The Arts of Communication (DHP-P234)

Fall 2024 · DHP P234 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

Today’s leaders must have the ability not only to analyze thoughtfully but also to communicate clearly and persuasively. This full semester course is intended to turn you into a significantly more persuasive and effective public speaker—someone who speaks with the ease, confidence, clarity, and modes of persuasion that are critical in today’s corporate, nonprofit, policy, and diplomacy worlds. We will cover a range of speaking scenarios, from podium speeches on values to simulations of a press conference or media interview on camera. The course is intended to help you develop your own personal style by deepening your understanding of the persuasive tools, recommendations, refutations, modes of analysis, and variations in audiences that motivate listeners to turn business, policy and diplomacy ideas into action. The full semester course will take a deeper and wider dive into the world of public speaking relative to the module course, and include sessions on debating, ceremonial speeches, as well as more detailed sessions on facing the camera and press, impromptu speaking, and elevator pitching. Approximately one-half of the course will be devoted to classes that introduce students to strategies of spoken communication and to models of public presentation. The other half will consist of speech delivery sessions in which students will hone their skills in public speaking.

Course codes: DHP-P234

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