Best Practices for Retaining Public Speaking Students

Abstract

This article draws on existing communication research and praxes to share the best practices for retaining students enrolled in the introductory public speaking course. Among the many important pedagogical practices that communication scholars have documented, this article highlights the value of 10 best practices: instructor use of immediacy and confirmation; instructor inclusion of written prescriptive feedback, peer feedback workshops, low-stakes assignments, applied assignments, and individual speech preparation tools; and instructor participation in out-of-class communication, online office hours, and classroom-connectedness.Coined as the discipline's "front porch" (Beebe, 2013, p. 3), the public speaking course provides a gateway for students to the communication major. It often is the first communication course a student takes, it can act either as a recruitment tool or as a deterent in choosing or continuing with the major, and it can play an integral role in college retention because students often reap benefits from the public speaking course (e.g., reduced communication apprehension, increased self-efficacy) that enable their success in other courses and, thereby, encourages their persistence across the entire college or university (Mahmud, 2014). Therefore, a fundamental goal of institutions should be to enroll and retain students in the public speaking course. To assist in attaining this goal, this article identifies 10 best practices for facilating student persistence in the public speaking course.

Take a Public Speaking Course and Conquer the Fear

“…Among those classes, an introductory public speaking class needs more attention than ever. Individuals who have completed a university general education public speaking course have reported increased competence and confidence in general and especially in public speaking (Weismann et al, 2018). So, why would higher education suggest eliminating a general education public speaking course at a time when students need more competence and confidence and reduced fear of public speaking?…”