Course: Public Speaking — Fundamentals of Oral Communication (COMM 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Marchetti
Module: Week 7 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions + one weekly Speech Workshop
Objective covered: Objective 5 (language portion) — Use clear, vivid, and appropriate language in speeches; distinguish oral from written style; apply ethical and inclusive language principles.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 7 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Week 7 Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 7 meeting Tue Oct 13 and Thu Oct 15, a Speech Workshop that same week, and end-of-week work due Sunday Oct 18, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 7 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 7: Language & Style

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

This is the last concept week before the midterm, and it brings the content arc full circle: we started by asking how communication works, then built a speech piece by piece (topic, research, organization, outlining). Now we zoom in on the words themselves. Language is the tool that turns a solid outline into a speech people actually remember. A clear structure with flat, vague language is like a well-built frame with no windows — it holds up, but nobody wants to be inside it.

This week's question is: what makes language actually work in a spoken speech? You'll learn why oral style is different from written style, what makes words clear and vivid and appropriate, and you'll practice rewriting flat language into something that lands. You'll also look honestly at the ethics of language — inclusive language, denotative vs. connotative meaning, and where vivid style can cross into manipulation.

The week's big question

"How do I choose words that a listener can follow in real time — and that stick after the speech ends?"

By Sunday you'll be able to describe how oral and written style differ, define clarity/vividness/appropriateness, identify and use at least two rhetorical devices (anaphora, antithesis, metaphor, simile, alliteration, parallelism), explain denotative vs. connotative meaning, and revise a flat passage for oral style.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Describe how oral style differs from written style — simpler sentences, more repetition, more signposting, more personal.
• [ ] Define clarity, vividness, and appropriateness — and explain why all three matter in a speech.
• [ ] Identify and name rhetorical devices (anaphora, antithesis, metaphor, simile, alliteration, parallelism) from a described example.
• [ ] Explain the difference between denotative and connotative meaning — and why connotation matters for word choice.
• [ ] Revise a flat, vague sentence into a clear, vivid oral-style sentence — and read both aloud to hear the difference.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up: the midterm (Week 8) covers Weeks 1–7. This week's material — oral style, the three language qualities, the rhetorical devices, denotative vs. connotative — will be on the midterm. Use the Weekend before midterm week to review Weeks 1–7 together.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline.

How to succeed this week

• Read the flat version and the revised version aloud. This is a sound discipline. Your ear hears what your eye misses. The whole point of this week is that oral language lives in the ear first.
• Name the device, don't just use it. When you write a metaphor or parallelism, be able to say what it is — the quiz will ask you to match devices to definitions.
• Connotation is where the bias hides. Denotative meaning is the dictionary; connotative meaning is the emotional charge. This week's ethics discussion lives right here: words carry freight the speaker may not intend.
• "Vivid" ≠ "manipulative." Vivid language is powerful, but power isn't permission. The discussion this week pushes you to think about the line.
• Midterm prep starts now. After Sunday, open the Week 8 study guide and start your cumulative review.

You already have everything you need for this week — all you're doing is upgrading the words in the speeches you've already been building. See you Tuesday.

(B) Week 7 Announcement — Module 7

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Tue Oct 13, 2026 — not before.

Subject: Week 7 — Language & Style (and midterm week is next)

Hi everyone,

We're in the home stretch before the midterm, and this week is actually one of the most practical weeks of the term: language and style. Not "grammar" — no red-pen stuff — but the real question of which words work in a spoken speech and which ones don't.

Here's the short version of what we're covering this week: oral language and written language are not the same thing. When you read an essay, the reader can go back. When you listen to a speech, you can't. That changes everything — it means oral style uses shorter sentences, more repetition, more signposting, more concrete words, and more rhythm. And the best speakers don't just use these tools — they name them: anaphora (repeating a phrase at the start of successive lines), antithesis (contrasting two ideas in balanced phrases), metaphor, simile, alliteration, parallelism. You'll know these by name and by ear by the end of this week.

Three things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 7 — work through the week's ideas with one approved chatbot and submit the share link. Due Sun Oct 18.
2. Speech Workshop 7 — the Language Drill: revise a flat passage, read both versions aloud, self-assess. This one is more fun than it sounds. Due Sun Oct 18.
3. Midterm is Week 8. After Sunday, open the Week 8 Study Guide and start reviewing Weeks 1–7 — the whole arc from the communication process through this week's language concepts.

One honest note: the discussion this week ("inclusive language — respect, clarity, or constraint?") is genuinely arguable, and I've set it up that way on purpose. There's no single right answer I'm fishing for. Reason it through, take a real position, and engage a counterpoint. That's the work.

See you Tuesday,
Prof. Marchetti