Oral Communication Center

About the Oral Communication Center

The Oral Communication Center (OCC) supports students and faculty in achieving Hamilton College's standard for effective oral communication. The OCC offers credit-bearing courses in applied communication skills, delivers customized course support, conducts communication skills workshops and seminars, and provides one-on-one tutoring and group consultations.

Courses

Oral Communication courses help students develop thinking and communication skills necessary for success in Hamilton courses and other professional and social contexts.

Course Support

Faculty in any discipline may request customized Oral Communication support for their courses. OCC professionals work directly with professors to plan and deliver support that is tailored to the specific needs of the course and the assignment. OCC course support may include collaborating on assignment design, providing training for students in class or in workshops outside of class, developing evaluation tools, and providing feedback to students.

The Oral Communication Center is a member of HILLgroup and coordinates course support with Instructional Technology Services and the Library as needed.

Workshops and Seminars

 
In addition to providing course support, the Oral Communication Center conducts training workshops and seminars that are open to all students and other members of the College community. Each of these sessions typically focuses on a single issue or challenge in oral communication, such as organizing a presentation, using PowerPoint, controlling speech anxiety, etc. Any Hamilton group or unit of the College may request a customized training workshop or seminar.
 

Tutoring Services

 
The OCC also offers support directly to students as they work on class assignments or independent projects. Individuals and groups of students can consult with peer tutors as they prepare oral presentations, debates, group presentations, panel discussions, podcasts, readings, interviews, oral exams, poster presentations, etc.

OCC peer tutors can provide guidance on matters such as organizing presentations, using research sources and creating oral citations, adapting written work for oral presentation; designing and using visual elements (such as PowerPoint slides); improving public speaking, discussion, and interview skills; and managing nervousness.

OCC professional staff offer support to faculty and staff members preparing lectures, conference presentations, and the like.
 

Additional Resources

The Oral Communication Center maintains a library of textbooks and video resources as well as tip sheets on specific oral communication issues. OCC tip sheets are also available on this website. The OCC suite has practice rooms equipped for video recording and review of presentations.