The Isenberg School of Management (SOM) recently added a new component to its communication center, along with two courses, that aim to advance students’ abilities to speak publicly and construct presentations.
Until this academic year, the University of Massachusetts business school’s Channing L. Bete Communication Center, founded in the early 1990s, had focused primarily on improving students’ writing skills. But during the fall, SOM opened a facility to provide students with professional help to improve their public speaking skills as well as their visual displays, such as slideshow presentations.
And, although students are required in many business courses to present in front of their classmates, there had previously been no courses designed to hone in on public speaking skills the way the University’s junior year writing requirement focuses on writing. So at the beginning of this semester, SOM launched two one-credit public speaking courses – “Professionally Speaking: Presentation Delivery for Business Majors” and “Professional Presentations: Strategies for Business Majors.”
The courses are taught back to back allowing students to choose one or both, depending on their interest, said Gail Cruise, a communications specialist and SOM lecturer.
As for the new room designated for practicing public speaking, “it’s a room with tons of capabilities,” said Cruise, who was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the creation of the space last fall.
The center, located in room G12 in the SOM building basement, features several technological components, including numerous projectors and interactive smart boards, as well as a dual screen computer used for editing and feedback.
Among the most useful aspects of the communication center is the video recording equipment, Cruise said. A student, or group of students, can have their presentation recorded and then have it played back to watch how they did. With help from the center’s staff, students can see exactly where and how to improve.
To give the room a professional feel, there is a conference table directly in front of the presentation area to simulate presenting in an office environment, not just an empty room.
The worth of this room to business majors cannot be overstated, Cruise said.
The advantage is particularly unique for UMass business students who are required to give presentations in some form during their years in SOM because the school sees effective public speaking, in conjunction with technological visual displays, as an essential skill in today’s business world.
After presenting during class, students typically get feedback from the professor on how to improve. However, students can find it difficult to understand that constructive criticism without actually watching themselves present and seeing exactly how their presentation appears.
The center continues helping students with their business writing in SOM room 208. However, said Cruise, simply having good writing skills in today’s business environment is no longer enough.
“The program kind of evolved for the need to have polished and professional business majors with organized and strategic public speaking capabilities,” she said.
With the video recording and playback, students can pair the improvement ideas of public speaking experts with real footage from the perspective of someone in the audience. The result can drastically improve public speaking capabilities, Cruise said.
Thus far, the public speaking component of the communications center has been used mostly by upperclassmen, particularly marketing majors, who have practiced presenting ideas that will eventually be presented to companies such as General Motors and Ford.
“We would like to start seeing it being used by freshman and sophomores,” said Cruise.
The writing and public speaking centers in SOM are open only to the business school’s students, but writing and speaking assistance is provided to those students for any of their courses – not just SOM courses.
Students who are interested in working on their presentation skills, “can visit the Communication Center individually or as part of a small work team to arrange edits on papers and obtain feedback on writing and speaking assignments,” said assistant professor of marketing Kathleen Debevec.
“It is up to students to take advantage of this great program,” she added.
Students do not need an appointment for writing assistance, however for help with public speaking, students should e-mail Cruise at [email protected] to make an appointment. For more information visit, http://www.isenberg.umass.edu/undergrad/For_Current_Students/Student_Resources/Writing_Center/
Matt Bouteillier can be reached at [email protected].
