Public Speaking for Lawyers (Kiley)
Meeting Times/Location
TR 10:30AM - 11:30AM
Golkin Hall 70
Category
Upper-Level
Credits
2.0
Lawyers are communicators. And oral communication is a required skill, no matter the context in which the lawyer practices. But what does it take to create clear and compelling content? And what does it mean to deliver your ideas with confidence and conviction?
This course takes an interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to teaching oral communication and presentation skills. We investigate what we know about the way people take in information, learn and make decisions. We put our answers to use by designing and delivering effective presentations. This class is primarily experiential in nature, and at least fifty-one percent of the course is dedicated to activities that are reasonably similar to actual lawyering tasks.
Classes will consist of lectures and seminars, as well as workshops where students will practice what they have learned in presentations, exercises, and small group activities. Course material will draw from a variety of fields including communication science, rhetoric, storytelling, visual communication, and theater. Presentations will involve a variety of settings in which students will address non-lawyer audiences.
Class attendance is essential. The direct goal of this course is to improve students’ oral presentations skills. But the methods and tools used in this course will improve communication in other contexts, including written and informal speaking.
Skills Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of the individual course skill; Demonstrate the ability to receive and implement feedback; Demonstrate an understanding of how and when the individual course skill is employed in practice.
Textbooks
"Better Presentations A Guide for Scholars, Researchers, and Wonks"" by Jonathan Schwabish |