All News

The Oral Communication Center (OCC) hosted “Hamilton Speaks: Improve Your Public Speaking in Six Minutes or Less,” an hour-long, lunchtime event on Oct. 29. It featured student workers, faculty/staff members and visiting professionals who were each given exactly six minutes to give advice or information on some aspect of oral communication.

Six prizes were awarded in three categories in the annual Public Speaking Competition on Saturday, March 8, in the Chapel. The finalists were chosen after an open preliminary round held in February. Speakers’ presentations were either persuasive or informative in nature, and in one category students were asked to address an assigned topic.

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects approximately three-quarters of the population1.  Nevertheless, the Oral Communication Center’s eighth annual Public Speaking Competition draws students from all class years, disciplines and extracurriculars. Even if you aren’t glossophobic, you might still get a little nervous before speaking to crowds. Some of Hamilton’s former winners and current participants generously reveal their tactics and motivations for competing.

Six prizes were awarded across three categories in the annual Public Speaking Competition on Saturday, March 3, in the Chapel. The finalists were chosen after an open preliminary round held in February. Speakers’ presentations were either persuasive or informative in nature, and in one category students were asked to address an assigned topic.

Six prizes were awarded across three categories in the annual Public Speaking Competition on Saturday, March 5, in the Chapel. The 17 finalists were chosen after an open preliminary round held in February. Speakers' presentations were either persuasive or informative in nature, and in one category, speakers were asked to address an assigned topic.

Can practicing speeches in Second Life reduce speech anxiety in real life? Jim Helmer, Oral Communication Center coordinator, and Carl Rosenfield, instructional technology specialist, addressed that question in a presentation at the National Association of Communication Centers annual conference at DePauw University on March 12. Helmer and Rosenfield reported on a pilot project conducted in Helmer’s ORCOM 100 class to explore the potential of using the 3-D virtual world of Second Life as a “space” for students to practice oral presentations. A key question was whether practicing in Second Life might help apprehensive students feel more comfortable when they faced their real-world audience.

Hamilton's 2010 Public Speaking Competition will take place on Saturday, March 6, from 1-5 p.m., in the Chapel. Thirteen students will compete for three different prizes in this annual event: The McKinney Prize, The Clark Prize, and The Warren Wright Prize.