Week 1 — The Icebreaker: Plan It, Rehearse It, Name One Moment

Assignment 1 of the term — measure a rehearsal take, plan your own icebreaker, and explain to a nervous friend why nerves are normal.

This adaptive assignment uses a coaching dialogue to help you turn a first attempt into a clear, evidence-based plan. You remain the speaker and the author. The coach asks questions, checks the reasoning you show, and waits for you to revise before it produces the required report. This week's lecture tutorial, quiz, discussion, and Speech Workshop practice the same ideas from other angles; this assignment is where you put them together and plan your first speech.

The task

This week's shared example has two parts, both illustrative and attributed to no one. The first is the lobby announcement: at 8 a.m., a building manager says into the lobby microphone of a busy classroom building, "The north lot closes at noon for repaving; please move your car to the south lot before noon," and half the room misses it. The second is the first take from an illustrative delivery self-assessment for a six-minute speech:

• words spoken in 6 minutes: 780
• filler words counted ("um", "like", "so"): 12
• seconds of eye contact in a 30-second sample: 21
• deliberate pauses counted: 9
• the one thing to fix: "Pause after the hook instead of racing into the central idea."

Chapter 1 walks through both. None of the take-1 numbers is a target; they describe one take.

Work these four problems, and show how you reached each one:

1. In the illustrative first rehearsal take, the speaker said 780 words in 6 minutes. How many words per minute is that?
2. In the same take, the speaker used 12 filler words in 6 minutes. How many fillers per minute is that?
3. In a 30-second sample of the same take, the speaker kept eye contact for 21 seconds. What percentage of the sample is that?
4. The course's communication model takes 5 elements from the linear model and 1 element from Schramm's interactional model. How many elements does the model have?

Beside each answer, add one brief explanation, and use your own icebreaker for the parts that ask for it:

• Problem 1: say in a sentence what the words-per-minute figure describes and why this course treats it as a description of one take, not a target; then plan your own icebreaker as four keyword beats: a hook, who you are, one detail with a point, and a close. Keywords only, not a script.
• Problem 2: practice your icebreaker aloud at least twice. You may record audio only, record video, or speak for a trusted listener who times you; no recording is ever submitted or shared with anyone. Write one self-assessment line that names a moment, not a feeling, and say which delivery method you are aiming for and why.
• Problem 3: explain why the take's one thing to fix is feedback a speaker can use, while praise such as "great job, very engaging" is not; then name the one moment you will fix in your own next take.
• Problem 4: map your own icebreaker onto the six elements: you as the source, your message, the channel, your receivers, one likely noise and how you will reduce it, and one kind of feedback you will watch for.

Explain it to a non-expert

A friend has been asked to give a short toast at a family celebration and tells you, "I'm dreading it. Good speakers don't get nervous, so I must be bad at this." Write a 3–5 sentence message that explains, in everyday words, that speaking nerves are common and manageable, offers two of this week's strategies that fit a toast, and names one limit, such as that the strategies make nerves easier to work with rather than making them disappear. Give no medical advice. Explain any course term in everyday words. More than one good answer is possible; this message is scored with Problem 4.

For a different, ungraded example, imagine a coworker who has to give a first two-minute safety briefing to a new team and asks why their hands shake. Model answer: "Almost everyone feels that before speaking, even people who do it every week, so it doesn't mean you're bad at it. Say your briefing out loud a few times before the meeting, because practicing aloud is what makes the words come easily. Right before you start, take a few slow breaths and pick one friendly face to talk to first. The shaking may not go away completely, but it usually eases once you're past the first sentence or two."

Use that pattern for your friend, with your own wording and examples.

Part 1 — Student instructions

1. Draft all four answers, the four brief explanations, your four-beat icebreaker plan, and your message to the friend before opening a chatbot.
2. Open any course-approved chatbot. Copy the entire Coach Prompt box, including its first and last marker lines, and paste it as one message. The coach will ask for your draft and then work one question at a time.
3. Answer in your own words. Show your arithmetic when asked. Use the coach's feedback to revise at least one answer or explanation, even if your first attempt was strong.
4. Never upload, paste, or link a recording of yourself. The coach cannot watch you; describe your practice in words.
5. Continue until the prompt's exit condition is met, then save the chat's share link and copy the final report exactly as the coach gives it.

The chatbot is a coach, not a ghostwriter. It must draw out your reasoning rather than write your icebreaker, your self-assessment, or the message for you. If it praises you without pointing to anything you wrote, or offers to write your speech, decline and ask it what evidence it sees.

Coach Prompt

COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE
ROLE: You are a careful public speaking coach for an introductory Public Speaking course. Draw out and challenge MY thinking about a rehearsal take and my own icebreaker plan. Do not write my assignment, my icebreaker, or my message for me, do not invent work I did not show, and never invent a quotation, a statistic, or a source. Never ask me for a recording; you cannot watch me. Treat speaking nerves as common and manageable and give no medical advice.

ASSIGNMENT: Work through these four problems in order, one at a time. Do not invent, replace, or reorder a problem. The data, illustrative and attributed to no one: take 1 of a delivery self-assessment for a six-minute speech had 780 words spoken in 6 minutes, 12 filler words, 21 seconds of eye contact in a 30-second sample, 9 deliberate pauses, and one thing to fix: "Pause after the hook instead of racing into the central idea." The course's six-element model is source, message, channel, receiver, noise, and feedback.
PROBLEM P1: In the illustrative first rehearsal take, the speaker said 780 words in 6 minutes. How many words per minute is that?
PROBLEM P2: In the same take, the speaker used 12 filler words in 6 minutes. How many fillers per minute is that?
PROBLEM P3: In a 30-second sample of the same take, the speaker kept eye contact for 21 seconds. What percentage of the sample is that?
PROBLEM P4: The course's communication model takes 5 elements from the linear model and 1 element from Schramm's interactional model. How many elements does the model have?
After the four answers, I must briefly explain each one: for P1, what words per minute describes and why it is not a target, plus a four-beat keyword plan for my own icebreaker (a hook, who I am, one detail with a point, a close); for P2, a self-assessment line from my own practice that names a moment, plus the delivery method I am aiming for and why; for P3, why the take's one thing to fix is usable feedback while "great job, very engaging" is not, plus the one moment I will fix in my next take; for P4, a map of my own icebreaker onto the six elements. I must then write a 3-5 sentence message to a friend dreading a family toast, explaining in everyday words that speaking nerves are common and manageable, offering two of this week's strategies, and naming one limit. I must explain course terms in everyday words.

SCORING CRITERIA: Score only evidence I supply: accurate rehearsal arithmetic (40 points), speaking-process reasoning (32 points), clarity for a non-expert listener (16 points), and showing the work and the moments (12 points). For each of P1-P4, give 2, 1, or 0 evidence units per criterion; one unit is worth 5 arithmetic points, 4 reasoning points, 2 clarity points, or 1.5 showing-the-work points. Sum all four problems within each criterion. Count my final message only with P4, not again with P1-P3.
ARITHMETIC UNITS: A correct words-per-minute figure, fillers-per-minute figure, eye-contact percentage, or element count = 2; the right values with only an arithmetic slip = 1; a missing answer or the wrong values = 0. Do not penalize an alternative valid method or equivalent wording.
REASONING UNITS: For P1-P3 separately, an explanation that meets both parts named for that problem = 2; exactly one part = 1; neither = 0. For P4, BOTH a six-element map of my own icebreaker AND a message to the friend that treats nerves as common and manageable with two strategies and one limit = 2. If full P4 evidence is absent but at least one accurate substantive part appears, give 1. No accurate reasoning = 0; naming a term alone does not earn a unit. An arithmetic slip alone is not a reasoning error.
CLARITY UNITS: For each problem, labeled evidence understandable to someone who has never taken a speaking course, with course terms explained = 2; intelligible evidence that needs rereading because of ambiguity or unexplained terms = 1; absent or unintelligible evidence = 0. Include the final message with P4 if submitted. Missing reasoning alone does not lower clarity for otherwise clear submitted work.
SHOWING-THE-WORK UNITS: For each problem, the values, labels, or steps behind the answer shown so they can be checked = 2; a relevant but incomplete value, label, or step = 1; an answer alone or no evidence = 0. Visible evidence stays checkable despite an arithmetic slip.

Do NOT invent grading rules.

DIALOGUE RULES: Ask exactly one question per message and wait for my answer. Start by asking for my complete first attempt. Build each next question from my exact words. Probe an unsupported claim and ask me to examine its evidence. Keep the conversation focused on questions rather than completed work.

ENGAGEMENT GUARDS: A greeting, copied prompt, yes/no reply, or one-word answer is not a substantive exchange. Do not flatter or accept agreement as evidence. Praise only a concrete move I made, and name the words you are praising. If evidence is missing, say what is missing and ask for it. Require a real revision plus a short reflection on why the revision is better. Do not issue the report early.

EXIT CONDITION: Continue until at least five substantive exchanges have occurred AND I have supplied all four answers and their brief explanations AND written my message to the friend AND revised at least one answer or explanation AND reflected on the revision. Stop only after whichever requirement happens last.

REPORT: After the exit condition is satisfied, output exactly these labelled lines in this order. Replace X with the exact earned score; it may end in .5 and must not be rounded to a whole number. Base every line only on evidence in this chat; write "Not supplied" for missing evidence and never raise the score for polished chatbot prose.
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
EVIDENCE FOR THE SCORE: [specific evidence from my answers and explanations]
REVISION MADE: [what I changed and why]
STRENGTH: [one earned strength]
NEXT STEP: [one concrete improvement]
Then tell me to submit this report, my revised work, and the share link.
COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE

Deliverables

Submit these three items in the assignment entry:

• your revised work with all four answers, their brief explanations, your four-beat icebreaker plan, your self-assessment line, your six-element map, and your message to the friend — written, or spoken and recorded as audio or video with a transcript; every form is graded by the same scoring criteria;
• the coach's five-line report; and
• the conversation share link.

A recording of your icebreaker practice is never part of the submission; your self-assessment line describes it in words.

Submit in any accessible file type or as a link; a recorded response may be submitted as audio or video with a transcript, or as text.

Equivalent route (no AI required)

This route assesses the same Week 1 skills — measuring a rehearsal take, planning an icebreaker in four beats, naming a moment rather than a feeling, mapping a speaking situation onto the six-element model, and explaining speaking nerves to someone who has never taken a speaking course — for comparable time and effort, about 60 to 90 minutes, the same as the coached route. Complete the same four problems, the four brief explanations, and the message to the friend. Then audit your own first draft against the attached scoring criteria, criterion by criterion, and write a second draft. Add a 150–200 word revision memo that names one answer or explanation you changed, the evidence that prompted the change, and one question you still have. Submit the revised work, your completed criteria checklist, and the revision memo in the assignment entry; together they replace the share link and the coach's report. This route uses the same scoring criteria and the same points, with no penalty for choosing it.

How you'll be graded

The full analytic rubric is attached to this assignment in Canvas.

Academic integrity and AI use

The arithmetic, the explanations, the icebreaker plan, the self-assessment, the revision, and the message to the friend must be your own. Do not ask the chatbot to write the assignment, write your speech, or add evidence you did not produce, and do not give it any recording of yourself. Submit an honest share link from your own dialogue. The equivalent route keeps the same workload and evidence and requires no AI account.

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