Rhetoric and Public Speaking Course

Lesson 1 • Canons of Rhetoric Overview

Surveys the five classical canons: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Provides a roadmap for the skills developed throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Defines Aristotle's three modes of persuasion and their interdependence. Students practice identifying each mode in sample speeches.

Lesson 3 • The Rhetorical Situation

Introduces Bitzer's rhetorical situation: exigence, audience, and constraints. Students learn to diagnose any speaking context before crafting a message.

Lesson 1 • Real-Time Audience Feedback

Teaches speakers to read nonverbal cues and adjust delivery mid-speech. Connects audience analysis theory to live adaptive performance.

Lesson 2 • Audience Demographics and Psychographics

Distinguishes demographic data (age, role, background) from psychographic factors (values, beliefs, attitudes). Both dimensions shape how a message is received.

Lesson 3 • Hostile, Neutral, and Supportive Audiences

Identifies strategies for each audience disposition and how to shift attitudes incrementally. Students practice adapting the same core message for three audience types.

Lesson 1 • Claim, Warrant, and Evidence Structure

Applies Toulmin's model to build logically sound arguments. Students learn to identify and fill gaps between claims and supporting evidence.

Lesson 2 • Logical Fallacies and How to Avoid Them

Catalogs common reasoning errors that undermine credibility and persuasion. Recognizing fallacies strengthens both argument construction and rebuttal skills.

Lesson 3 • Research Strategies for Speakers

Covers source evaluation, evidence types, and efficient research workflows. Strong evidence is the raw material for credible, persuasive arguments.

Lesson 1 • Transitions and Internal Summaries

Teaches verbal signposting that keeps audiences oriented throughout a speech. Smooth transitions reduce cognitive load and reinforce key ideas.

Lesson 2 • Crafting a Compelling Introduction

Covers attention-getters, credibility statements, and thesis previews. The introduction sets audience expectations and establishes the speaker's authority.

Lesson 3 • Organizational Patterns for the Body

Presents topical, chronological, spatial, causal, and problem-solution patterns. Choosing the right pattern makes complex content intuitive for listeners.

Lesson 1 • Understanding Communication Apprehension

Explains the physiological and psychological roots of speaking anxiety. Normalizing apprehension is the first step toward managing it effectively.

Lesson 2 • Cognitive Reframing Techniques

Applies cognitive-behavioral strategies to replace negative self-talk with performance-enhancing thoughts. Mindset shifts produce measurable reductions in pre-speech anxiety.

Lesson 3 • Systematic Desensitization Through Practice

Uses graduated exposure to speaking situations to build tolerance and confidence over time. Repeated low-stakes practice is the most reliable confidence-building method.

Lesson 1 • Body Language and Gesture

Examines posture, movement, and purposeful gesture as reinforcers of verbal content. Aligned nonverbal signals amplify credibility and emotional impact.

Lesson 2 • Voice Fundamentals for Speakers

Covers pitch, rate, volume, and resonance as controllable delivery tools. Vocal variety sustains attention and signals confidence to audiences.

Lesson 3 • Eye Contact and Facial Expression

Trains speakers to use eye contact to build connection and facial expression to convey emotion. These cues are primary drivers of perceived authenticity.

Lesson 1 • Psychological Principles of Persuasion

Introduces reciprocity, social proof, scarcity, and commitment as persuasion levers. Understanding these principles allows ethical and effective audience influence.

Lesson 2 • Framing and Narrative Persuasion

Shows how framing choices and storytelling shape audience perception of issues. Narrative persuasion bypasses resistance by engaging emotional processing.

Lesson 3 • Addressing Counterarguments

Teaches refutation, concession, and inoculation strategies to strengthen persuasive speeches. Proactively handling objections increases audience trust and argument resilience.

Lesson 1 • Classical Figures of Speech

Covers anaphora, antithesis, chiasmus, and epistrophe as tools for rhythm and emphasis. These figures create the memorable cadences found in landmark speeches.

Lesson 2 • Stylistic Consistency and Voice

Develops a coherent personal rhetorical style that is consistent across different speaking contexts. A distinctive voice builds long-term speaker identity and audience recognition.

Lesson 3 • Rhetorical Questions and Irony

Examines how rhetorical questions engage audiences and how irony creates emphasis through contrast. Both devices require precise calibration to avoid misinterpretation.