Oral Communication

New This Spring!

This semester, the departments of Student Academic Support (SAS) and Internships and Career Services (ICS) teamed up to host a series of workshops designed to help participants develop their oral communication prowess. The workshops targeted key skills essential for students in their academic lives and future careers: presentation skills (including use of visual aids and powerpoint), group discussion and collaboration, persuasion and negotiation, interviewing, and networking. According to Forbes, hiring managers and executives consistently rate strong communication skills at the top of their list of essential traits for employees. Communication makes business work; good communication can improve efficiency, foster collaborative problemsolving and innovation, and contribute to workplace morale (Morgan, 2018). Communication skills are also critical for personal, as well as professional, success. The ability to communicate effectively has been linked by numerous studies to an individual’s overall sense of psychological well-being and life satisfaction (Segrin, 2014). For this reason, Menlo has long considered fostering these skills as central to our academic mission; oral communication and written communication are designated as two of the five institutional learning outcomes defined by Menlo College (alongside quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and information literacy). Menlo offers courses in public speaking, business communication, persuasion and negotiation, and leadership, along with a cross-curricular writing program designed to develop proficiency in written communication across a student’s four years in residence. The Oral Communication Workshop Series supplements these offerings, providing additional opportunities for students to hone their skills, or develop them in new directions. The workshops were also open to the broader Menlo community, and faculty and staff were invited to participate; a special workshop was held for faculty on fostering group discussions in the classroom. The workshops were also incorporated into a training program for student tutors in the Writing and Oral Communication Center; after completing the program, tutors will be qualified to offer feedback and coaching to individual students on presentations and speeches. The workshops were hosted by Lisa Villarreal, Associate Director of SAS and director of the Math and Peer Tutoring Center, Erik Bakke, Senior Director of SAS, and director of the Writing and Oral Communication Center, Dylan Houle, Director of ICS, and Kelly Davis, Assistant Direction of ICS. After receiving significant positive feedback from participants, they plan to continue the program in upcoming semesters.

References Morgan, B. (2018) Why Every Employee At Your Company Should Have Communications Training. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2018/01/24/why-every-employeeat-your-company-should-have-communications-training/?sh=1f7682e0279d Segrin C. (2014) Communication and Personal Well-Being. In: Michalos A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_446