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Public Speaking

Public Speaking will encourage and enable students to develop skills related to speech-making, civil discourse and argument. At the core of the tutorial are Biblical mandates from 1 Peter 3:15, Colossians 4:5-6, and 2 Timothy 2:15 which urge us as Christians to be prepared, to be gracious and winsome, and to be accurate in the presentation of God’s Truth. It is therefore important that students know what they believe, and present their beliefs with conviction and poise, while trusting the Holy Spirit to change the hearers’ lives.

Objectives of the course include the following:

• Students will memorize and recite the above Scriptures “on demand.”
• Students will learn and practice effective public speaking and listening habits.
• Students will treat one another with kindness, respect and encouragement even while disagreeing.
• Students will be nurtured in the development of their own unique speaking style while replacing fear with confidence in their God-given abilities.
• Students will become more aware of, and able to critique the speaking habits of, political leaders and other prominent people who influence our culture.
• Students will learn to recognize faulty/illogical reasoning, lying, obfuscation, and emotional or irrelevant arguments, and to respond to these with God’s Truth.
• Students will learn to critically and analytically look at both sides of an issue.
  Students will learn how to formulate a point of view and provide a reasoned defense for it.

Each 90-minute session will involve discussion of reading/observation homework assignments, listening to lectures, and participation in skill-building activities and critiques. Students will be exposed to live “real world” public speaking through field trips and/or guest lecturers.

No texts are required for this tutorial.