SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies

CRS 325

Presentational Speaking

3 Credit Hours

Course #39851 Section M001

Spring 2026

Mon/Wed 3:45pm-5:05pm

Sims Hall Rm. 135

Professor: Jim Dunagan Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 1-2 PM or by appointment
Email: jadunaga@syr.edu Cell Phone: 315-882-2435
Office: Sims 141 Mailbox: 100 Sims Hall (CRS department office)

REQUIRED TEXT

Gunn, J. (2021). Speech Craft (2nd ed.).  Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. ISBN: 978-1-319-34387-3 (Note: DO NOT purchase this textbook before class begins. You will be provided access to the text and online learning materials during our first meeting)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

(From the course catalog)

Conceptual and practical dimensions of formal presentations in organizational settings. Analysis, adaptation, strategic arrangement, and development of ideas, verbal and nonverbal presentational skills.

(From me)

We will examine the art and craft of public speaking and presentations from several perspectives and contexts. You’ll work independently on activities designed to solidify your understanding of communication skills necessary to becoming a better public speaker, including regular demonstrations of your presentation abilities in the classroom. We will hopefully have some fun together as we grow in our abilities to speak informatively and (often) persuasively to others.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, it is expected that you will be able to:

  • Understand the importance of listening to be a good speaker
  • Predict with some accuracy what kind of audience your speech will have
  • Identify the purpose and topic for a speech and know how to research it
  • Know the major speech genres and when they are appropriate to use
  • Organize and outline a speech, incorporating introductions, transitions, and conclusions
  • Incorporate style into a speech by way of language and delivery
  • Adapt your presentation style to particular situations

COURSE SCHEDULE

The course schedule is provided in a separate document and is also available on the Professor Dunagan website and in the Course Documents section of the class Blackboard page. The schedule is subject to change.

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

  • Class discussion, student interpretation/reaction to work
  • Asynchronous discussion posts and comments on weekly course topics
  • Feedback/evaluation of recorded and live speech presentations

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

  • Attendance, in-class participation, and professional conduct
  • Completion of all asynchronous work, including discussions and assessments
  • Completion of all required speech presentations

GENERAL POLICIES

Presentational Speaking is a highly desired skill, yet about 3 out of every 4 people are afraid to speak in public.  My aim is to conquer that fear by helping all of you learn what it takes to feel confident when speaking in front of others. A good deal of your work in this class will be done via what’s called “asynchronous” content (online only).

Class Activities – Your final grade will comprise only individual activities. Individual work will be completed through creating discussion posts and replies, taking quizzes that measure your understanding of course content, and making multiple speech presentations in class. All individual (asynchronous) activities are to be completed on a week-by-week basis.

Discussion posts – You will be responsible for contributing to class discussions every week of the course. There are a total of 12 discussion topics that correspond to our regular weekly activities. For each topic, you will respond to a prompt from me with a post that should effectively address the topic and be at least 200 words in length. In addition, you are expected to reply to at least two other students’ posts in that same weekly discussion. You will earn 25 points for each correctly completed discussion topic.

Achieve – Achieve is an online resource that will be used in conjunction with this class. You will automatically have access to this content from Day 1 of the class. Your bursar account should already have been billed for these materials. While you can “opt out” of purchasing this way, it will still be necessary for you to obtain these materials. I can assist you with purchasing these materials directly from the publisher if you would rather not have this charge billed to your SU student account. Achieve will be used for weekly content assessments via their LearningCurve tool. There are a total of 18 LearningCurve assessments available, one for each textbook chapter we will use. The first two assessments are optional and serve as practice and will not be graded. However, you can earn 10 points of extra credit by completing these optional assessments. You are expected to complete the remaining 16.

Attendance–This class is considered “in-person instruction,” which means attendance every class session is required. Missing even a few class sessions will put you behind. A total of 150 points, or 15% of your final grade, is based on both attendance and participation. While I do expect you to attend all class sessions, I also know that life often interferes with our best-laid plans. If there is a situation that keeps you from attending class, you will find me both understanding and fair in my dealings with you, provided you keep me informed.  Read more about how excused and unexcused absences are treated below.

  • Excused absences will be permitted if I am notified in advance for an appropriate reason (illness, personal/family issues, etc.) Doing work for another class or some related reason will not be excused.  If you are excused from class attendance, you will still receive attendance points for that day, but you will not earn participation points. An excused absence also does not relieve you of any other class responsibilities. A maximum of two excused absences will be permitted. Student athletes with permission from their team to miss class for games/events will be given excused absences for those occasions. If you face serious life/family/health difficulties that are impacting your attendance, please let me know and I will help you to figure out what to do.
  • Unexcused absences are simply any absences that are not excused. Unexcused absences receive no points for attendance or participation for each instance. Those absences will also result in a zero for any work done in class that day. Multiple unexcused absences will have a damaging effect on your final grade.
  • In addition, 6 unexcused absences will require a mandatory meeting with me to avoid getting a failing final grade for the class. In this meeting, we will address issues related to your absences. Eight or more unexcused absences will result in a failing final grade.

Participation – Class participation is crucial in our work together. It is often my best indication that you understand the concepts that we are talking about. There will be in-class discussions I will initiate with you, which will contribute to your daily attendance grade. In addition, you will participate in other graded activities:

  • 7 specific prepared speeches: 2 Impromptu (@ 20 points), 2 Informative (@ 35 points), and 2 Persuasive (@ 50 points). For each speech genre, everyone will speak once on the same topic, and then everyone will choose a topic of their own.   You will also have a final speech that you will give during the last week of the course.
  • 5 random speeches over the semester made on an impromptu basis on a specific topic, each of which will be available on the class website. You will earn 10 points for the first through third speeches. Expectations are that you can stand in front of the class and have something meaningful to say. The next one is worth 20 points each, and the expectation is that your speech will be at least 1 minute long and fairly smooth. Your fifth and final speech is worth 30 points, and the expectation will be that you can speak for about 2 minutes and do so in a polished and organized fashion. It will be your responsibility to know what each topic is for each week and be ready to give a speech on it if you are called upon to do so. This will be particularly important for the final three speeches you will make.

Punctuality – Being on time is so important to our ability to accomplish all the things we need to do. I reserve the right to consider repeated episodes of tardiness as unexcused absences. Please do your part by being on time, and let me know if something will cause you to be late.

Deadlines – To be honest, I am not a fan of deadlines. I find them somewhat arbitrary and unnecessary for those students able to manage their workloads. However, they are useful for students who struggle with time management. So, there are deadlines established for all individual and team assignment work. You will be expected to keep up with all weekly discussions and weekly assessments based on their due dates. While I generally do not penalize students for late work, I do reserve the right to do so.

Technology – Our class work requires that you have a mobile device in class, so I am asking you to bring your laptop to each class meeting. You may also use a phone or tablet if you prefer. However, please limit any device use to classroom activity.  If you have a pressing need to call or text someone, please leave the classroom so as not to distract other classmates.

Communication – In the event that you need to email me, please use only your official “syr.edu” email account. Do not use your personal email or your SU Gmail address (name@g.syr.edu). I do not monitor this email. Please be sure to include “CRS 325” in the subject line. I will do my best to respond to you in a timely fashion, but don’t assume I have forgotten about you if it’s less than 24 hours after sending me a message. Also, I don’t automatically respond to all emails. If you need a response, please make sure you note that if it’s important to you.

Blackboard –Blackboard will be a big part of your work outside of class. You will complete your weekly discussion posts there. You will also use Blackboard to access Achieve and the LearningCurve assessments. Blackboard’s My Grades tool will help you can keep track of your grade progress.

Grading –You will have constant and real-time access to your grade progress during the course.  Using My Grades in Blackboard, you can track your completion of in-class activities like discussion participation and LearningCurve scores. My goal for each of you is to encourage you to do your best possible work. In any case, please remember that I will always be happy to work with you on succeeding in this class. That said, it is ultimately your responsibility to make sure you have received credit for the work you have done, which means monitoring My Grades in Blackboard. I will always be happy to make sure your grades are correct, but I will not be making such changes as a result of last-minute requests at the end of the semester. Once a final deadline for requesting changes has been established and communicated to you (which will be done well in advance), NO REQUESTS FOR GRADE CHANGES WILL BE CONSIDERED. Grades for this course will be determined based on the table below:

Requirement

 

 Points
12 Discussion posts and comments (1 post/week, 2 comments/week) @ 25 points each 300
16 LearningCurve activities @10 pts. 160
Attendance and participation 150
5 impromptu speeches (first/second/third @ 10 points, fourth @ 20 points, fifth @ 30 points) 80
 In-class speeches (2 celebratory @ 20 points; 2 informative @ 35 pts; 2 persuasive @ 50 pts.) 210
 Final speech presentation 100
Total Points 1000

Grading Breakdown: 1000 – 930 = A; 929 – 900 = A-; 899 – 870 = B+; 869 – 830 = B; 829 – 800 = B-; 799 – 770 = C+; 769 – 730 = C; 729 – 700 = C-; 699 – 650 = D; 649 – 0 = E

OTHER POLICIES

Academic Integrity –Syracuse University’s Academic Integrity Policy reflects the high value that we, as a university community, place on honesty in academic work. As a pre-eminent and inclusive student-focused research institution, Syracuse University considers academic integrity at the forefront of learning, serving as a core value and guiding pillar of education. Syracuse University’s Academic Integrity Policy provides students with the necessary guidelines to complete academic work with integrity throughout their studies. Students are required to uphold both course-specific and university-wide academic integrity expectations such as crediting your sources, doing your own work, communicating honestly, and supporting academic integrity. The full Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy can be found by visiting class.syr/edu, selecting, “Academic Integrity,” and “Expectations and Policy.”

Upholding Academic Integrity includes the protection of faculty’s intellectual property. Students should not upload, distribute, or share instructors’ course materials, including presentations, assignments, exams, or other evaluative materials without permission. Using websites that charge fees or require uploading of course material (e.g., Chegg, Course Hero) to obtain exam solutions or assignments completed by others, which are then presented as your own violates academic integrity expectations in this course and may be classified as a Level 3 violation. All academic integrity expectations that apply to in-person assignments, quizzes, and exams also apply online.

Students found in violation of the policy are subject to grade sanctions determined by the course instructor and non-grade sanctions determined by the School or College where the course is offered. Students may not drop or withdraw from courses in which they face a suspected violation. Any established violation in this course may result in course failure regardless of violation level.

All generative-AI tools are prohibited in this course because their use inhibits achievement of the course learning objectives. This policy applies to all stages of project and writing processes including researching, brainstorming, outlining, organizing, and polishing. Do not use Generative-AI tools to create any content (i.e., images and video, audio, text, code, etc.). If you have any questions about a feature and whether it is considered Generative-AI, ask your instructor.

Statement of Commitment to Social Justice

This class is committed to engaging in social justice topics throughout the semester. The application of communication theory to our everyday lives means exploring what our lives look like every day. Put simply, it is impossible to discuss human communication without factoring in human experiences. Cultivating a safe space for discussing and confronting anti-Blackness, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, and xenophobia is an invaluable commitment within my class. Frank conversations about the rise of racist and anti-queer legislation are issues we will inevitably discuss within our class as they occupy our daily social spaces. It is important for us to provide the space necessary to discuss these issues and explore them within the context of human communication. Although these issues are important and inseparable from human communication, these topics are nevertheless sensitive matters that some students may not be emotionally or mentally available to discuss. As a result, all classes that discuss issues relating to social justice should be prefaced with appropriate content warnings to maintain the safety of all classmates.

 

Recording of Class Activities

Unless for an accommodation, you do not have permission to tape (video or audio) any lectures, class activities, or one-on-one meetings, or take photographs or screenshots of any course activities or material. You do not have permission to post information about the content of classroom activities to any social media (including one with privacy settings in place), online or elsewhere in a public forum. You do not have permission to sell notes or recordings of class lectures. Among other possible consequences, violation of any of these stipulations can result in a grade of “F” for the course.

 

Additional Policies

  • You are bound by the course agreement (syllabus) developed for this class.
  • Violation of course policies and of the course agreement can result in a grade of “F” for the course, among other possible consequences.
  • Recording: Unless for an accommodation, you may not record any part of our class (lecture, a class discussion, comments made by your classmates, for instance), or a meeting with the professor or with classmates.
  • You cannot post any recordings, screenshots, or photos of anything from the course to any social media (including one with privacy settings in place) or online site.
  • You do not have permission to sell notes or recordings of class lectures.
  • Hateful and oppressive expressions: Expressions in class, on an assignment, in meetings related to the class, or during class activities that contain oppressive or hateful statements, including racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, to name a few, are not permitted.
  • Supported Arguments: Arguments supported by evidence are required to get a passing grade on assignments: opinions are not arguments and are not sufficient to receive a passing grade on an assignment.
  • Critical Thinking in the Academy: You are tasked with evaluating ideas using critical thinking and engaging topics academically, that is, as an area of intellectual inquiry apart from personal opinions and beliefs.

Disability Services – Syracuse University values diversity and inclusion; we are committed to a climate of mutual respect and full participation.  There may be aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion and full participation in this course.  I invite any student to contact me to discuss strategies and/or accommodations (academic adjustments) that may be essential to your success and to collaborate with the Center for Disability Resources (CDR) in this process. If you would like to discuss disability-accommodations or register with CDR, please visit Center for Disability Resources. Please call (315) 443-4498 or email disabilityresources@syr.edu for more detailed information.  The CDR is responsible for coordinating disability-related academic accommodations and will work with the student to develop an access plan. Since academic accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact CDR as soon as possible to begin this process

Religious Observances – SU’s religious observance policy recognizes the diversity of faiths represented among the campus community and protects the rights of students, faculty, and staff to observe religious holy days according to their tradition.  Under the policy, students are provided an opportunity to make up any examination, study, or work requirements that may be missed due to a religious observance provided they notify their instructors before the second week of classes.  For fall and spring semesters, an online notification process is available via My Slice at Student Services/Enrollment/My Religious Observances and is available from the first day of class until the end of the second week of class.