Week 16 · Final study guide

Final Exam — Study Guide

Public Speaking Free sample edition

Coverage — what the final covers

The final is cumulative over Weeks 1–15. It opens in Week 16, the finals week, and closes at the due time your instructor sets. There is no time limit, and you get one attempt. The questions appear one at a time, and you cannot go back once you move on.

Format: 40 questions, and every question counts the same. Thirty-four ask you to pick one option, four ask you to pick every option that applies, and two ask you to judge a statement as true or false. Every speech moment, slide, outline line, or chatbot exchange a question uses is written out in the question, and no question needs a recording or a calculator.

What is in scope, with the number of final questions on each course objective:

Final coverage by course objective: the weeks that teach it, its main skills, and its number of questions out of 40
Course objective	Weeks that teach it	Main skills	Questions
The communication process, ethics, and nerves	1, carried into 9	The six elements and the transactional loop; feedback read through eye contact; nerves as normal and manageable	1
Listening and audience analysis	2	The three lenses; tendency and stereotype; an adaptation for every finding	1
Purpose, central idea, and evidence	3 and 4	The specific purpose and central idea; supporting material; expert testimony; the complete oral citation	3
Organizing and outlining	5 and 6	The patterns and the decision logic; the Motivated Sequence; the conclusion's jobs and the summary sentence	3
Language and delivery	7 and 9	The four delivery methods; six vocal and five physical elements; pause and filler; gesture and adaptor; the corrected "7-38-55" figure; the rehearsal loop	9
Presentation aids	10	The four functions; matching a graph to its data; design principles; reveal, reference, return	3
Informative and persuasive speaking and reasoning	11, 12, and 13	The informative tests and subjects; clarity and retention; the three appeals; the Motivated Sequence and its alternatives; target audiences; manipulation moves; reasoning types; Toulmin's model; the twelve fallacies	11
Occasions, groups, impromptu speaking, and questions	14 and 15	The three special-occasion criteria; the specific-detail principle; the four-beat toast; the agenda and role families; panel and symposium; PREP; the Q&A toolkit	9

Where the weight sits. Thirty-nine of the 40 questions come from the material of Weeks 9–15, and the other one comes from Week 2. Week 14 carries the most questions, 9, so put the most review time there. Week 9 comes next with 8, then Weeks 12 and 13 with 6 each, Week 11 with 4, and Weeks 10 and 15 with 3 each. By difficulty, 12 questions are easier, 20 are medium, and 8 are harder.

The first half of the course still matters. Eight questions check Objectives 1 to 4, and 7 of them sit inside a later week's material. The oral citation shows up inside the informative speech, the patterns show up inside the Motivated Sequence, and the transactional loop shows up in Week 9's eye contact. So the early weeks get a short callback section below, and Weeks 9 to 15 get the full review.

Topic-by-topic review

Each topic gives the key idea in plain words, the course's own definitions, a course example, and the mistakes students make most often with their cures. Each week also names the one distinction it asks for. The deeper review for every topic is that week's chapter, lecture page, and slide deck.

Weeks 1–8 in brief — the foundations the later weeks build on

These weeks carry one question of their own on the final, and their ideas return inside the later weeks. Review each line until you could say it to a friend.

Week 1, the communication process: communication is the process of creating shared meaning between people through words, tone, and gesture. The course's six-element model names the source, message, channel, receiver, noise (physical, physiological, psychological, or semantic), and feedback. Barnlund's transactional model (1970) is the picture the course lands on: speaker and audience send and receive at the same time. Fabrication is making up a quotation, statistic, study, or source and presenting it as real, including one a chatbot invented. Communication apprehension is McCroskey's term for fear or anxiety about real or anticipated communication; most speakers feel it, and it can be managed.
Week 2, listening and the audience: hearing is automatic, and listening is a choice. Audience analysis reads listeners through three lenses: demographic (group traits), psychographic (attitudes, beliefs, values, and prior knowledge), and situational (size, occasion, setting, time, and whether they chose to come). Analysis finds a tendency across a group and checks it; stereotyping pins a trait on a person because of a group they belong to. Every finding earns an adaptation.
Week 3, purpose and message: the specific purpose is one audience-centered goal written as an infinitive phrase, and it stays on your planning page. The central idea is one complete declarative sentence that states the speech's message, spoken near the end of the introduction.
Week 4, evidence: supporting material is examples, statistics, and testimony. Expert testimony comes from a person qualified in the field; lay testimony comes from firsthand experience. The oral citation names who produced the source (with one clause on why they are credible), what it is, and when it appeared, in the sentence before the evidence.
Week 5, organizing: the six patterns this course names are chronological, spatial, topical, causal, problem–solution, and Monroe's Motivated Sequence. The conclusion signals the end, summarizes and reinforces, and lands a memorable clincher.
Week 6, outlining: the preparation outline is the full-sentence plan; the speaking outline is keywords on cards. The four rules are coordination, subordination, division, and parallelism, and the four connectives are the transition, the signpost, the internal preview, and the internal summary.
Week 7, language: oral style is built to be heard once. Loaded language pushes a judgment the evidence has not earned, and inclusive language describes people accurately and with respect.
Week 8, the map: the five canons of rhetoric are invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Weeks 3 and 4 were invention, Weeks 5 and 6 arrangement, Week 7 style, and Weeks 9 to 15 memory and delivery. They are not scored on their own.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) a profile that pins a trait on a whole group. Cure: name a tendency, check it, and adapt. (2) "studies show" offered as a citation. Cure: which study, by whom, and when? (3) the topic handed in as a specific purpose. Cure: add the infinitive phrase and the audience. (4) "in conclusion" mistaken for the clincher. Cure: it is the signal, not the last line.

Week 9 — Delivery and the modes of delivery

The distinction: extemporaneous vs. memorized, and extemporaneous vs. impromptu. A second pair rides along: a strategic pause vs. a filler.
Key idea: the words of a speech can barely change while the delivery changes everything, so your voice and body carry the message you built.
The four delivery methods: manuscript delivery is reading a speech from a full written text, word for word. Memorized delivery is reciting a speech word for word without notes. Impromptu delivery is speaking with little or no preparation. Extemporaneous delivery is preparing and practicing, then speaking conversationally from brief notes; it is the course's target. Extemporaneous is not memorized, because the exact words are chosen fresh each time, and it is not impromptu, because it is prepared. The goal is not "no notes"; the goal is not reading.
Vocal delivery, six elements: rate (how fast), pitch (how high or low), volume (how loud), pauses, articulation (how crisply you form each sound), and vocal variety, the combined effect of changing rate, pitch, and volume and using pauses. Vocal variety does not mean louder. A strategic pause is a planned silence that lets an idea land; a filler is a sound such as "um," "like," or "so" that fills a silence. A "normal" speaking rate varies by speaker, topic, and room, so the course teaches it in words and never keys a number.
Physical delivery, five elements: eye contact (a conversational gaze that finishes a thought with one person, then moves), gestures, movement, posture, and facial expression. A descriptive gesture shows size, shape, or direction; an emphatic gesture stresses a point; an adaptor is an unplanned nervous movement, such as clicking a pen, that you work to reduce. Purposeful movement supports the message; constant pacing distracts. Looking over the audience's heads is not eye contact.
Eye contact and the loop: eye contact is how a speaker reads feedback in the transactional loop, so a puzzled look can change the next sentence. Fillers and adaptors are common signs of nerves, and rehearsal plus a planned pause help manage them.
The "7-38-55" figure, corrected in words: it comes from Albert Mehrabian's 1967 studies of feelings and attitudes conveyed by single words. In his own statement, the equations do not apply unless a communicator is talking about feelings or attitudes. Delivery matters, and the words matter too.
Course example, the delivery self-assessment table (illustrative, never a target): take 1 holds 780 words in 6 minutes, so 780 ÷ 6 = 130 words per minute, and 12 fillers, so 12 ÷ 6 = 2 fillers per minute. Take 2 holds 720 words, so 720 ÷ 6 = 120 words per minute, and 6 fillers, so 1 filler per minute. Eye contact rose from 21 to 24 seconds of a 30-second sample, which is 70 percent to 80 percent. Take 2 counts as better because the fix named after take 1 shows up in it: the speaker now pauses after the hook. A number going up or down is not the test.
The AI-critique: a chatbot cannot watch your recording, and "Great energy! Work on your delivery" names no moment. Check its advice against your own table.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) extemporaneous called "memorized" or "impromptu." Cure: prepared and practiced, with the words chosen fresh. (2) "no notes means better delivery." Cure: the goal is not reading. (3) "7-38-55 applies to all communication." Cure: it came from single words about feelings and attitudes. (4) "vocal variety means louder." Cure: rate, pitch, and volume together, plus silence. (5) constant movement mistaken for energy. Cure: move with a purpose, such as a step at a transition. (6) looking over their heads. Cure: finish a thought with one person, then move.

Week 10 — Presentation aids

The distinction: an aid that helps the speaker vs. an aid that replaces the speaker, and the graph that fits the data vs. the one that does not.
Key idea: when a slide says everything, the audience reads instead of listening, so an aid earns its place only by doing a job for these listeners in this room.
Definitions: a presentation aid is anything beyond your voice and body that helps the audience understand, remember, or stay engaged. Its four functions are clarity, retention, interest, and credibility; an aid that serves none of them is cut. The situational lens decides what the back row can see. Any circulating percentage for how much more people remember with visuals is taught in words and never keyed.
Types and graphs: objects and models, photographs, graphs, diagrams (how something works), maps (where), video and audio clips, handouts, and you as the demonstration. A pie graph shows parts of a whole. A line graph shows change over time. A bar graph compares categories.
Design principles: one idea per slide, large readable type, high contrast, minimal text, consistent style, and quality images. The limits of working memory are the reason for one idea per slide. The six-by-six heuristic (at most six lines, at most six words a line, so 6 × 6 = 36 words) is a rule of thumb, not a law.
Using the aid: reveal, reference, return means show it when you reach the idea it supports, point the audience to what matters in one sentence, then take it away and turn back to the room. The number-one misuse is reading the slides, which breaks the transactional loop because you stop watching for feedback. A backup plan lets the speech work if the screen goes dark.
Course example: the running speech's crowded draft slide for main point II held 10 + 8 + 6 + 50 = 74 words, which is 74 − 36 = 38 words over the rule of thumb. The redesign is one bar graph with 5 + 3 + 1 = 9 words, so 74 − 9 = 65 fewer words sit on screen, and oral citation 2 moves from the slide to the speaker's mouth. The speech uses 1 title slide + 1 bar graph = 2 aids.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) "more slides show more effort." Cure: an aid must do one of the four jobs. (2) reading from the slides. Cure: reference in one sentence, then turn back to the room. (3) a pie graph for trend data. Cure: a line graph shows change over time. (4) a line graph for categories. Cure: a bar graph compares them. (5) "a detailed slide proves I prepared." Cure: a clean slide does. (6) no backup plan. Cure: know the one sentence that describes the aid aloud.

Week 11 — Informative speaking

The distinction: inform vs. persuade. Week 3 said it in four words: inform teaches; persuade moves.
Key idea: the moment an informative speech takes a side, some listeners stop learning.
Definitions: an informative speech teaches, describes, explains, or demonstrates, and it takes no side. An informative specific purpose passes three tests: it starts "To inform"; it describes or explains rather than advocates; and a listener who disagrees with the outcome would still feel fairly treated.
Subjects and their usual patterns, a grouping that is the course's own: a thing or place usually suits spatial or topical by parts; a person suits chronological or topical; an event suits chronological or causal; a process suits chronological; an idea suits topical, built on definitions, examples, and an analogy. "Usually" matters, because the audience's question still decides.
Clarity and retention: the four clarity strategies are organization and signposting, defining terms, examples and analogies, and managing the information load. The four retention strategies are relevance, novelty, repetition with variation, and vivid support. How many main points a speech should have is taught in words: advice runs from two to five, most often three.
Accuracy and objectivity: report a source's whole finding, including the half you did not hope for. The oral citation is the informative speech's proof, and a credible-looking website is not a citation until you name its author or organization, its title or venue, and its date.
Course example: the running speech's specific purpose, "To inform my audience about how our campus dining hall handles its plate waste.", passes 3 of 3 tests. "To discuss food waste in the dining hall." passes 2, and a draft that says the dining hall "should remove its trays" passes 1. Its build uses 4 clarity strategies + 4 retention strategies = 8 strategies, and 3 citations × 3 parts = 9 parts said aloud.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) an informative central idea that argues. Cure: drop the "must" or "should" and state the message. (2) a specific purpose that says "to discuss." Cure: start "To inform" and name what the audience will learn. (3) three facts with no central idea. Cure: one sentence that ties them together. (4) a subject sorted with no matching pattern. Cure: name the subject, then the pattern that usually suits it. (5) "a credible-looking website is a citation." Cure: who, what, and when. (6) a chatbot statistic pasted in without a source. Cure: that is fabrication, not evidence.

Week 12 — Persuasive speaking and the appeals

The distinction: ethos vs. pathos, ethos vs. logos, and fact vs. value vs. policy. Persuasion vs. manipulation sits underneath them all.
Key idea: a persuader gives the audience a reason to trust, a reason to care, and a reason to believe, and then asks for one honest thing.
Definitions: persuasion is moving what an audience thinks, values, or does, or strengthening a view it already holds, through honest appeals and reasons the audience can weigh and reject. Manipulation goes around the audience's judgment instead. A question of fact asks whether something is true; a question of value asks whether something is good or right; a question of policy asks what should be done and is usually marked by "should". Questions of definition are named in words as a fourth kind some treatments add.
The three appeals: Aristotle's Rhetoric, Book I, in the Roberts translation, says "Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds". Ethos is the audience's trust in the speaker, built from competence, character, and goodwill. Pathos is the appeal to emotion, legitimate when the feeling is relevant and proportionate. Logos is evidence and reasoning any listener could check. The course's list is three; timing helps explain why a speech lands, but it is not a fourth appeal.
Pinned fragments, read for craft: in Roosevelt's address to Congress (1941), "a date which will live in infamy" reaches mainly for pathos, and the "Last night" anaphora, which opens sentence after sentence, reaches mainly for logos, building the case attack by attack; the pinned fragment is "Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands." In Kennedy's inaugural address (1961), "ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country" reaches mainly for pathos, a shared sense of duty. "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." reaches mainly for ethos. The analysis is of craft, never of agreement.
Monroe's Motivated Sequence, in full: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. The visualization step is the one most often skipped. The alternatives are problem–cause–solution (the problem, its cause, a fix that removes the cause) and comparative advantages (for an audience that already agrees a problem exists, showing one fix beats the others).
Target audience: an agreeing audience needs the action step most; a neutral audience needs the need and satisfaction steps built with care; an opposed audience needs common ground, the strongest counter-argument named fairly, and a smaller ask.
Persuasion ethics: the Credo for Ethical Communication (1999) states nine principles. From it the course draws four honest moves: honest evidence, proportionate emotion, the strongest counter-argument acknowledged, and an honest ask. The four manipulation moves to name and reject are fabricated evidence, disproportionate fear, suppressed counter-evidence, and false urgency.
Course example: the running speech turns persuasive: "To persuade my audience that our campus dining hall should run a two-week plate-waste audit before deciding whether to remove trays." It is a claim of policy. Its ethos move is the speaker's semester on the waste audit, its pathos move is an illustrative compost bin full at closing, and its logos move is oral citation 2. That makes 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 moves. Its satisfaction step is 2 weeks × 7 days = 14 days of weighing.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) a live partisan topic. Cure: choose from the course's campus- and community-scale roster. (2) all pathos, no logos. Cure: where is your verified evidence? (3) ethos confused with pathos. Cure: why they trust you vs. what they feel. (4) ethos confused with logos. Cure: your credibility vs. your reasoning. (5) the visualization step skipped. Cure: let the audience see both futures. (6) "manipulation is more persuasion." Cure: persuasion respects the audience's ability to reason.

Week 13 — Argument, reasoning, and fallacies

The distinction: the warrant vs. the evidence, inductive vs. deductive, causal vs. correlational, and false cause vs. hasty generalization.
Key idea: an argument is a claim plus the reasons offered for it, and an argument can sound sound without being sound.
The four types of reasoning, a grouping that varies across treatments: inductive reasoning moves from specific cases to a general conclusion. Deductive reasoning moves from a general principle to a specific conclusion, and its classic form is the syllogism: two premises and a conclusion. Causal reasoning claims one thing produces another; sequence and correlation are not cause. Analogical reasoning says two cases alike in known ways are likely alike in another.
Toulmin's model: Toulmin (1958), The Uses of Argument, laid out six parts. The course keys three: the claim; the evidence (Toulmin's grounds); and the warrant, the usually unstated principle that makes the evidence count as proof of the claim. Backing, qualifier, and rebuttal are named. The evidence is what you cite; the warrant is the link.
The twelve fallacies this course names, in its two study groups. Six break an argument's support: hasty generalization (too few or too unusual cases), false cause (coming first or occurring together treated as causing; also called post hoc), weak analogy, appeal to ignorance (a lack of proof treated as proof), false authority (an opinion from outside the person's field), and bandwagon (popularity treated as proof). Six dodge or rig the argument: ad hominem (an attack on the person offered as a reason to reject the argument), straw man (an attack on a distorted version of the position), red herring (a change of subject), false dilemma (two options when more exist), slippery slope (a chain of worse steps with no evidence for each), and begging the question (the conclusion used as a premise). "The" number of fallacies differs across treatments.
Course example: the running speech's claim maps as 1 claim + 2 pieces of evidence + 1 warrant + 2 qualifiers + 1 rebuttal = 7 statements across 5 of the 6 parts. The warrant is "a campus should measure a change's effect before adopting it when the best available study found no significant effect."
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) false cause confused with hasty generalization. Cure: wrong about causation vs. wrong about sample size. (2) "ad hominem means insulting someone." Cure: it is an attack offered as a reason to reject the argument. (3) straw man confused with red herring. Cure: a distorted position vs. a changed subject. (4) the warrant confused with the evidence. Cure: the warrant is the link. (5) "begging the question means raising a question." Cure: it uses the conclusion as a premise. (6) "all emotional appeals are fallacies." Cure: pathos is legitimate when it is relevant and proportionate.

Week 14 — Special-occasion and small-group speaking

The distinction: a specific detail vs. a generic sentiment, introduction vs. presentation, a task role vs. a maintenance role, and a panel vs. a symposium.
Key idea: a special-occasion speech fits the moment, stays short, matches the mood, and gives one true, specific detail.
Definitions: a special-occasion speech fits and serves the occasion. The course judges one by three criteria: occasion fit, brevity, and a mood or tone match. The specific-detail principle says a true, specific detail lands, while a generic sentiment that could be said about anyone does not.
Occasions, sorted by the speaker's job (an open-ended list the course never counts): you introduce another speaker with a speech of introduction; you hand over an honor with a speech of presentation; you receive one with a speech of acceptance; you celebrate or remember someone with a toast, a tribute, or a eulogy; you entertain with a purpose in an after-dinner speech; you send graduates on their way with a commencement address. A roast is a tribute built on gentle teasing.
The four-beat toast: a specific detail, what it reveals, a wish, and the raise. Deliver it extemporaneously from one keyword card, with a strategic pause before the raise.
Groups: a small group is a few people who talk with and influence one another around a shared goal. A team is a small group whose members hold distinct, linked roles and share responsibility for one result. The reflective-thinking agenda, adapted from Dewey (1910), How We Think, runs: define the problem, analyze it, set criteria, generate solutions, evaluate and select, and implement. Criteria come before solutions.
Roles and formats: the three role families, adapted from Benne and Sheats (1948), are task roles (moving the work forward), maintenance roles (keeping members working well together), and self-centered roles (serving one member at the group's expense). Leadership as a function means any member can perform the task and maintenance moves a group needs; the loudest member is not the leader. In a panel, members discuss a topic together in front of an audience. In a symposium, each member gives a prepared speech on one aspect before questions open.
Course example: the library toast passes 3 of 3 criteria. Sized at the delivery table's illustrative take-2 rate of 120 words per minute, a 60- to 90-second toast runs 1 × 120 = 120 to 90 ÷ 60 × 120 = 180 words. The planning committee's five lines sort as 2 task + 2 maintenance + 1 self-centered = 5. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863) is the course's model of a dedication that fit its occasion in under three minutes.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) "special-occasion speeches can be winged." Cure: the shorter the speech, the less room for filler. (2) the introduction made about the introducer. Cure: the speaker, the topic, and why this audience should listen. (3) the acceptance that thanks everyone. Cure: thank the few most responsible, say what it means, and sit down. (4) "a tribute must be serious." Cure: the tone follows the occasion. (5) introduction confused with presentation. Cure: introducing a speaker vs. handing over an award. (6) the after-dinner speech mistaken for a stand-up set. Cure: humor with a point. (7) "task roles matter more than maintenance roles." Cure: a group needs both. (8) the loudest member mistaken for the leader. Cure: leadership is what a member does.

Week 15 — Impromptu speaking and audience questions

The distinction: impromptu vs. extemporaneous, the swapped pair of the term. The test is preparation, not notes.
Key idea: with no time to prepare, lead with one point, commit to one shape, and end on time.
The PREP frame: point, reason, example, point. The first point is the first thing you say, and the last point says it again. The backup frames are past–present–future, a chronological pattern in miniature, and problem–solution, the problem–solution pattern in miniature. Commit to one frame per reply.
Buying time: pause, repeat or reframe the prompt in your own neutral words, use a brief connector, then say the point first. Cut the stalling habits, such as "That's a great question" on every reply. The one-clear-point rule says an impromptu reply makes one point and supports it, so a listener can repeat it afterward.
The Q&A toolkit: listen to the whole question, repeat or reframe it, reply with a point and one piece of support, bridge sparingly, and handle hostile, unknown, and off-topic questions honestly. A hostile question is reframed without its loaded word and handled calmly. An unknown question gets "I don't know, but I can find out," which is a complete reply. An off-topic question is acknowledged and bridged back once.
Adapting: a slide that will not load gets the backup plan's one calm sentence; a blank gets a pause and a glance at the card; a time cut gets the summary sentence, the one sentence that states the whole speech. Know it before you walk up.
Course example: at the delivery table's illustrative take-1 rate of 130 words per minute, a 60- to 90-second reply runs 1 × 130 = 130 to 90 ÷ 60 × 130 = 195 words, which is room for one point and not for three. After the running speech, four questions come in: 1 routine + 1 hostile + 1 unknown + 1 off-topic = 4, with 1 bridge used.
Predictable mistakes → cures: (1) impromptu confused with extemporaneous. Cure: no preparation vs. prepared and practiced from brief notes. (2) the point buried at the end. Cure: the first P is the first thing said. (3) "that's a great question" on every reply. Cure: a pause and a reframe are more credible. (4) "I don't know" treated as failure. Cure: it is a complete reply when you offer to find out. (5) three frames in one reply. Cure: commit to one. (6) panic at a tech failure. Cure: one calm sentence, then keep going.

Representative practice

These are fresh variants, not the final's questions. Work each worked example yourself first, then compare your steps. Every scenario below is illustrative, invented for this guide, and attributed to no one; the only real speeches and sources are the ones the course pinned. Every count is computed and checked in advance.

Worked example — four moments, four delivery methods (Week 9)

Four illustrative moments at a community aquarium's members' night:

A docent reads the building's emergency-exit announcement from the printed sheet, word for word, because every exit must be named exactly. Manuscript delivery.
A volunteer recites a two-sentence welcome learned by heart, with no card. Memorized delivery.
A visitor asks the shark-tank guide, with no warning, why the tank lights dim at night, and the guide replies on the spot. Impromptu delivery.
The education lead gives a five-minute talk on the new reef exhibit from three keyword cards, after rehearsing it all week. Extemporaneous delivery.

Tally: 4 moments, one for each of the 4 methods.
The test: moment 4 uses cards and moment 3 uses none, yet the difference is preparation. Moment 4 was planned and practiced, with the words chosen fresh; moment 3 had no preparation.

Why it matters: the method follows from how much was prepared and whether the exact words were fixed, never from whether notes are in hand.

Worked example — a self-assessment table for a studio demo (Week 9)

An illustrative speaker gives a four-minute demonstration talk at a pottery studio's open house, records two takes, and fills in a table in the shape the course uses. None of these numbers is a target.

An illustrative two-take self-assessment for a four-minute pottery demonstration, with every measure computed
Measure	Take 1	Take 2
Words spoken in 4 minutes	560	520
Words per minute (words ÷ 4)	140	130
Filler words counted	16	8
Fillers per minute (count ÷ 4)	4	2
Seconds of eye contact in a 30-second sample	18	27
Eye-contact share (seconds ÷ 30 × 100)	60 percent	90 percent
Deliberate pauses counted	5	11
The one thing to fix	"Pause after naming each step instead of saying 'so.'"	"Look up at the room while the wheel spins, not down at the clay."

The comparison: the rate fell by 140 − 130 = 10 words per minute, and the take held 560 − 520 = 40 fewer words. Fillers fell from 4 to 2 per minute, which is half. Eye contact rose by 27 − 18 = 9 seconds, or 90 − 60 = 30 percentage points. Deliberate pauses rose by 11 − 5 = 6.
The verdict: compare the fix, not the numbers. The note written after take 1 asked for a pause after each step name, and take 2 has those pauses, so take 2 did the job the speaker set for it.

Why it matters: a self-assessment names a moment, so the next take has one concrete thing to change.

Worked example — voice, body, and the 7-38-55 claim (Week 9)

An illustrative speaker explains the studio's glazing steps. Sort each cue.

The voice climbs on "and then it goes into the kiln," then drops for the safety warning: pitch.
The speaker slows down for the three steps and speeds up for the story: rate.
Both hands spread to show how tall the finished vase will stand: a descriptive gesture.
One hand chops down on "never" in "never touch the kiln door": an emphatic gesture.
The speaker keeps tapping a marker against the table: an adaptor to cut back.
A full second of silence before the warning: a strategic pause.
Tally: of the 11 elements of delivery (6 vocal + 5 physical), this talk shows pitch, rate, and pauses from the voice and gestures from the body.

A claim to correct (illustrative): a classmate's draft slide says only a small share of any message rides on the words. Corrected in words: the figure behind it comes from Mehrabian's 1967 studies of feelings and attitudes conveyed by single words. By his own statement it does not apply unless a communicator is talking about feelings or attitudes. A glazing talk is not that case, so both the words and the delivery matter.

Why it matters: naming the element tells you what to practice, and the corrected figure keeps you from neglecting your words.

Worked example — graphs and a crowded slide (Week 10)

Three data sets, three graphs (illustrative):

The share of a food co-op's yearly budget spent on rent, wages, stock, and repairs: a pie graph, because the slices make one whole.
A seed library's spring checkouts in each of six years: a line graph, because the data change over time.
The number of visitors at three trailheads on one holiday: a bar graph, because the data compare categories.
Tally: 3 data sets, 3 graph types, each chosen by the question the data answer.

A crowded slide, counted (illustrative): a draft slide for the seed library talk has a headline of 8 words and six bullet lines of 9, 7, 10, 8, 6, and 9 words.

Lines: 1 headline + 6 bullets = 7 lines, which is 7 − 6 = 1 line over the six-line rule of thumb.
Words: 8 + 9 + 7 + 10 + 8 + 6 + 9 = 57 words, which is 57 − 36 = 21 words over the rule of thumb.
The redesign: one idea, the line graph of spring checkouts, with the headline "Seed checkouts each spring" (4 words) and a tag reading "Illustrative" (1 word). That is 4 + 1 = 5 words, so 57 − 5 = 52 fewer words on screen.

Using it: reveal the graph when the talk reaches the growth in checkouts. Reference it in one sentence: "Each point is one spring, and the line climbs." Then return by blanking the screen and turning back to the room. The backup plan, if the projector fails, is to say that same sentence as a description.

Why it matters: the data's question picks the graph, and a slide with one idea leaves the talking to you.

Worked example — an informative speech on a bike co-op (Week 11)

An illustrative student prepares a five-minute informative speech on a community bike co-op.

Draft A: "To inform my audience about how a bike co-op rebuilds donated bicycles." It opens with "To inform", explains without taking a side, and is fair to a listener who never rides. It passes 3 of 3 tests.
Draft B: "To share my love of fixing bikes." It does not start "To inform", and it names the speaker's feeling, not what the audience will learn. It passes 2 of 3 tests.
Draft C: "To inform my audience that the co-op is the best place in town to buy a used bike." "The best place" advocates, and a listener who prefers another shop would not feel fairly treated. It passes 1 of 3 tests.
Tally: 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 tests passed out of 3 × 3 = 9 checks run. Only Draft A passes every test.

Subject sorts (illustrative): a lighthouse is a thing or place, so spatial or topical by parts; a long-serving crossing guard's career is a person, so chronological or topical; a town's first eclipse-viewing night is an event, so chronological or causal; how a pharmacist checks a new prescription is a process, so chronological; the placebo effect is an idea, so topical, built on definitions, examples, and an analogy. Tally: 5 subjects, each with a pattern that usually suits it.

Clarity and retention on Draft A:

Clarity: a preview of the three stages; "truing a wheel" defined as straightening it spoke by spoke; an analogy, "truing a wheel works like tuning a guitar: tighten one spoke a little, listen, and adjust the next"; one stage per main point.
Retention: relevance (most listeners own a bike that needs work), novelty (donated bikes can return to the road in a single evening), repetition with variation (the three stages said in the central idea, the preview, and the summary), and vivid support (a rusted chain that turns silver after one cleaning).
Tally: 4 clarity strategies + 4 retention strategies = 8 strategies placed.

Why it matters: the three tests keep the speech informative, and the eight strategies make it understood the first time and remembered after.

Worked example — a persuasive speech for a community garden (Week 12)

An illustrative speaker addresses a neighborhood meeting about the corner lot, a topic from the course's persuasive roster.

Claim sorts: "The corner lot has no shade trees" asks whether something is true: fact. "A community garden is a better use of the lot than overflow parking" asks whether something is better, so the speaker must name the standard: value. "Our town should lease the corner lot to a community garden for one growing season" says what should be done: policy. Tally: 3 claims, one for each of the 3 question types.
The appeals: the speaker has kept a plot in a neighboring town's garden for three seasons, which builds competence, character, and goodwill: ethos. "Picture a grandparent and a grandchild pulling the first carrots of the summer" stirs a relevant, proportionate feeling: pathos. The neighborhood's own sign-up sheet for plots, counted aloud, is evidence anyone could check: logos. Tally: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 moves, one for each appeal.
The Motivated Sequence: attention (the fenced lot full of weeds, described in two sentences), need (no place to grow food within walking distance), satisfaction (a one-season lease with volunteer beds), visualization (the lot green with beds, then the same lot still fenced next year), and action (sign the petition and pick one build day). Tally: 5 steps in order, with visualization kept in.
Target audiences: for an agreeing audience, hand out the petition early; for a neutral one, build the need and the plan with care; for an opposed one, open on common ground (everyone wants a tidier corner), name the strongest counter-argument fairly (the lot could ease parking), answer it, and ask for a smaller step, such as one trial season.
The alternatives: problem–cause–solution would show the empty lot, trace it to a lease nobody has offered, and propose the lease. Comparative advantages would suit an audience that already wants the lot used, comparing a garden with parking and with a pocket park.

A chatbot's draft, checked (illustrative; no product named): asked for "a strong closing" for the garden speech, a chatbot returns four lines. Each is a manipulation move:

"A national survey proves every garden doubles nearby home values," with no author, date, or page: fabricated evidence. Drop it.
It mentions the plots and the volunteers but leaves out the water bill the lease would add: suppressed counter-evidence. Name the cost.
"Without this garden, the corner will become a dumping ground for the whole city": disproportionate fear. Keep the proportionate picture of weeds.
"The council must decide tonight or the lot is gone forever": false urgency. Restore the honest ask.

Tally: 4 lines, one for each of the 4 manipulation moves.

Why it matters: persuasion gives the audience reasons it can weigh; every manipulation move takes that weighing away.

Worked example — reasoning and Toulmin's map (Week 13)

Four reasoning types (illustrative):

"Four of the five pottery classes I sampled filled every wheel, so the studio's classes usually fill." Inductive: specific cases to a general conclusion; its strength depends on how many cases and how typical.
"Every bike that passes the co-op's safety check may be sold. This bike passed the check. So this bike may be sold." Deductive: a syllogism, 2 premises + 1 conclusion = 3 statements.
"The ice rink added evening music, and attendance rose." Causal, but only if the speaker rules out the cold snap that arrived the same month; one thing coming after another is not cause.
"A nearby town's tool library runs on volunteers, and our town matches it in size and in volunteer base, so ours could too." Analogical: it holds only if the towns are alike in the ways that matter.

Toulmin's map (illustrative), the community garden's water:

Claim: the garden should install a rain barrel at the end of each bed row for one season.
Evidence: the garden's own watering log, read aloud, shows volunteers hauling water from the far spigot on most dry days.
Warrant: a garden should cut a chore that eats most of its volunteers' time when a low-cost fix exists.
Qualifier: "for one season". Rebuttal: "unless the barrels breed mosquitoes faster than they can be covered". Backing would support the warrant itself if the audience doubted it.
Tally: 1 claim + 1 piece of evidence + 1 warrant + 1 qualifier + 1 rebuttal = 5 statements across 5 of the 6 parts.

The twelve fallacies, each with a fresh example (illustrative):

The course's twelve fallacies, each paired with an illustrative example and the one-line reason it fails
Fallacy	Illustrative example	Why it fails
Hasty generalization	Two lanes at the bowling alley jammed one night, so every lane in the building is broken.	Too few cases for "every."
False cause	The choir moved its warm-up outdoors, and the next week more people came, so the outdoor warm-up drew them.	Coming first is not causing.
Weak analogy	A book club is like a restaurant, so the club should charge a cover fee.	The two differ in the ways that matter.
Appeal to ignorance	No one has proven the old pier unsafe, so it is safe to reopen.	A lack of proof is not proof.
False authority	A famous chef says this running shoe prevents injuries.	Fame in cooking is not expertise in shoes.
Bandwagon	Everyone on the team buys this protein bar, so it must be the healthiest.	Popularity is not evidence.
Ad hominem	The treasurer's budget plan cannot be any good, because the treasurer drives a messy car.	An attack on the person, offered as a reason to reject the plan.
Straw man	"My neighbor wants quiet hours after ten, so my neighbor wants to ban all fun in the building."	It attacks a distorted version of the position.
Red herring	Asked about the pool's broken heater, the manager talks about the new snack bar.	The subject changed, and the question goes unanswered.
False dilemma	Either the club doubles its dues or it shuts down.	More options exist, such as a fundraiser.
Slippery slope	If the drama club gets one extra night on the stage, soon every club will demand one and no one will rehearse.	No evidence for each step in the chain.
Begging the question	The new schedule is the best one because no schedule beats it.	The conclusion is used as its own premise.

Tally: 6 that break the support + 6 that dodge or rig the argument = 12.

A chatbot's label, checked (illustrative): asked to label the choir example, a chatbot says, "This is a hasty generalization, because it draws a conclusion from limited evidence and assumes the warm-up caused the rise." The label is wrong, because the error is about causation: false cause. The explanation also blends the two fallacies, so it teaches the mix-up. Tally: 1 wrong label + 1 blended explanation = 2 problems caught.

Why it matters: the evidence is what you cite and the warrant is the link; a fallacy is what happens when that link breaks.

Worked example — a farewell toast and a makerspace meeting (Week 14)

The specific-detail principle (illustrative): at its end-of-season party, a community choir toasts its longtime accompanist, who has finished her tenth season with the group.

Generic: "She is a wonderful part of our choir, and we are so lucky to have her." It could be said about anyone.
Specific: "Before every concert she penciled a small breath sign above each long phrase in the tenor parts, so we never ran out of air." Only she did that, so the room pictures it.
The three criteria: occasion fit (the toast stays on her), brevity (a 30- to 60-second limit), and a mood match (warm and light, with no roast-style teasing and no eulogy-style weight). It passes 3 of 3.
The four-beat skeleton: detail, "breath signs · every long phrase · tenor parts"; reveal, "heard what we needed · before we did"; wish, "a piano that stays in tune · an audience that stays for the encore"; raise, "glasses up · to the keeper of our breath." That is 4 beats in order.
Sizing: at the delivery table's illustrative take-2 rate of 120 words per minute, 30 seconds is 30 ÷ 60 × 120 = 60 words, and 60 seconds is 1 × 120 = 120 words. The toast runs about 60 to 120 words. The rate is illustrative, and no speaking rate is a target.
Delivery: extemporaneous, glancing at one card of keywords and letting a silence settle before the glasses go up.

Occasions, sorted (illustrative): at a fire station's open house, the chief tells the crowd who the safety educator is and why to listen, then hands over the microphone: a speech of introduction. At a rowing club's banquet, the coach hands a sportsmanship award to a rower (a speech of presentation), and the rower thanks the crew who stayed late and sits down (a speech of acceptance). At an adult literacy program's graduation, a graduate sends the class on its way: a commencement address. At a quilting guild's yearly dinner, a member tells three funny stories that all point to why the guild still meets: an after-dinner speech. Tally: 4 occasions, 5 speeches, each sorted by what the speaker is there to do.

A makerspace meeting (illustrative): members of a makerspace must decide how to share its one laser cutter.

Define the problem: "How can every member get fair time on the laser cutter?"
Analyze it: the same few members book it most evenings.
Set criteria: every member can book it each month, and no booking runs past two hours.
Generate solutions: a sign-up sheet, fixed time blocks, or a waiting list.
Evaluate and select: test each against the criteria, and choose fixed time blocks.
Implement: one member builds the booking sheet, and another posts it by the door.

Tally: 6 steps, with criteria set before solutions.

Six lines from that meeting, sorted:

"Could someone pull up last month's bookings?" A task role: seeking information.
"So far we have three options: a sheet, blocks, or a waiting list." A task role: summarizing.
"Good catch; that would have double-booked the evening." A maintenance role: encouraging.
"We haven't heard from the newest member yet. What do you think?" A maintenance role: gatekeeping.
"I'm not voting on anything until we do it my way." A self-centered role: blocking.
A member scrolls a phone and says, "Whatever you all decide." A self-centered role: withdrawing.
Tally: 2 task + 2 maintenance + 2 self-centered = 6 lines in 3 role families, and the 4 task and maintenance lines are the leadership moves.

Panel or symposium (illustrative): at an astronomy club's open night, three members first sit together and trade views on telescopes while a moderator asks questions: a panel. If each had instead prepared a short talk on one telescope type, with questions saved for the end, it would be a symposium.

Why it matters: a special-occasion speech is judged by the moment it serves, and a group is led by the moves its members make.

Worked example — a reply, a question, and a mishap (Week 15)

Impromptu or extemporaneous? (illustrative): at a pet adoption fair, a volunteer is handed the microphone with no warning (impromptu). The bike co-op speaker gives the rehearsed talk from three cards (extemporaneous). A job-shadow host asks a visiting student, "What drew you to this field?" (impromptu). A docent gives the gallery talk she rehearsed all week from two keyword cards (extemporaneous). Tally: 2 impromptu + 2 extemporaneous = 4 moments.

A PREP reply (illustrative; no statistic) to "What makes someone a good teammate?":

Point: "A good teammate keeps small promises."
Reason: "Small promises kept are how a group learns it can count on you."
Example: "Picture a lab partner who says they will bring the printed data and does, every time. Soon the group plans around them." The example is a hypothetical, flagged by "picture."
Point again: "So keep the small promises, and the big trust follows."

Buying time first: pause; reframe ("What makes a teammate worth having?"); connector ("For me, it comes down to this."); then the point.
Sizing: at the illustrative take-1 rate of 130 words per minute, a 30- to 60-second reply runs 30 ÷ 60 × 130 = 65 to 1 × 130 = 130 words: room for one point.

Questions after the garden speech (illustrative):

Routine: "Who would water the beds?" Repeat it, then reply with one point and one support: the plot holders, on a posted rotation.
Hostile: "Isn't this garden a giveaway of public land to a few people?" Reframe without the loaded word: "The question is who would get to use the lot." Then reply calmly: any resident could apply for a bed.
Unknown: "How much would the water bill be?" "I don't know, but I can find out, and I'll post it at the next meeting." No figure is invented.
Off-topic: "Why doesn't the town fix the potholes downtown?" Acknowledge it, bridge back once to the lot, and offer to talk afterward.
Tally: 4 questions, 4 kinds, and 1 bridge.

Two mishaps (illustrative): the projector bulb fails a moment before the map of the lot, so one calm sentence from the card describes the map, and the speaker keeps going. Later the next sentence vanishes, so the speaker pauses, glances at the card's keywords, and picks up from the point's first sentence.

Why it matters: one point said first, one honest reply, and one calm sentence carry a speaker through the moments nobody rehearsed.

Worked example — the early toolkit inside a late speech (Weeks 2–6)

The garden speaker will give a three-minute public comment at a town council meeting.

An illustrative audience profile for a town council comment on the corner lot: one finding and one adaptation for each lens
Lens	Finding	Adaptation
Demographic	Many residents near the lot rent apartments with no yard	Open on a balcony of pots that never gets enough sun
Psychographic	Some council members value the lot for overflow parking	Name the parking concern fairly before the proposal
Situational	A three-minute comment limit, in a hall where speakers stand at a single microphone	Keep one main reason and the summary sentence on one card

Tendency or stereotype? "Many nearby renters have no yard, which the rental listings confirm" is a tendency, checked. "Renters never stay long enough to care about a garden" pins a trait on people because of a group they belong to, which is stereotyping.
The oral citation, part by part: the course's oral citation 3 names who (Associated Press reporter Dee-Ann Durbin), what (PBS News), and when (2022), all before the evidence: 3 of 3 parts. "Studies show" names 0 of 3, so 3 − 0 = 3 parts are missing.
The pattern and the outline: a speech that asks the council to act suits Monroe's Motivated Sequence, built for a call to action. The speaker writes the full-sentence preparation outline at home and carries a one-card speaking outline to the microphone.
Tally: 3 findings + 3 adaptations = 6 filled cells.

Why it matters: the late speeches stand on the early tools: the audience you read, the source you name, and the order you choose.

Self-check questions

Try each one, then read the check and the one-line why.

An illustrative town clerk reads a new parking rule word for word from the printed ordinance so its wording is exact. Which delivery method is it? Check: manuscript. Why: the text is read word for word on purpose.
An illustrative speaker says "um, so, like" before every new step of a recipe demo. What should replace the sounds? Check: a strategic pause. Why: a planned silence lets the idea land; a filler fills the silence with nothing.
An illustrative bakery owner wants one graph of loaves sold in each of the past twelve months. Which graph fits? Check: a line graph. Why: the data change over time.
An illustrative slide holds 9 lines of 8 words each. How far over the six-by-six rule of thumb is it? Check: 9 − 6 = 3 lines over, and 9 × 8 = 72 words, which is 72 − 36 = 36 words over. Why: the rule of thumb allows 6 × 6 = 36 words, and a slide this full gets read instead of heard.
"How a beekeeper harvests honey" is the subject of an illustrative informative speech. Which kind of subject is it, and which pattern usually suits it? Check: a process, so chronological. Why: the audience asks what happens first and next.
An illustrative speaker says, "I have trained guide dogs for ten years." Which appeal is it? Check: ethos. Why: it builds the audience's trust in the speaker's competence.
An illustrative speech asks listeners to picture the riverbank trail cleaned and reopened, then the same trail left as it is. Which step of Monroe's Motivated Sequence is it? Check: visualization. Why: it lets the audience see the future with the proposal and without it.
"Nobody has shown the new crosswalk paint fades, so it must last for years." Which fallacy is it? Check: appeal to ignorance. Why: a lack of proof is treated as proof.
An illustrative argument offers a claim, "the town should repaint the faded crosswalk by the school," and the town's log of resident reports, and then stops. Which keyed Toulmin part is missing? Check: the warrant, such as "a town should fix the hazard its residents report most often." Why: without the link, the log is a fact and not yet a reason.
At an illustrative award night, the honoree thanks every person they have ever met. Which classic slip is it? Check: the acceptance that thanks everyone. Why: an acceptance thanks the few most responsible and stays brief.
In an illustrative meeting, a member says, "Let's hear from everyone before we vote." Which role family is it? Check: maintenance (gatekeeping). Why: it keeps members working well together.
An illustrative audience member asks a question the speaker cannot reply to from what they know. What does the toolkit say? Check: "I don't know, but I can find out." Why: it is honest and complete, and it invents nothing.

Check yourself — choose one. Write two or three sentences to a friend.

(a) Explain why an extemporaneous speech is neither memorized nor impromptu, using a moment from your own speaking this term.
(b) Explain why a warrant is not the same thing as evidence, using an argument you have heard on campus or at work.

Either one rehearses an explain-why skill the final checks.

Watch before the exam

These eleven videos come from the course's vetted Week 16 pool, and every one has captions. Use them to review and to connect weeks, not to learn anything new.

Audience Analysis — COMMpadres Media reviews the Week 2 objective on reading an audience. Sort what you hear into the demographic, psychographic, and situational lenses, and connect it forward to Week 12, where the target audience decides a persuasive speech's emphasis.
Four Types of Speech Delivery — Bia Bernum reviews the Week 9 objective on the four delivery methods. Keep extemporaneous apart from memorized and impromptu, and connect it forward to Week 15, where impromptu speaking gets its own frame.
Presentation Aids: Design Guidelines — Patricia Jenkinson reviews the Week 10 objective on slide design. Check each guideline against the course's six design principles, and connect it back to Week 7's listener, who hears each sentence once.
Informative Speaking Basics — COMMpadres Media reviews the Week 11 objective on the informative speech. Test what you hear against the three informative tests, and connect it back to Week 3's specific purpose.
The Three Persuasive Appeals: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos — Kristina Ulmer reviews the Week 12 objective on the appeals. It files showing where your information came from under ethos; in this course a cited source is logos, and ethos rests on competence, character, and goodwill. Keep the course's list at three, and connect logos back to Week 4's oral citation.
Monroe's Motivated Sequence for Persuasive Speaking — Dr. Sunny Skye Hughes reviews the Week 12 objective on the Motivated Sequence. Its visualization step gives examples of the plan working elsewhere, while the course's has the audience picture the future with the plan and without it. Name the five steps in order, and connect it back to Week 5, where the sequence first appeared as one of six patterns.
Toulmin Model of Argument — Leslie C. Johnson reviews the Week 13 objective on Toulmin's model. It calls the evidence grounds and says every argument has all six parts, while the course treats the model as a simplification. Keep the claim, evidence, and warrant the course keys apart from the parts it only names, and connect the evidence back to Week 4.
Intro to Fallacies — Patricia Jenkinson reviews the Week 13 objective on fallacies. It explains what a fallacy is and how treatments classify fallacies, and it names only a few, so use it to practice its main point: for each of the course's twelve, say why the argument fails, not only its name.
Small Group Roles: Basics — Patricia Jenkinson reviews the Week 14 objective on group roles. Sort each role into task, maintenance, or self-centered, and connect it back to Week 2's listening.
Impromptu Speaking: How to Get Better at Speaking on the Spot — Toastmasters International reviews the Week 15 objective on impromptu speaking. Its PREP uses the course's four labels, though its reason step explains why you chose the topic; say the course's point, reason, example, point in order, and connect it back to Week 9, where impromptu delivery was first set apart from extemporaneous.
The Canons of Rhetoric and Public Speaking — Stephen Klien is a synthesis across all fifteen weeks. Lay invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery over the course, and check the credit against the course's placement: the anonymous Rhetorica ad Herennium and Cicero's own De Inventione.

Study plan

A short countdown. Count back from the day you plan to sit the final.

Two weeks out: as you finish Week 14, start a one-page list of the course's swapped pairs from the second half: extemporaneous and impromptu, a strategic pause and a filler, a gesture and an adaptor, a pie graph and a line graph, inform and persuade, ethos and pathos, ethos and logos, the warrant and the evidence, false cause and hasty generalization. Add introduction and presentation, task and maintenance roles, and a panel and a symposium.
One week out: as you finish Week 15, reread the topic reviews above for Weeks 9 and 14. Together they hold 17 of the final's 40 questions.
At the start of Week 16: take the practice exam once, cold and closed-note. Note which weeks cost you the most, and remember that it leans much less on Weeks 9 and 14 than the final does.
Three or four days before you sit it: reread the topic reviews for your two weakest weeks, and redo the matching worked examples from scratch without looking.
Two days before: run the paired exam-prep tutorial (the copy-and-paste chatbot tutor, or its no-AI route) for active recall. Tell it which areas the practice exam exposed.
The day before: retake the practice exam, explain every miss out loud, and work the self-check questions above. Saying your one-line cures aloud helps, whether to a friend or alone in a quiet room. You need no camera and no recording, and if you do record yourself, keep it on your own device and never share it with a chatbot.
Right before: skim the "predictable mistakes → cures" lines for Weeks 9 to 15 and the Weeks 1–8 callbacks. Then stop studying. Feeling some nerves before an exam is normal; a few slow breaths and a look at your one-page list are enough.

This guide is for review. The exam-prep tutorial and the practice exam are where you rehearse. Pulling ideas back out of memory, not rereading, is what makes them stick.

Exam format

Every one of the 40 questions counts the same, and the final checks your own understanding without AI. The questions come one at a time, and there is no going back, so settle each one before you move on.

Test-taking strategies for this material:

Name the pair before you choose. Most questions turn on two neighboring ideas, such as extemporaneous and impromptu, or the warrant and the evidence. Say which pair is in play first.
Ask the one-line test. Prepared or not? A planned silence or a filler? Parts of a whole, change over time, or categories? Trust, feeling, or evidence? The link or the thing cited? Causation or sample size? Moving the work or keeping the group together?
Check every list against the course's count. Three appeals, five steps of the Motivated Sequence, four beats of a toast, six agenda steps, four parts of PREP: a list with an extra or a missing member is a trap.
Treat "illustrative" as a cue. The scene was invented for the question and attributed to no one, so judge it by the course's definitions, not by what you guess happened next.
For a "pick every option that applies" question, judge each statement on its own, as if it were a true-or-false question.
Refer to an option by what it says. The options are shuffled for each student, so a study partner's "the third one" means nothing on your screen.

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