Elizabeth Jones on Teaching Public Speaking

Professor Elizabeth Jones’s philosophy as a public speaking instructor was to convince her students that “you have to push yourself to do the uncomfortable stuff.” This is no easy feat when you teach a class centered around a topic that around 75% of students fear.

As a former professor of English composition, I could immediately relate to her teaching philosophy. Writing is another skill that students often feel they are not adept at and prefer to avoid. I think that connection is why, when I started working on Soomo’s public speaking webtext, I was drawn to Elizabeth’s practical and empathetic way of teaching. This made her the perfect choice to guide our approach to this discipline and collaborate as our lead subject matter expert.

From the start, we found common ground in comparing classroom experiences. We both agreed that practice and a structured approach could help students conquer their insecurities. But as Elizabeth explained, managing anxieties is just the beginning for students enrolling in an introductory public speaking course.

The Challenges and Rewards of Public Speaking

In Elizabeth’s experience, students often come to the class not understanding how much preparation good public speaking requires or how important related skills like media literacy, critical thinking, writing, and argumentation will be.

While she recognizes the inherent challenges in teaching public speaking, she enthusiastically describes the often-required course as vital and transformative.

In her words, public speaking can give students “the ability to reach an audience, to connect, not just to deliver a message but to actually connect with others about something they care about. And that is real, that has power—far more people deserve to have that power, though many don’t feel they can actually attain it.”

That authentic belief in helping empower all students through public speaking was why I wanted to collaborate with Elizabeth on this project. Our shared goal became creating a learning resource that would help students overcome the challenges of public speaking and unlock their potential.

Inclusivity in Public Speaking Education

Elizabeth was first drawn to public speaking through her experience in debate. While earning her PhD in Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she began developing the other great focus of her career: promoting inclusivity and equity in the classroom.

Her first job after graduation was in Elon College’s Office of Inclusive Excellence, where she worked as a trainer and facilitator. Following this, she spent 10 years as the Director of the Public Speaking Program and a teaching associate professor at NCSU, working with students, faculty, and graduate teaching assistants to develop the program. In this position, her goal was to show students how public speaking could help them access their potential–not only within but also outside of the classroom. For several years she also worked as the Director of the First Year Inquiry Program, helping instructors design courses for first year students that focused on critical inquiry and helping students acclimate to college.

Her experience has led her to emphasize public speaking as “a form of civic engagement and communication.” As she sees it, “the more people that are equipped to assess information, to think critically, the more people who are willing to educate others and to be educated themselves [...]” the more likely it is that “they will be able to craft a message to truly connect with their audience.”

This perspective on public speaking—and the value it holds for all students—is foundational to Elizabeth’s new webtext, Public Speaking for Everyone. Baked into the core of the book is Elizabeth’s deep understanding of where students struggle and how an online interactive resource can, as Elizabeth says, help them build the confidence they need to confront the “uncomfortable stuff.” To achieve this, Elizabeth made a careful effort to incorporate principles of inclusive teaching into the webtext.

Making the Course Relevant for Students

Having extensive experience with first-year students, Elizabeth and I both wanted students to feel that the webtext was meeting them where they were. We wanted this text to reflect students’ personal experiences and “help make each student the best speaker they can be by citing and honoring the different places they are likely to speak in their own lives.”

To make the class relevant for students, Elizabeth believes it’s integral for public speaking to translate to real life. Reminding students that public speaking is used in many different situations is key.

“Sometimes it just means feeling more confident in a job interview, or speaking up to meet a new person in your workout class, or being able to talk to a sales person with more ease,” she explains. It’s important to show students that public speaking is a skill they can leverage outside the classroom.

Public Speaking for Everyone not only offers a variety of real world examples and speaking scenarios to reflect students’ lived experiences; it also encourages students to find their own authentic voice as a speaker. For Elizabeth, it was important for the text to recognize that there’s not just one way to present yourself. She calls attention to the ranges of vocal and nonverbal communication styles and how various aspects of diversity among speakers–including disability and cultural backgrounds–can impact speaking situations.

Encouraging students to be mindful of human differences also helps students embrace a more audience-centered approach. Polling features in the webtext let students develop unique audience profiles for each class, prompting students to always consider who they’ll be speaking to when preparing their speeches.

Grounded in Growth Mindset

As a former debate student, Elizabeth has always cared about how messages are crafted and delivered. People tend to think about public speaking as something charming and charismatic, she explains, but “they tend to forget that speakers need to be ethical too. And build a good argument. The people who work hard on charisma and charm aren’t always the best speakers, because the content of the message really matters.”

The good news for students is that these are skills that can be learned, acquired, and improved over time. Both Elizabeth and I believe that instilling this belief in the growth mindset is critical. That’s why it is a foundational concept embedded in the learning design of Public Speaking for Everyone.

Elizabeth and I both wanted to craft a book that “attends to the development of the student’s skills at every stage and supports their growth. I absolutely believe that every person can be a great speaker, and they can be who they are!”

Relying on the kinds of accessible language and practical approaches that Elizabeth has found valuable in the classroom, the webtext teaches students that the cycle of practice will help them develop and continuously improve as speakers.  

Practice Builds Confidence

When using traditional textbooks, Elizabeth found that it could be difficult for students to really see their own growth. It could be difficult even for them to get beyond complex or dry academic language and begin to absorb key concepts. That’s why Elizabeth wanted her textbook to be different. She feels strongly that, “Public speaking is not a thing you can do quietly by yourself. So one thing I want a textbook to do is have lots of opportunities for practice, which we built into the webtext.”

The assignment sequence in Public Speaking for Everyone walks students through a process that relies on practice, peer review, and feedback. The built-in video recorder from GoReact allows students to record and rewatch themselves. It provides opportunities for peer review and makes time-stamped commenting easy for both instructors and students.

The webtext also uses an innovative outline tool that guides students through the process of creating and revising an outline. This helps them to stay focused on building a compelling speech rather than struggling with distracting formatting issues.

We designed both of these tools in an effort to accomplish Elizabeth’s goal of making every student “feel empowered through quality instruction and actionable feedback.”

The Transformative Power of Public Speaking

Ultimately, Elizabeth believes in the transformative power of public speaking. And that may be the real benefit of the course: feeling empowered to express oneself and to connect with others. It’s a power she wants her students to tap into. And Public Speaking for Everyone is designed to do that.

You can learn more about Public Speaking for Everyone by checking out its catalog page, where you can explore the full table of contents, see our list of advisors and peer-reviewers, and start touring the webtext yourself.