is more interactive, and the students have a hands-on experience with the class documents and with peer interaction. This promotes a tone in class that is less dependent on the instructor for direction. It also stands in for an icebreaker that opens the air for discussion in the next class. Bonus Step 5: The instructor can collect the answers and review hopes and fears aloud anonymously and talk about the commonalities, pointing out the common threads of communication apprehension, desire for a good grade, keeping up with the work, and so on, and talk about how these will be handled in the class. This can help establish community in the class.   Managing the first day of class is crucial to a successful semester. Students are wondering what they have gotten themselves into and instructors are wondering how many times they will have to say “It’s in the syllabus.” This activity acts as a fun middle ground that sets a positive tone for all.   What are your strategies for covering the syllabus on the first day? Comment and let us know! ... View more

In the introductory human communication course or public speaking course, it can be challenging for students to see speech preparation as a developmental process. Many students come into introductory courses having done oral presentations for other academic classes. For example, they may have had a presentation assignment in an art history or business class. As a result, these students are accustomed to planning their speeches and presentations by using a PowerPoint template or simply writing down a “grocery list” of topics to cover.   How to Prepare a Speech in 5 Steps   To encourage students to be more intentional in their speech preparation, I teach a five-step model: Think, Investigate, Compose, Rehearse, and Revise. Think about your topic and audience; investigate or research the topic; compose an outline; rehearse your speech, and revise the outline according to feedback received from your rehearsal. This five-step model for planning a speech is the basis for both lessons and learning activities. Teaching Students this Speech Preparation Process Students are expected to apply this five-step model in preparing their speech assignment and to make their preparation visible through a portfolio assignment. Specifically, written documentation of how the student has applied each of the five steps is organized into a folder and submitted for grading. Figure 1 below outlines the five-step model along with the type of evidence to be included in the portfolio.   The portfolio assignment encourages students to be more intentional in developing their speeches and helps them see speech-making as a developmental process. Additionally, it provides instructors with a complete “snapshot” of the preparation that went into the speech, which then supports meaningful and constructive feedback to students.   Five Steps in Making Your Speech Preparation Visible (Rubric Model)   What Evidence Think Brainstorm inspiration for the topic Analyze the situation and the audience Narrow the topic Develop a working thesis statement Brainstormed list or written rationale for topic choice. Complete audience analysis survey. Written notes that show the process of narrowing a topic and the development of a working thesis statement. Investigate Locate resources:  articles, books and websites Keep research cards or notes with bibliographic citations Frame your thesis statement Sampling of search terms, bibliographic citations, and notes to show research efforts. Final thesis statement. Compose Identify main points and supporting material Develop a working draft of the outline of the speech body Prepare introduction and conclusion Develop a polished draft of the speech outline Prepare presentation aids   Preparation outline drafts. Notes or outline drafts of speech introduction and conclusion. Notes on possible presentation aids. Rehearse Prepare necessary speech notes Give the speech aloud Practice with presentation aids Work on vocal and nonverbal delivery Obtain feedback from another person Drafts of speaker notes or delivery outline. Date/time record of rehearsal efforts. Written summary or notes from another person on rehearsal feedback.  Revise   Develop a final speech outline as indicated by practice feedback   Final speech outline.   What advice or lesson plans do you use for helping your students prepare for oral presentations? Let us know in the comments below! For more information on this and other communication topics, please see Choices and Connections, Third Edition, by Joseph Ortiz and Steven McCornack, newly available at macmillanlearning.com. ... View more