Programmatic Principles of Speaking Across the Curriculum 

Other University Programs

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
The SIUC site provides a rationale for speaking across the curriculum (SXC) along with a series 
of helpful questions for individual faculty, departments, or colleges to discuss as those entities work 
at constructing a program. 

University of North Carolina at Greensboro
UNCG has a communicating across the disciplines program divided into two tracks: one is writing intensive (WAC) 
and one is speaking intensive (SAC).  The SAC program and some resources are described in detail.  This more 
developed site will be useful as a planning tool and as a resource once the program is underway. 

Teaching Resources Online

Faculty Ideas for Speaking Across the Curriculum Activities
Click the faculty names to browse the activities.

Allyn and Bacon
This is one of the best basic public speaking resources available online.

A "Short Course" in Public Speaking (ppt)
A bit of theory and explanation that may be helpful to those who haven't had a
course in public speaking.

Presentation Toolbox (Point students to this one) This useful page provides
excellent tips in very brief "articles" that students will find engaging.

Poster Presentation Assistant Poster sessions have been used in business for some time; 
increasingly they are being used in academia. This site provides useful direction for construction
of and use of an informative poster.  For more presentational information for those in the sciences, 
go to: http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/Dept/Tips/present/present.htm 

Competent Speaker Assessment Form (Simple Rubric)  This rubric focuses on the eight basic
competencies of speaking.  It is in MSWord, so you can download and modify as you like.     

The National Communication Association Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form
         For a much more developed approach to assessing presentation skills, this package of resources 
         can be purchased by departments or individual faculty. Instructions for its use, information on how the 
         instrument was developed, and its psychometric properties are contained in a user manual. 
        Order at  http://www.natcom.org/Instruction/assessment/Assessment/AssessPubs.htm
        (Item #516) ($18 for members of the National Communication Association;  $22 for non-members) 

Dealing with Speech Anxiety

Personal Report of Communication Apprehension
The PRCA is a diagnostic tool that helps students assess their levels of apprehension in a variety of 
communication contexts. The assessment can be focused on single contexts (public speaking, interpersonal, 
group or meeting) or an overall score can be calculated.  Norms provided give some context for interpreting 
individual scores. If students score  high in apprehension, they need extra opportunities to practice skills 
without being graded and with formative feedback. 

Speech Anxiety Web Page   

Broadening the Scope of Speaking

Professional Speaking

• Academic presentation
• Business presentation
  
• Meeting facilitation

Revised April 15, 2008