Faculty of Arts

Department of Communication and Visual Arts

SPEE_01 (Fall, 2023)

Speech Communications (3,0,0) 3 credits

Thompson Rivers University’s Kamloops campus is located on the Tk’emlúps te

Secwepemc territory within the unceded traditional lands of Secwepemcúl’ecw
(Secwepemc Nation).
Faculty Information
Instructor: Mairi Richter Email: mrichter@tru.ca
Office Hours: T/Th 4-5:30
Office: OM 1862

Course Description
Students study the theories and practice of oral communication, learning strategies to mitigate speech anxiety,
plan and develop engaging speeches, and implement various rhetorical strategies. Students develop skills in
assessing speeches and audience needs, gathering materials, and designing communication that meets targets.
Students will prepare speeches, as well as perform assessments of speeches.

Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Apply critical thinking and persuasion skills to communication situations.
2. Recognize and use various rhetorical modes to outline and structure presentations.
3. Discern and adjust presentations that would be inappropriate to academic, business, and professional
situations in tone, style, and audience needs.
4. Evaluate online presentations.
5. Use multimedia forms to deliver material.

Prerequisites
None.

Texts/Materials
All materials will be made available online via Moodle.

Course Schedule
 Wee Core Topics
k
1 Intro Dealing w/Presentation Anxiety
2 Audience Analysis Speeches, Practice
3 Structuring Speeches Speeches, Practice
4 Gathering & Organizing Information Speeches, Practice
5 Speech Critiques Speech Critiques
6 Structuring Speeches Speech Assessment
7 Speeches in Action Ethical Communication
8 Informative Speeches Informative Speeches
9 Persuasive: Types Group Work
10 Persuasive: Structure & Style
11 Group Work Presentation Practice
12 Persuasive Speeches Persuasive Speeches
13 Persuasive Speeches Persuasive Speeches

Student Evaluation
ASSESSMENT WEEK WEIGH
T
Mini Speeches 2-5
Introductory Speech 2%
Short Speech 4%
Tour Guide Speech 7%
PechaKucha 7%
Speech Assessment 6 15%
Informative Speech 8 25%
Persuasive Speech 12 30%
Attendance & Participation ongoing 10%
Detailed descriptions of each assignment will be available on Moodle.

Assignment Submission
Written speech notes and plans are to be submitted on Moodle by 11:59PM of the Sunday prior to the first
speech delivered in class. Students are expected to sign up for what day and time they will deliver the speeches at
least one week prior to delivering the speeches. If this is not done, students will be assigned times to deliver
their speeches. If you are not ready to deliver your speech at the time you are given, you will receive a late
penalty and may not have time to deliver your speech, which will result in a zero.

All assignments should be comprised of original work that you have written specifically for this course. Use of
previous work, or work from other courses is strictly prohibited. Submission of assignments that do not meet
these requirements will be subject to review, and if found that they do not meet these requirements the
assignment will receive a zero.

Late Policy: All extensions must be organized prior to the assignment’s due date. Late submission of written
material will result in the late penalty being applied to the entire assignment. If an assignment is late, it will
receive a 2% penalty per day that it is late. After 2 weeks, the assignment will no longer be eligible for grading.

Disability Services
TRU’s Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Policy (BRD 10-0) outlines the university’s
 responsibilities to provide accommodations for students with disabilities. Accessibility Services at TRU provides
services to students with Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/mental health disabilities, Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chronic medical conditions, and
impairments in mobility, hearing, and vision. If you have a disability requiring academic accommodations in this
course, please contact Accessibility Services at 250-828-5023 or as@tru.ca for a formal evaluation. If you are
already registered with the Accessibility Services, contact your Advisor to send me your Letter of
Accommodation at the beginning of the term. After receiving accommodations from Accessibility Services meet
with me to ensure accommodation arrangements are made. Please consult the Accessibility Services website for
the deadline to request accommodations for the formally-scheduled exams (if applicable).
https://www.tru.ca/as.html

Attendance and Participation

Attendance will be taken at the start of each class. If you are unable to attend class, please notify me. Participation
in class is and important part of your presence, whether that be contributing to large class discussion or smaller
group discussions. Being prepared for the class by completing the necessary readings or work is also crucial to
you getting the most out of this course.

Academic Honesty and Attendance

Students must be familiar with and follow the following TRU policies:
 Academic Honesty, Policy ED-5-0. Resources for compliance with this policy can be found at the
Academic Integrity Committee website.
 Academic Recognition, Policy ED-3-4, and
 Student Attendance, Policy ED 3-1.

Students should expect these policies to be enforced in this course. All policies can be found online.
TRU Grading Scale
Lette Numeric Grad Letter Grade Definitions
r al Grade e
Grad Point
e s
A+ 90-100 4.33 Excellent. Superior performance showing comprehensive, in-depth
A 85-89 4.00 understanding of subject matter. Demonstrates initiative and fluency of
A- 80-84 3.67 expression.

B+ 77-79 3.33 Very Good. Clearly above average performance with knowledge of principles
B 73-76 3.00 and facts generally complete and with no serious deficiencies.
B- 70-72 2.67

C+ 65-69 2.33 Satisfactory. Basic understanding with knowledge of principles and facts at
C 60-64 2.00 least adequate to communicate intelligently in the discipline.

C- 55-59 1.67 Pass. Some understanding of principles and facts but with definite deficiencies.

D 50-54 1.00 Minimal Pass. A passing grade indicating marginal performance. Student not
likely to succeed in subsequent courses in the subject.

F 0-49 0.00 Unsatisfactory. Fail. Knowledge of principles and facts is fragmentary.

DNC 0.00 Did not complete the course, less than 50% of course work completed or
mandatory course component(s) not completed. No official withdrawal.