DRAM 349 Outline

THE KING'S UNIVERSITY

COURSE NUMBER:

DRAM 349

COURSE TITLE:

Introduction to and Development of Oral Communication

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Lori Mohacsy

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 3)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Learn to speak in public. Gain understanting of your speaking voice as a physical instrument, and develop ways to make it work better for you. The life of an educated person presents many speaking opportunities: to entertain, to teach, to persuade, to negotiate, and to inspire in a wide variety of public settings. Drama 349 uses theatre-based techniques to develop public speaking skills and design effective oral presentations.

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:


Attendance/participation/attitude	15%
Poetry Presentations	15%
Radio Ads	15%
Chapel presentations	15%
Speech 1	15%
Speech 2	20%
Play review	5%

	100%

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

To explore, develop and learn skills for successful oral communication through a variety of individual and group exercises and presentations.
To build confidence and attain skills both physically and vocally for various forms of personal, formal and presentational speaking and communication.
To learn more about the development and maintenance of a healthy voice for effective communication.

COURSE CONDUCT:

Vocal Production - exercises in relaxation, breathing, vocal quality, tone, expression, volume, articulation and singing.
Physical Expression - exercises to develop a confident physical presence for effective oral communication and dramatic expression.
Interpretation - choosing written material; breaking it down and analyzing text, taking into account the audience, venue and objectives. Developing own and collective material for presentation. Exploring rhythm, pace, expression, and emotion appropriate to the text and audience.
Presentation - using learned techniques, presenting prepared and improvised material to the class and other chosen audiences.
Critique - listening, attending and analyzing others and self in performance or oral presentations, articulating constructive, critical observations and learning from them.

COURSE OUTLINE:

1. Wed. Sep.6 Getting to know you. Start writing first speeches on your own.
2. Mon. Sep.11 Warm ups. Begin Found Spaces.
3. Wed. Sep.13 Warm ups (Shanice). Continue Found Spaces. Found Spaces tours.
4. Mon. Sep.18 Warm ups. Speeches Intro. Exercises. Belief Statements work.
No classes on Wednesday, September 20 due to Interdisciplinary Studies Conference.
5. Mon. Sep.25 Warm ups. Exercises. Guest lecturer Chelsey Chapman (former speech writer for Alberta Premiers TBA). Belief Statements presentations. Speech 1 dry runs.
6. Wed. Sep.27 Warm ups. Exercises. Pop Topics. Speech 1 presentation. (15% of final grade)
7. Mon. Oct.2 Oral Communication Skills Application lecture (Shanice Wilson) Begin Poetry section. Choose poems. Poetry lecture.
8. Wed. Oct.4 DAY OFF.
9. Wed. Oct.11 Warm ups. Continue work on poetry. Poems in pairs. Poetry dry runs.
10. Mon. Oct.16 Warm ups (Shanice). Poetry presentation. (15% of final grade)
11. Wed. Oct.18 Class attendance at A Bright Room Called Day, 7:30 pm (details will be provided) TBA
12. Mon. Oct.23 Showing of The King’s Speech. (Shanice)
13. Wed. Oct.25 Play review due. (5% of final grade). Warm ups. Mini-Speeches.
14. Mon. Oct.30 Warm ups. (Shanice) Mini-speeches presentations. Children’s books. Story-telling work.
15. Wed. Nov.1 Warm ups. Story-telling work. Possible present story-telling.
16. Mon. Nov.6 Warm ups. Continue story-telling (if required). Begin Chapel presentation section.
17. Wed. Nov.8 Warm ups. Continue work on Chapel presentations.
18. Mon. Nov.13 Warm ups. Dry run Chapel presentations. Intro to Radio Ads. Begin writing ads. Work in pairs. Wednesday, Nov.15, Chapel Presentations (15% of final grade)
19. Wed. Nov.15 Warm ups. Dry run Radio Ads.
20. Mon. Nov.20 Warm ups. Record radio ads. (individual times will be given) (15% of final grade)
21. Wed. Nov.22 Dry run final speeches (individual times will be given).
22. Mon. Nov.27 Continue dry run speeches.
23. Wed. Nov.29 Possible day off.
24. Mon. Dec.4 Speech 2 presentations for invited audience (20% of final grade)

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.