Welcome to Speech 1321: Business and Professional Communication!

I hope you're ready for a great semester. Excellent communication skills are essential in your professional and personal life. Most of your life is spent engaging with others, and you want to do it well. The goal of this course is to develop your ability to coherently present information in a way people can understand and remember. To achieve this, you will be learning more about audience analysis, listening, nonverbal communication, outlining, and delivery.

We'll begin with introductions and some common questions about the course.

Picture of the professor with a smiling face and greenery in the background

Professor Sarah Spikeston
Pronouns: she/her/hers

First:

Need to contact your instructor? Via text/email/app: download the Webex Teams and Webex app (bonus, you can get the majority of class announcements here too!). Your school email address will be automatically added to the Teams group. This is the best and fastest way to get a hold of me. Please use this way of contact for time sensitive questions and problems.

Office hours? All office hours will be conducted via Webex Teams and Webex conferences (12-2pm daily). If you need a video conference, set up a time/date via www.calendly.com/spikeston (Links to an external site.) to secure a time spot then log into the Webex conferences link by going to https://nctclions.webex.com/meet/sspikeston

What is the required textbook for the course? Communicating at Work (w/out ConnectPlus), Adler, McGraw-Hill, 12th Ed. Need a copy of Chapter 1-3 while you wait for your textbook to come in? Just click on Files and find them! If you happen to be near a campus, there are also reference copies available at the campus library.
What is the audience requirement for this course? Due to the current situation with COVID-19, we are only requiring the speaker have 1 audience member for their speech if it is an asynchronous online course (no meeting times). The audience member can be anyone who lives at the speaker's residence, and must be shown at the beginning of the recorded speech video and the end of the recorded speech video with no editing.

How much time should you expect to spend on this course? Oftentimes, students think that online courses are easier or require less time than a traditional face-to-face course. However, this simply is not the case. You can expect to spend as much time reading the textbook, reading the course materials and linked pages, and researching and setting up your speeches as you would in a traditional face-to-face course. The difference for an online course is that you can determine what times during the week you will complete your coursework. If you are not willing to spend the necessary amount of time each week researching, reading, and setting up your speeches, you will probably not be successful in this course. How much time do you mean by "necessary time"? The rule of thumb is a 3-credit hour course should take you 6-9 hours a week.

How much speaking, writing, and reading is required in this course? Keep in mind that this is a communication course; therefore, your grade in the course will be primarily based on your speaking, reading, and writing skills. You can expect to read several chapters each week (plus studying for quizzes and preparing for your speeches).

How much computer knowledge should I have? You don't need to be a computer expert for this course. However, you will need to use Microsoft Word or Google Docs--and some of the less common commands--for your assignments.

What kind of feedback can you expect from me in the course? Your success in this course is my ultimate goal; therefore, I will give you feedback on most of your assignments. Sometimes writing comments on each student's assignment can take a couple of days, so please be patient. (There are 25 of you and 1 of me.) I aim to evaluate and provide feedback on your assignments within two weeks, and I will post an announcement when all assignments are evaluated. In return, I expect you to read, reflect upon, and apply my comments to your future assignments. I also promise to respond to your emails promptly (within 24 hours, at the latest).

What Time are the Assignments Due? You will have weekly assignments that will be due before 11:55 p.m. on the due date listed in Canvas.

How should we respond to each other and to the instructor? You are expected to communicate with your classmates and me with civility and respect when communicating via email, text, or in discussion postings. Posts and emails that are rude, culturally insensitive, or hostile will be deleted and students may be reported to administration. (In other words, just be nice to each other. We're all learning here.)

Getting Behind? I understand that sometimes things come up, so just send me an email letting me know when to expect your work if you have a situation. Once we have moved on from a particular speech, you won't be able to make up that speech assignment. I want you to be successful in this course, so keep me informed.

Next:

How do you get started? While the course might seem overwhelming at first, it's helpful to use the Modules tab and proceed through the course using the "Next" button.

Get excited for a great semester!