8/13/2019 Nguyen-F12 C121 Syllabus Supplement

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Fall 2012 C121 Public Speaking SYLLABUS SUPPLEMENT(This supplement only applies to the MWF 11:15a section in SY 0009.

Please see the main syllabus for course-wide policies)

Instructor: Jason R. Nguyen

Email: jrnguyen@indiana.edu Phone: (812) 397-4665 I check this phone M-F 9am-6pm. Leave a voicemail or email at other times.Office: Classroom Office Building, Rm. 246Office Hours: Monday, 9-11am / Thursday, 9-11am

Imma let you finish, but: Classroom Environment

Youll notice that this is the very first thing Im writing. Thats because it is probably the most importantthing I want you to remember. We have to be respectful of one another if this is going to work out.Why? Because mutual respect creates an atmosphere of trust, and trust is going to allow all of us tostand in front of a room and learn how to make our thoughts and feelings known. You reap what yousow so lets mak e sure we fill our classroom with warmth, collegiality, and kindness.

As we will end up touching on topics you care about (morality, politics, Kanye West, etc.), you maydisagree with one another or even me thats totally cool and even encouraged. However, you willexpress your disagreements in a way that respects the opinions of others, and you will not criticizeothers based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, disability or any other category.Anything short of this standard is unacceptable for two reasons: (1) having an open mind is the rightthing to do; (2) for the purposes of public speaking, amicable disagreement is more likely to persuadethan hostile disagreement. Whens the last time you heard somebody call you a bad name and said,Wow, that dudes got good point!?

Why so Serious?: Speech Day

Lets see what we should all do to ensure an ideal speech day:

Arrive a few minutes early on speech days. Speakers , youll be able to mentally prepare yourself.Audience , you won t be rushing in at the last minute hunting for a seat.

If you arrive latedont come in until the speech finishes. Stand quietly outside and wait forwhen nobody is speaking (applause is a good indicator). It takes a lot to make me lose my cool and this would totally do it.

Speakers: Sign up in order on the board. Yet another reason to get there early! If you are writing peer critiques, make sure your materials are ready before speeches start.Dont be digging for a pencil or tearing out your review sheets while someone else is speaking.

Audience: Be respectful and attentive during speeches. For many of these speeches, people arediscussing things they care about deeply and we should listen . Dont be Kanye.

Dress/appearance: Wearing clothes is a start. Otherwise, put thought into how it affects yourperformance. Everything has a proper time and place, so make sure your dress fits the occasion.

mailto:jrnguyen@indiana.edumailto:jrnguyen@indiana.edumailto:jrnguyen@indiana.edumailto:jrnguyen@indiana.edu

8/13/2019 Nguyen-F12 C121 Syllabus Supplement

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Call Me Maybe: Contact

The best way to get in touch with me is at the email address. The phone number is fine too: just leave avoice message if I dont answer. Otherwise, Ill always be available during office hours and for about 15minutes before and after class. Furthermore, i f the posted office hours dont work for you, just get in

touch and well find a time to me et that works for us both!

Dont use the Oncourse messaging system, please. If you want to, thats fine, but I might not notice it

until December. If youre okay with that, sure, go for it.

May the odds be ever in your favor : Participation Points

While C121 is designed so that all sections are structured similarly, 50 points are at my discretion. Mygoal for these points is that everybody who does the work should get them. The activities andevaluations are meant to help you with other assignments or motivate you to be better speakers andaudiences. The points are distributed as follows:

25 points: Annotated Bibliography. In preparation for your informative and advocacy speeches, you willbe asked to produce an annotated bibliography. It will consist of 10 sources listed with shortstatements on its relevance to your speech topic. Handouts with details will be forthcoming.This is due Friday, October 12 th via Oncourse.

15 points: Class participation . Specifically, this means that you speak up during class discussion andmake a good faith effort at class activities such as writing exercises or group work. These areyour points from day one, but you may lose them by not participating. For example, if youturn in a one-sentence answer when I ask you to write an in-class response for 3 minutes, I ll

take two points away. Passivity (not speaking, not responding, etc.) will generally result in 1or 2 points deducted based on severity. Anything that distracts other students from payingattention will be treated more harshly and youll lose up to 4 points, e.g. laughing at aFacebook post in the middle of class.

10 points: Impromptu Speeches . Youll have two opportunities to give impromptu, short speechesthroughout the semester (five points each). These will be low pressure, spontaneousactivities and youll receive most of the points by simply giving it a go. The remaining pointswill be determined based on the overa ll effectiveness of your speech. Itll be fun! (For me.)

OMG WTFBBQ : Electronics Policy

I hate being a stickler here, since I bring my laptop everywhere, so I dont mind laptops or tablets fortaking notes, but unless Im lecturing or something, youll probably have little reason to have them out.Just remember that your instructor is not a moron, and he knows that you are not giggling and furiouslytyping notes about the role of civic engagement in the development of rhetoric in ancient Greece. Impretty interesting, but not that interesting. In short, devices for taking notes are acceptable, but Ireserve the right to be a jerk about it if you abuse my chillness. Actually, thats true for everything.