It’s a skill that St. Olaf requires students to develop before graduation. It can be scary, but it’s necessary in personal and profession settings. Help has finally arrived for students in need of work with this particular ability: oral communication. The St. Olaf speaking center opened this September to assist students in the organization and delivery of classroom speeches and presentations.
Open Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 3 to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m. in the World Language Center on the first floor of Tomson Hall, tutors are available to meet with students that are struggling, feeling nervous or just looking for someone to listen to their speech. St. Olaf is not the first college to develop such a program, according to Jeanne Willcoxon, an assistant professor of Theatre and the Oral Communication Requirement (ORC) coordinator.
Last year, she began speaking to communication centers at other universities and colleges, seeking advice and start-up ideas to get St. Olaf’s center off the ground. “This semester is a pilot program,” Willcoxon said. The success or failure relies on the students’ reception of the project. “I think it all depends on [determining] is this a service the students need?” Willcoxon said. “I think it is, but I need the proof.”
Willcoxon used the writing place as a model, employing student tutors to facilitate confidence, help with speech organization and record podcasts of the actual oral presentation to email to students after their session in the center. “Up to now, there really wasn’t a way to get oral communication assistance, despite the writing center and tutors for nearly every subject,” tutor Adam Levonian ’14 said. “Oral presentations are not easy, and students shouldn’t be ashamed to seek help; now they can.”
The skills students pick up in the speaking center go beyond grades and classroom performance, though professors hope those will improve as well, mentioning the new service in syllabi and, in the case of Asian 240 and Theatre 110, requiring visits to the speaking center. “Not only will the speaking center enable students to get better grades on their presentations, but it will provide them with advice that will most definitely come in handy down the road; whether you’re proposing a new idea to your boss or asking the girl down the hall out to dinner,” tutor Rebecca Hart ’14 said.
St. Olaf is already making a “concerted effort” to foster the communication skills necessary for students to thrive when they leave the Hill, according to Willcoxon. “I think there are strengths and we’re trying to strengthen them,” she said of the college’s oral communication requirements and resources. The speaking center tutors will not plan speeches for students, proofread projects for errors or deal with grading in any way, shape or form; the tutors can only offer up advice and suggest tips and tricks to make the speech and its delivery look and sound spectacular.
Hart holds the motto “stand still, stand strong.” She emphasizes the importance of a strong, debatable thesis, and recognizes the value of the dramatic pause. Levonian affirms the old axiom that “practice makes perfect,” and aims to instill confidence in his tutees. Students are advised to make appointments ahead of time by emailing Willcoxon at willcoxo@stolaf.edu; however, students are welcome to stop by at any time during the speaking center’s regular hours. Tutors will accommodate them if at all possible.
“Great speakers aren’t ‘naturals’; they just have the know-how,” Levonian said. Find that “know-how” at the speaking center before your next class presentation, debate or speech. Group projects and individual addresses are both welcome.