The Speaker's Handbook
We recommend use of The Speaker's Compact Handbook, by Jo Sprague and Douglas Stuart. It is appropriate for both beginning and advanced speakers, and would be useful in any FS course, or any course that requires public speaking.
Evaluating Speeches
No one evaluation form will work for all instructors or all assignments. Evaluation forms should be tailored to the speech assignment goals and the demands of your particular classroom.
The following forms are presented as examples of evaluation rubrics and can be edited or adapted as needed.
Evaluation Form with Check Boxes
Evaluation Form with Descriptive Terms
Two Evaluation Forms with Scales
Evaluation Form with Comment Boxes
Sample Student Speeches
Videotaped student speeches are available in the library for 1 week faculty check out. Each tape features several student speeches in a particular genre relevant to the FS curriculum. All the students gave permission for FS instructors to use their speeches as examples in classes.
Speeches of Ceremony
Speeches of Description
Speeches of Explanation
Speeches to Influence Belief or Action
Historical Speeches
The Learning Commons and Library also offer several important historical speeches available on DVD including volumes 1-5 and volume 16 of the "Great Speeches" collection, "The Greatest Speeches of All Time," "The Speeches of Famous Women," and "The Speeches Collection, Volume 1." See ALLECAT for more information and current availability.
Speech Archives
Many speeches are now also available in video, audio, and or text online. The following are some of the most useful links to online speech archives.
American Rhetoric
Great American Speeches
Presidential Inaugurations
History Channel Speech Archive
Archives of American Public Address
Women's Speeches from Around the World
Malcolm X
John F. Kennedy
Abraham Lincoln
Martin Luther King Jr.
Discussion and Interviewing
Discussion Links
Student-Led Discussion Manual
Robert's Rules of Order Revised
Guidance for Class Discussions About War in Iraq
Interviewing
Interviewing assignments are useful for the FS curriculum in at least two ways. (1) Interviewing is a method for doing primary research, a way of collecting evidence (testimony, statistics, examples) to develop and support arguments. (2) Interviewing can be used as a way of discovering the world, as a method for exploring ideas (such as academic or career paths).
Any time an investigator uses interview research, she or he should think carefully about establishing and maintaining an ethical relationship with the interviewee. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and Informed Consent Forms are mechanisms for ensuring the integrity of a research process that has the potential to harm human subjects.
IRB Approval
If students are pursuing research that has the potential to be used outside of the confines and confidentiality of the class, they should seek IRB approval.
