Is it difficult for you to speak up in class? Do you get nervous when it’s your turn to present a project? Do you worry about how you might sound to others?

The Clark Honors College is sponsoring workshops to help improve your oral communication skills. The workshops will be led by Dr. Trond Jacobsen, the Director of Forensics and Senior Instructor in Information Science.

WHO SHOULD GO: Any interested CHC student. Preference goes to CHC ARC students.

WHY: To learn new ways to improve the way you speak to groups and how to strengthen your academic presentations.

Workshop participants will learn:

• Basic concepts of oral communication
• Fundamentals of how to create an effective argument and persuade others
• The importance of structure, storytelling, and purposeful repetition
• How to engage audiences through concise communication
• Techniques to keep the attention of listeners, with tone, pacing, eye contact and gestures
• Best practices for using visual aids
• How to prepare for a presentation and practice it
• Ways to manage anxiety
• How to manage questions from an audience

What you’ll get…

• A personalized assessment of your communications strengths and weaknesses
• A self-oriented plan to enhance your speaking skills
• Coaching on how to nail down an effective thesis statement and build a speech around it