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University of Washington

Introduction to Public Speaking

University of Washington via Coursera

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Overview

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This course gives you a reliable model for preparing and delivering effective presentations.

In business, in school, and in public life, we are often called upon to “make a few comments.” Often, people tasked with such speeches become flummoxed. They might not know what to talk about, or ramble without making a point, or simply be confusing to listen to. This course is designed to help you shine where others falter.

We’ll learn how organize talks clearly, write them memorably, and deliver them confidently. By the end of the course, you should be able to significantly reduce your fear of public speaking, use rehearsal techniques to develop a strong, vibrant speaking voice, and perform speeches with dynamic movement and gestures. The speech model that we’ll practice is useful for briefings, elevator talks, interviews, and even as a structure for hour-long presentations.

If you’re a beginner, this course will help you quickly master the fundamentals of speaking. If you’re a seasoned speaker, this course will help you better understand public speaking and push you to the next level.

Syllabus

  • Week 1: Understanding speech
    • Thank you for joining Introduction to Public Speaking! I am thrilled at the prospect of a global discussion about good speech. Let's get started! In this module, we’ll focus on the basics of the course and how rhetorical canons will help us structure our time. Then we’ll turn to the important ways that speaking and writing differ. By the end of this week, you should have some tools for evaluating your speech writing. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload an introductory speech for peer review.
  • Week 2: Making ideas compelling and memorable
    • Now that we have the course foundation out of the way, we can work on our basic speech model: the key point speech. I love this format. It's the Swiss army knife of speeches. This basic model works in interviews, short presentations, elevator talks, and can even structure an hour long presentation. After overviewing the assignment, we’ll talk about how to plan out your speeches. By the end of the week, you should have some tools for quickly putting together short presentations. You can practice this by analyzing some speeches.
  • Week 3: Illustrating and delivering your ideas
    • This week, we’ll talk about support and arrangement. The lessons here will immediately help all of your other presentations. Why? Because we need to think about how audiences hear our ideas in real time. There are things we should be doing to help listeners instantly organize and process the information we’re presenting to them. By the end of the week, you should be able to discuss evidence clearly and highlight your speech's organization. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload a practice elevator speech for peer review.
  • Week 4: Overcoming your fear of public speaking and developing great delivery
    • This week, we'll discuss speech apprehension and delivery. I know the fear of public speaking is a pressing topic for many. Why didn’t we start the course with this? Because I think many delivery concerns go away if the invention and arrangement are good. However, invention and arrangement are just part of the equation - now we can supercharge our delivery. By the end of this week, you’ll have some techniques for combating those butterflies and speaking confidently. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload a practice key point speech for peer review.
  • Week 5: Course conclusion and your final speech
    • Thank you for time in this course. I hope the material has proven helpful in some way. We concluded our discussion of the speech last week. I would like to spend a bit of time reflecting on the course and talking a bit about the other courses in this specialization. We will end this week with your final key point speech.

Taught by

Matt McGarrity

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Reviews

4.4 rating, based on 14 Class Central reviews

4.8 rating at Coursera based on 1911 ratings

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  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course.

    This class was great. I took it to improve my English and the topic was also very interesting for me. Course turned out to be a super interesting course about public speaking. The teacher is great, he really keep your attention until the end, also very good and entertaining speaker. Also, you have option to post your own speech and get a peer review which was very helpful to me. So I recommend this course to all of you who are interested to find out how to prepare and deliver great presentation and in the process you will learn a great deal related to public speaking topic. Highly recommended!
  • Ukachi Agbai

    Ukachi Agbai completed this course.

    The introduction by Dr matt garrity was great he helped to me that public speaking is not all about speaking English and the right word to use in expressing myself in public while speaking
  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course.

    Hi everybody,

    I recently completed Introduction to Public Speaking course by Dr. Matt McGarrity. The content of the lectures is very high, the expertise of Dr. Matt McGarrity is supurb. This is one of the best courses I have taken so far. There are quizes to test your theory and the best part is that you can upload video practices and get feedback (which I think was the most valuable part of this course). I highly recomend this course to anyone who is interested in Public Speaking.

    Regards
    Kiril
  • Amos Mapharing
    The art of public speaking is very core especially in a professional life. It makes one a better communicator,a better manager and a team builder who is able to communicate the image of his organization.
  • Anonymous

    Anonymous completed this course.

    Before I enrolled at this course, one part of my job is to deliver sessions to the PC volunteers. I was not doing bad but needed more skills to easily do my sessions.
    After this course I feel much and more comfortable to do this
  • Anonymous
    The art of public speaking is very core especially in a professional life. It makes one a better communicator,a better manager and a team builder who is able to communicate the image of his organization.
  • Seng Nau
    I have lose confidence to talk other in public, sometime I forgot words to talk. I hope this course will give some knowledges and imformations.
  • Peace Theodore
    I want to learn how to speak fluently with a British assents,also,on how to be organised when ever you are called upon,ability to speak fluently and work write with good english
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