CMNS 101: Fundamentals of Communication

General Education Common Graded Assignment: Spring 2016
Speech Critique

CMNS 101 Fundamentals of Communication is a general education course designed to assist students in the development of critical life skills. One of the goals of this assignment is to assess student competence for each of these objectives:
I.Written and Oral Communication demonstrate effective verbal and nonverbal techniques in a variety of settings;
II.Critical Analysis and Reasoningexplain the impact of language on communication;
III.Technological Competence employ appropriate technology in the design and delivery of messages in various formats
IV.Information Literacy demonstrate critical thinking in researching, organizing, and presenting information;
V.
VI.Local and Global Diversity analyze the variables that influence communication, including culture, gender, nonverbal settings, and symbols;
VII.Personal and Professional Ethics identify factors that constitute ethical and unethical communication in a variety of contexts and audiences, including family, social, school, speech audiences, career environments, and diverse populations.

In addition to the above general education objectives, this assignment assesses students understanding and application of the following skills and knowledge specific to the public speaking unit of this course:
Ability to distinguish factors that constitute effective verbal and nonverbal delivery
Ability to identify reliable and timely sources of information
Ability to analyze effective organization and support of speech content

Assignment Specifications

View a speech assigned by your instructor.
Write an essay in which you analyze various aspects of the speakers presentation.
At minimum, you should address the following in your essay:
oWhat aspects of the speakers delivery were effective? Ineffective? Why?
Verbal delivery (e.g., figurative language, transitions, language choice, etc.)
Nonverbal delivery (e.g., eye contact, body movement, gestures, volume, enunciation, etc.)
oDiscuss how the information and/or language the speaker used indicated awareness of and/or sensitivity to diversity as it related to the topic. If recognition of diversity was absent from the presentation, suggest how it might have been incorporated.
oDescribe the effectiveness of the types of support material (evidence) used. If lacking, discuss what types of information the speaker might have included.
oEvaluate the credibility of the research sources used by the speaker and indicate whether the presentation might have been strengthened with other sources of information. Check the sources so that you can adequately determine the relevance to the topic, reliability of the source, and its timeliness.
oDescribe how the speaker used technology during the presentation. Did it enhance audience understanding? If no technology was used, suggest how it might have been incorporated.
oDescribe and evaluate ethical issues in the speech, regarding such issues as use of pathos, possible biased information, etc.
Your analysis must be approximately 750-1000 words in length (about 3-4 double-spaced typewritten pages.)