Special Criteria

It is fully expected that, by this point in the course, students will have improved many of the issues to which the professor has drawn attention in the evaluation process.  By mid-term, in addition to the standard deductions made on the evaluation sheet, there are certain "special criteria" to which the professor will pay close attention.  This close attention will involve additional deductions for oration obstacles that persist in a student's performance, despite critique intended to draw attention to these issues.

The following list of problematic issues indicates features to which students must pay close attention.  Each occurrence of a problem issue will result in a deduction of between .25 and .5 marks.  The professor will make these "special deductions" up to a loss of 4 marks (with particular attention to [1] the use of the filler "like" as a comma or as a substitute for "says" or "said"; and [2] upspeak).

1) Grammar:  repeated usage of fillers (um, uh, em, etc.)

2) Pronunciation:  i.e. "th" or "ng" sounds are essential

3) Slurred speech resulting in a lack of clarity

4) Failure to address the audience (introducing oneself; failure to make eye contact; close adherence to notes)

5) Abundant adaptors (hand, body, posture idiosyncracies; body shifting)

6) Fillers:  in particular, the dreaded "like."

 7) Questioning pitch or "upspeak": rising in pitch at the ends of lines

8) Low volume

9) Omission of logical, evidential support for ideas

10) Omission of Visual Aids