Learning Outcome #1
My interpretation of this outcome is the expectation that students master oral communication skills necessary for professional success, including public speaking and group decision-making. It involves confidently delivering presentations, actively contributing to discussions, and effectively collaborating with others to achieve common goals.
To demonstrate that I have met this learning outcome, I wanted to first look at an example from early on in my college education. The video below is from one of the first projects that I ever was assigned, and this was in CMM110. We were assigned a “Lone Wolf” speech as Jesse called it, where we were given a few topics to choose from, and then had to give a 3-5 minute speech. As you can see from the video, I am repeatedly playing with my hands, there are a decent amount of “ums”, and constantly get tripped up on my words or lose my place.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a video that demonstrates my growth in this learning outcome, but the change from then to now was evident in my capstone presentation at the symposium. Although I still have a few things to work on such as breathing and speed, I think I delivered a confident presentation when it came to giving the “real thing” at the symposium. I practiced many times leading up to this day, and although I used my speaker notes as a guide, I knew what I was saying throughout the presentation. Unlike the example above, I never got tripped up on my words, and eliminated the use of filler words such as “um.” Confidence plays a pivotal role in oral communication, and I believe this confidence guided my delivery, and helped me to articulate my points effectively.
