Week 9 — Assignment (Adaptive Learning) · Delivery Self-Analysis

Course: Public Speaking — Fundamentals of Oral Communication (COMM 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Marchetti
Objective assessed: Objective 5 (delivery portion) — the four delivery methods; vocal delivery elements; physical delivery elements · SLO A (compose & deliver) · SLO B (analyze a delivery)
Worth 100 points · Speeches (Assignments) group = 25% of the grade
Format: adaptive learning — an AI speech coach walks you from identifying your delivery method → analyzing your vocal and physical delivery → scoring your own recording against the rubric → improving with another take. You submit the coach's self-scored report (plus your chat link) and your recording.

Assignment 9 of the term — a delivery building-block task. You record yourself delivering a short prepared passage and then analyze what you actually did — not what you thought you did. The coach helps you be specific and honest.

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. You will prepare a 60–90-second extemporaneous passage on any topic you choose — it can be a topic from a previous assignment or workshop, a new topic you could talk about without research, or a short version of a future speech topic. An AI coach will help you identify your delivery method, analyze your vocal and physical delivery on camera, score your recording against the rubric, and give you one targeted fix. Want a better score? Do another take.

How to run it (about 30–40 minutes, including recording):
1. Open any approved AI chatbot — Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work through it with the coach: choose your topic and passage, prepare keyword notes, record yourself (phone camera or Zoom), then watch your clip and answer the coach's self-assessment honestly.

What to submit (three things):
1. The coach's report — its first line is STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100.
2. Your conversation's share link.
3. Your recording (upload the file or paste a link).

Integrity note. Do your own recording; the coach helps you prepare and self-assess. The recording is the ground truth — Prof. Marchetti spot-checks it.

Part 2 — The Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You are my speech coach and grader for Week 9 of Public Speaking (COMM 1) at Silver Oak University. You will coach me through preparing and recording a 60–90-second extemporaneous passage, then help me analyze my vocal and physical delivery and score my own recording against the rubric below. You grade ONLY against the rubric below. Total possible: 100 points.

ABOUT THE TASK
- Goal: record myself delivering 60–90 seconds extemporaneously (from a keyword outline, NOT read, NOT memorized) and then analyze and self-assess my vocal and physical delivery honestly.
- I choose the topic — any topic I can speak about with minimal research.
- This is a building-block assignment: the focus is entirely on DELIVERY, not on content quality.
- Be warm and supportive throughout — this is a skill-building exercise.

THE RUBRIC (100 points) — grade against THIS ONLY:
- Delivery method (20): the student correctly identifies and uses extemporaneous delivery (keyword notes, not reading, not reciting memorized words) and can accurately name and explain why that is the correct method for this context.
- Vocal delivery self-assessment (25): the student honestly identifies specific observations about at least THREE of the following vocal elements in their own recording: rate, pitch, volume, pauses (vs. fillers), articulation, vocal variety. Observations must be specific (e.g., "I used 'like' four times in 30 seconds" or "my pitch range was very flat — I stayed on one note for the whole passage"), not vague ("my voice was okay").
- Physical delivery self-assessment (25): the student honestly identifies specific observations about at least THREE of the following physical elements: eye contact, gestures (and whether they were descriptive, emphatic, or adaptors), movement, posture, facial expression. Specific, not vague.
- One targeted fix + re-take (15): the student names the SINGLE most important delivery change to make, records a second take applying that fix, and reports whether the change helped and how.
- Accuracy and completion (15): the student uses correct terminology for delivery elements; the self-assessment is completed honestly for both vocal and physical categories; a recording exists.

HOW TO RUN IT (go in STAGES):
1. Greet + name. Greet warmly, ask my FIRST NAME and topic of choice.
2. Stage A — Choose topic + prepare keywords. Help me choose a 60–90-second topic and build 3–5 keywords per main idea. Remind me: the passage should be extemporaneous — I am NOT writing a script or memorizing.
3. Stage B — Delivery method check. Before I record, ask me: which delivery method am I about to use, and how is it different from memorized? (Make sure I can explain it before I record.)
4. Stage C — Record. Tell me to record 60–90 seconds on my phone or Zoom, speaking from my keywords, not reading. Tell me not to re-record yet.
5. Stage D — Vocal self-assessment. Watch the clip once for vocal elements. Go through THREE or more: rate, pitch, volume, pauses (vs. fillers), articulation, vocal variety. For each, ask me: what did I actually observe? Keep pushing for specifics — "it was fine" is not enough. For fillers, ask me to count them.
6. Stage E — Physical self-assessment. Watch the clip again for physical elements. Go through THREE or more: eye contact, gestures (type?), movement, posture, facial expression. Same specificity requirement.
7. Stage F — One fix + re-take. Ask me: what is the SINGLE most important change? Then have me do another take applying that one fix. After the second take, ask: did it help? How?
8. Report. Produce the final report.

• If I ask a question about the material, answer briefly, then return to the stage.
• If I go off-topic, one friendly sentence, then — IN THE SAME MESSAGE — back to the stage.
• Until the final report, every message ends with a question or a clear next step.
• Do NOT accept vague self-assessments. "My eye contact was good" needs a follow-up: "What specifically did you observe — were you looking at the lens, or at a spot on the wall? How many times did you glance at your notes?"
• Score HONESTLY — encourage me, but don't inflate points. A vague self-assessment ("everything was pretty good") scores lower than a specific, honest one ("my rate was fine but I used 'like' six times and my pitch barely changed").

IMPORTANT — NO FABRICATION: do not invent quotations or statistics about delivery. If I ask you for "a study that proves eye contact matters," describe the general research direction without fabricating a citation, and remind me: in this class, I verify my own evidence before using it in a speech.

COMPLETION + REPORT. After Stage F, produce the report in EXACTLY this format — the FIRST LINE is my score:
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
WEEK 9 ASSIGNMENT — Delivery Self-Analysis
Student: [name] | Date: ___
Delivery method (a/20): [one line — method named + brief explanation]
Vocal delivery self-assessment (b/25): [2–3 lines — specific observations on ≥3 elements]
Physical delivery self-assessment (c/25): [2–3 lines — specific observations on ≥3 elements]
One targeted fix + re-take (d/15): [one line — what changed and whether it helped]
Accuracy and completion (e/15): [one line]
Strongest delivery moment: ___
One thing to carry into your next speech: ___
(The five scores must add up to the number on line 1.) Then say, verbatim: "Copy this entire report AND your share link to this chat, and submit both in Canvas for this assignment — and don't forget to upload your recording." End with one genuine sentence of encouragement.

GETTING STARTED
Begin now: greet me, ask my first name and topic of choice, and start Stage A.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The Assignment Rubric — 100 points (what the coach grades, and what Prof. Marchetti confirms)

Rubric sums: 20 + 25 + 25 + 15 + 15 = 100. This is a self-assessed building-block, so the recording is the ground truth. Spot-check clips against the self-assessment.

Instructor grading note (Prof. Marchetti)

• Record the STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 from the report's first line into the Speeches group.
• Spot-check the recording for consistency with the self-assessment. A student who claims "strong eye contact" but is clearly reading from notes throughout should have their self-assessment criterion capped.
• This week's assignment is intentionally a delivery self-analysis, not a polished speech — full-marks work is specific and honest, not perfect delivery.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 9 Assignment — Delivery Self-Analysis (adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Speeches (Assignments)"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = adaptive
submission_types = [online_text_entry, online_url, media_recording]
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
provenance       = "~ Prof. Marchetti's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"

Traditional variant — for comparison. This sample course is configured adaptive learning, so its actual Week-9 assignment is the AI-coached, self-scored version in I-assignment-and-rubric-week-09.md. This file shows the same Week-9 task built the traditional way — the student prepares, records, and submits a delivery self-analysis, and the instructor grades against the rubric — so you can see both formats side by side. (Choosing assignment_type = traditional at course setup generates this style instead.)

Course: Public Speaking — Fundamentals of Oral Communication (COMM 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Marchetti
Objective assessed: Objective 5 (delivery portion) — the four delivery methods; vocal delivery; physical delivery · SLO A (compose & deliver) · SLO B (analyze a delivery)
Worth 100 points · Speeches (Assignments) group = 25% of the grade

REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS (The banner above and this note are for instructor reference — remove both before posting to your LMS.)

The Assignment

You have learned the four delivery methods and the elements of vocal and physical delivery. Now you apply that knowledge to yourself — on camera. This assignment is a delivery self-analysis: you record a 60–90-second extemporaneous passage, watch your own recording as a coach, and write a specific, honest analysis of what you observed.

Step 1 — Choose a topic and prepare a keyword outline.
Pick any topic you can talk about for 60–90 seconds without research — a hobby, a strong opinion, a concept from this class, a topic from a previous assignment. Prepare keyword notes only (3–5 keywords per main idea, not a script).

Step 2 — Record yourself.
Record a 60–90-second passage on your phone camera or Zoom. Deliver it extemporaneously: speak conversationally from your keyword notes. Do NOT read from a script. Do NOT memorize it word-for-word.

Step 3 — Watch and analyze.
Watch your recording twice — once for vocal delivery and once for physical delivery. Write a specific, honest analysis (see below).

Step 4 — Identify one fix and re-record.
Name the SINGLE most important delivery change to make. Do a second take applying that one fix. Note whether the change helped.

What to write and submit:

A. Delivery method identification (one paragraph): Name the delivery method you used. Explain in your own words what makes it extemporaneous (not manuscript, not memorized, not impromptu). If you noticed yourself slipping into a different mode during the recording, note it honestly.

B. Vocal delivery analysis (one paragraph): Report specific observations about at least THREE vocal elements — rate, pitch, volume, pauses vs. fillers (if you used fillers, count them), articulation, vocal variety. Be specific: "my rate was controlled" is not specific; "I rushed the first 20 seconds and slowed down noticeably once I found my place" is.

C. Physical delivery analysis (one paragraph): Report specific observations about at least THREE physical elements — eye contact (were you looking at the lens or at notes?), gestures (descriptive? emphatic? adaptors?), movement, posture, facial expression. Specific.

D. One fix + re-take (one short paragraph): Name the most important change you made in your second take. Did it help? How do you know?

Submit: your written analysis (parts A–D) AND your recording (upload or link).

Delivery target: extemporaneous throughout — keyword outline, conversational, not read, not memorized.

A note on honesty: this assignment rewards honest, specific self-observation — not polished delivery. A student who accurately identifies "I used 'like' eight times and my eye contact was inconsistent" and explains what they plan to do differently gets full marks on the analysis criteria. A student who writes "everything was pretty good" gets minimal credit.

Rubric — 100 points

Rubric sums: 20 + 25 + 25 + 15 + 15 = 100.

Instructor answer key & model — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

There is no single "right" delivery — this is a personal self-assessment. Grade against the rubric for specificity and accuracy, not for polished delivery.

What full-marks work looks like (illustrative model):

A. Delivery method: "I used extemporaneous delivery. I prepared a keyword outline with four main words (topic sentence, example, consequence, close) and spoke from those, not from a written sentence. I never recited memorized text — I was thinking through the idea in the moment. Toward the end I started to drift toward manuscript because I glanced at my notes too often, but I caught it."

B. Vocal analysis: "My rate was fine in the middle third but I rushed the first 15 seconds — adrenaline. I used 'like' seven times, all in the first half; they dropped off once I found my rhythm. My pitch was fairly flat throughout — I barely changed it, which made the passage feel like one long sentence. I did use one deliberate pause after my main claim and it felt effective."

C. Physical analysis: "My eye contact was inconsistent — I looked at the lens about 60% of the time and at my keyword notes the other 40%. That's better than I expected but still too much time away. My hands were at my sides most of the time (home position) with two emphatic gestures that felt natural. I noticed two adaptor behaviors: I pushed my hair back once and shifted my weight left repeatedly. My posture was upright. My face was mostly neutral — I wasn't smiling during the parts where the content was light, which probably made me seem more serious than I intended."

D. One fix + re-take: "I chose to work on the fillers — specifically the 'like' habit. On the second take I focused on pausing silently instead of filling. I went from 7 'likes' to 2. I could feel myself pausing and it felt awkward, but watching it back it looked deliberate, not lost. It helped."

Common point-loss patterns:
- Vague analysis ("my delivery was okay") → vocal and physical criteria cap at partial.
- Correct method named but wrong explanation ("extemporaneous means no notes") → method criterion partial.
- No second take / no recording → re-take and completion criteria zero.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 9 Assignment — Delivery Self-Analysis (traditional)"
assignment_group = "Speeches (Assignments)"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = traditional
submission_types = [online_text_entry, media_recording, online_upload]
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
rubric_ref       = "week-09-delivery-analysis-rubric"
provenance       = "~ Prof. Marchetti's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"