About this course: In the professional realm, most speeches and presentations we give are informative in scope. A scientist needs to explain her recent research findings. A financial officer needs to report on quarterly earnings to his company’s board. A technology professional needs to educate a consumer about a new product. Any time you need to convey ideas or demonstrate a process, you’re dealing with informative speaking. Informative speaking is a fun puzzle. You need to think from the perspective of your audience to identify what they need to hear in order to understand the key ideas. How much does the audience already know? What are the most important elements to convey? How should one convey these ideas with appropriate breadth and depth given the time constraints of the speech? This demands a strategic approach to speech design that we’ll undertake in this class. By the end of the course, you should be able to explain complex ideas vividly and accessibly, design clear and compelling presentation slides, convey your passion for a topic while maintaining your professional credibility, and speak dynamically from notes and/or a manuscript. Learners will record speeches, providing and receiving peer feedback.
Created by: University of Washington
Taught by: Dr. Matt McGarrity, Principal Lecturer
UW Department of Communication
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 5 weeks of study; 2 hours per week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Week 1: Targeting your presentation
This week, we’ll focus on essential strategies for designing informative speeches. The key issue is: what does the audience need? This process of identifying constraints and opportunities will allow you to zero in on a set of achievable goals, not trying to do too much nor too little. By the end of the week, you will have some tactics for thinking strategically about your goals in any speech. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload an introductory speech for peer review.
16 videos, 1 practice quiz
- Video: 2.1.1: Welcome to speaking to inform
- Video: 2.1.2: Summary of previous course
- Video: 2.1.3: Course overview
- Video: 2.1.4: Assignment overview and rubric
- Video: 2.1.5: Overview of week 1
- Video: 2.1.6: A speech preparation process
- Video: 2.1.7: Drafting a sample speech
- Video: 2.1.8: Planning an audience-oriented speech
- Video: 2.1.9: What do I know about my audience?
- Video: 2.1.10: What does my audience know about the topic?
- Practice Quiz: Valuable talks
- Video: 2.1.11: Identifying your speech goals
- Video: 2.1.12: Writing your speech goals
- Video: 2.1.13: Revising your speech goals
- Discussion Prompt: Writing speech goals
- Video: 2.1.14: Review of week 1
- Peer Review: Introductory speech (Optional)
- Video: 2.1.15: Sample introductory speech
- Video: 1.1.13 (Review): Recording good speech videos
Graded: Week 1 quiz
WEEK 2
Week 2: Designing informative speeches
In this module, we'll move an informative speech from idea through to completed outline. Arrangement is always important. It's doubly important in informative speaking. We have to be clear and that starts with good speech design. By the end of the week, you should have a storehouse of arrangement strategies to organize almost any informative speech. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload an informative speech outline for peer review and engage in some speech analysis.
13 videos, 4 readings, 1 practice quiz
- Video: 2.2.1: Overview of week 2
- Video: 2.2.2: Levels of meaning
- Video: 2.2.3: Simplicity
- Video: 2.2.4: Order
- Video: 2.2.5: Balance
- Discussion Prompt: Outline evaluation
- Reading: A note on these models
- Video: 2.2.6: Briefings and updates
- Video: 2.2.7: Product and design presentations
- Video: 2.2.8: Explaining research to a general audience
- Video: 2.2.9: Teaching talks
- Video: 2.2.10: Conference talks
- Video: 2.2.11: Informative introductions
- Video: 2.2.12: Informative conclusions
- Reading: Rosling and Shepard talks (Optional)
- Practice Quiz: Introductions and conclusions
- Video: 2.2.13: Review of week 2
- Peer Review: Informative speech outline (Optional)
- Reading: Speech analysis #1 overview
- Reading: Matt's feedback
- Discussion Prompt: Speech analysis #1 discussion
Graded: Week 2 quiz
Graded: Speech analysis #1
WEEK 3
Week 3: Clarity through support and slides
This week is all about helping the audience see what we’re talking about. We’ll begin by talking about how to explain details in a vibrant way, working in tandem with how an audience will hear this information. This ability to explain details and evidence well is essential to scientific speaking, business presentations, and any situation when you need to walk an audience through a new set of ideas. Then we turn to slides! They can make or break a speech. We’ll talk about how to design slides so that they support you as a speaker (not replace you). By the end of the week, you should have skills and experience explaining ideas richly and designing and using clear presentation slides. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload a draft slide deck for peer review.
17 videos, 1 reading
- Video: 2.3.1: Overview of week 3
- Video: 2.3.2: Support overview
- Video: 2.3.3: Examples and illustrations
- Discussion Prompt: Metaphors
- Video: 2.3.4: Summarizing complex information
- Reading: Warren clip
- Video: 2.3.5: Audience-centered explanations
- Video: 2.3.6: Increasing your speech vocabulary
- Discussion Prompt: Copiousness
- Video: 2.3.7: Picking purpose for slides
- Video: 2.3.8: Presentation slides for presentation
- Video: 2.3.9: Slide simplicity
- Video: 2.3.10: Slides as support
- Video: 2.3.11: Using text in slides
- Video: 2.3.12: Using images in slides
- Video: 2.3.13: Using video in slides
- Video: 2.3.14: Presenting with slides
- Discussion Prompt: What slides do you like best?
- Video: 2.3.15: Review of week 3
- Video: 2.3.16. Sara Battersby, Part 1
- Video: 2.3.17: Sara Battersby, Part 2
- Discussion Prompt: Discuss your slides
Graded: Week 3 quiz
Graded: Informative speech slides
WEEK 4
Week 4: Delivering informative speeches
Now for some delivery work. We start with the concept of ethos. It is that performance of credibility that all great informative speakers have. We'll dive deep into how you can refine your ethos as a speaker. We’ll finish this course by focusing on the unique delivery demands of informative speaking: using notes, mics, and podiums effectively. Interacting with the audience well. By the end of the week, you’ll have some strategies for speaking more smoothly and with greater credibility. If you want some feedback, you’ll be able to upload a practice informative speech for peer review.
13 videos, 3 readings, 1 practice quiz
- Video: 2.4.1: Overview of week 4
- Video: 2.4.2: Defining your ethos
- Video: 2.4.3: Arete
- Video: 2.4.4: Phronesis
- Reading: Neil deGrasse Tyson clip (Optional)
- Discussion Prompt: Phroneisis
- Video: 2.4.5: Eunoia
- Video: 2.4.6: Presidential ethos analysis
- Video: 2.4.7: Using podiums
- Video: 2.4.8: Using microphones
- Video: 2.4.9: Using notes
- Practice Quiz: Interacting with your materials
- Video: 2.4.10: Interacting with the audience
- Video: 2.4.11: Delivery change-ups
- Video: 2.4.12: Review of week 4
- Reading: Speech analysis #2
- Video: 2.4.13: Speech for analysis
- Reading: Matt's feedback
- Discussion Prompt: Speech analysis #2 discussion
Graded: Week 4 quiz
Graded: Speech analysis #2
WEEK 5
Week 5: Review and assessment
Thank you for time in this course! I hope that the material has proven helpful to you. We concluded our discussion of the speech last week. This week, I would like to spend a bit of time reflecting on the course and talking about other exercises and activities that you can use to continue improving your public speaking abilities. We will end this week with your final informative speech.
3 videos
- Video: 2.5.1: Course review
- Video: 2.5.2: Other recommended courses
- Video: 2.5.3: Sample informative speech
Graded: Informative speech
FAQs
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Coursework
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Creators
University of Washington
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Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
Good course, particularly for informative speeches.
I am doctoral student nearing by thesis proposal, so I was wondering - how the course will help me to structure my presentation.
Though the course is helpful, but I would have loved little more treatment of such topics like presenting proposals, defense, data. This treatment is bit sketchy in the course.
However, I will highly recommend the course to any doctoral student or anyone who wish to get into academia.
Very comprehensive, well structured. I've attended three courses of prof McGarrity and I am an absolute fan if him
Very informative course.
Matt McGarity is a very insightful and well-spoken teacher.
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SK
This course taught me so much and helped me and my students, who are professors in Indonesia, get rid of some common bad habits. I've used this course as a component of a 3 week presentation workshop. The presentations this year are so much better than last due to these videos. I tossed aside the other materials because this course's videos outshone them.