Syllabus: Dip Coms

Programme details for the Diploma in Communication

Courses Presented in This Programme

The Dip. Coms includes the following compulsory courses:

• Public Speaking
• Technical Communication
• English for Careers
• Social Psychology
• Public Relations Management

Duration of the Programme

This programme has a minimum learning duration of eight months before the qualification certificate can be issued. The maximum learning duration is normally two years.

Prerequisites

Completion of the Cert Coms or having been granted the status of a Cert Coms qualification through the process of recognition of prior earning (RPL), as confirmed by the CU Senate.

Single courses may be enrolled for to complete other qualifications. In such cases the student must consider that the courses were planned and selected sequentially by CU to serve as foundational knowledge for the more advanced courses.

Public Speaking

Credits: 16

Synopsis. Balancing skills and theory, this course emphasizes orality, technology, and critical thinking as it encourages students to see public speaking as a way to build community in today's diverse world.

Within a framework that emphasizes speaker responsibility, critical thinking and listening, and cultural awareness, this course uses examples from college, workplace, political, and social communication to make the study of public speaking relevant, contemporary, and exciting for students. The brief but comprehensive course material also offers students the latest in using technology in speechmaking and features a unique and exciting integrated text and technology learning system.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• I. PUBLIC SPEAKING AND CRITICAL LISTENING.
  • Study Public Speaking in Higher Education. Studying Public Speaking in Higher Education. Speaking Of … Apprehension. First-Time Fears. Basic Elements in the Speechmaking Process. Ethical Responsibilities for Speakers. Your First Speech. Speaking of … Ethics. Ethics and Public Speaking. Assessing Your Progress.
  • Getting Started. Selecting and Narrowing Your Subject. Speaking of … Skills. Brainstorming to Generate Topics. Determining Your Purposes and Central Idea. Analysis of the Audience and Occasion. Gathering Your Speech Material. Making an Outline. Practicing Aloud. Developing Confident Delivery. Speaking of … Apprehension. State and Trait Apprehension. Speaking of … Skills. Practicing Your Speech.
  • Critical Listening. Hearing and Listening. Barriers to Good Listening. Practical Listening Techniques. Speaking of … Skills. Good Note-Taking and Active Listening. Speaking of … Ethics. Deliberately Misguiding Listeners. Developing Skills for Critical Listening. Assessing Your Progress.
  • Public Speaking and Cultural Life. Understanding Cultural Processes. Strategies for Communicating Unity Through Diversity. Speaking of … Skills. Rhetorical Framing. Self-Identity in the Face of Difference. Speaking of … Ethics. Adapting to Varied Moral Codes.
• II. PLANNING AND PREPARING YOUR SPEECH.
  • Understanding Your Audience. Analyzing Your Audience Demographically. Analyzing Your Audience Psychologically. Discovering Demographic and Psychological Factors. Using Audience Analysis in Speech Preparation. Developing Your Goals. Developing Your Appeals. Speaking of … Skills. Handling Hostile Audiences. A Sample Audience Analysis. Speaking of … Ethics. Using Audience Analysis Ethically. Assessing Your Progress.
  • Finding and Using Supporting Materials. Determining the Kinds of Supporting Materials You'll Need. Speaking of … Skills. How Much Is Enough? Finding Supporting Materials. Speaking of … Skills. Conducting an Interview. Using Source Material Responsibly. Speaking of … Skills. Choosing Supporting Materials. Sample Outline for an Informative Speech: How We Breathe. Sample Outline for a Problem-Solution Speech: The Heartbreak of Childhood Obesity. Speaking of … Ethics. What Is the Ethical Response? Assessing Your Progress.
  • Organizing and Outlining Your Speech. Developing Your Speech Plan. Speech-Centered Patterns of Organization. Audience-Centered Patterns of Organization. Outlining Your Speech. Speaking of… Skills. Memory and Organization.
  • Beginning and Ending Your Speech. Capturing and Holding Attention. Beginning Your Speech. Speaking of … Skills. How Long Should It Be? Ending Your Speech. Sample Outline for an Introduction and Conclusion: Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk. Speaking of … Ethics. Revealing Responsible Intentions.
• III. PRESENTING YOUR SPEECH.
  • Wording Your Speech. Selecting Your Style. Speaking of … Skills. Oral Versus Written Style. Creating an Atmosphere. Using Language Strategically. Sample Speech: “On Accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature” by William Faulkner. Speaking of … Ethics. Doublespeak. Assessing Your Progress.
  • Delivering Your Speech. Selecting the Method of Presentation. Using Your Voice to Communicate. Speaking of … Skills. Impromptu Speaking. Using Your Body to Communicate. Speaking of … Apprehension. Breathe Through Your Fears.
  • Using Visual Aids. The Functions of Visual Aids. Types of Visual Support. Strategies for Selecting and Using Visual Aids. Speaking of … Ethics. Can Pictures Lie? Speaking of … Skills. Using Visual Aids in Business. Speaking of … Skills. Using Visual Aids Effectively. Assessing Your Progress.
• IV. TYPES OF PUBLIC SPEAKING.
  • Speeches to Inform. Facts, Knowledge, and the Information Age. Speaking of … Skills. Choosing a Topic. Essential Qualities of Informative Speeches. Speaking of … Apprehension. Information Overload. Sample Outline: Servicing Your PC. Tips for Developing Informative Speeches. Sample Outline: What Is Diabetes? Sample Speech: “The Geisha” by Joyce Chapman.
  • Speeches to Persuade. Analyzing the Audiences of Your Persuasive Speeches. Speaking of … Skills. Persuading the Diverse Audience. Organizing Persuasive Speeches: The Motivated Sequence. Speaking of … Skills. Inoculating Audiences Against Counterpersuasion. Speaking of … Ethics. Using Fear Appeals.
  • Argumentation and Critical Thinking. Rational Thinking and Talking: Argumentation. Evaluating Arguments. Speaking of … Skills. Evaluating Arguments. Sample Outline for an Argumentative Speech: The Dangers of Chewing Tobacco. Detecting Fallacies in Reasoning. Tips for Developing Argumentative Speeches. Speaking of … Skills. Responding to Counterarguments. Speaking of … Ethics. Name-Calling.
  • Speaking at Community- and Group-Centered Events. Community-Based Special Occasion Speeches. Sample Introduction: Introducing a Classmate by Angela Vangelisti. A Toast to Leo Brecker. Sample Speech to Entertain: A Case for Optimism by Douglas Martini. Group-Based Special Occasion Speeches.

Technical Communication

Credits: 20

Synopsis. An introductory course in Technical Writing and Business Writing taken by students in such disciplines as English, engineering, physical and natural sciences, home economics, nutrition, architecture, and agriculture. Todays technical professionals need to reach audiences and collaborate on projects across borders of culture, language, and technology and expertise. This versatile, highly readable course encourages students to think critically in a changing environment, with the goal of communicating successfully with people who may not share their values, approaches, or knowledge base. Through descriptions, cases, and special feature boxes, the course material provides strategies and guidelines for communicating effectively and for enjoying the challenges of such communication. Information design in a global context is emphasized throughout.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• I. PERFORMING YOUR ROLE AS A COMMUNICATOR. Introduction. Writing Collaboratively. Writing Ethically.
• II. MANAGING INFORMATION FOR READERS. Collecting Empirical Information. Collecting Information from Documents. Managing Information for Readers.
• III. CREATING THE APPROPRIATE EXPRESSION. Designing Information for Readers. Composing Visuals. Composing Text. Explaining. Persuading and Proving. Revising.
• IV. DEVELOPING TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTS. Abstracts and Other Summaries. Proposals. Progress Reports. Final Reports. Instructions.
• V. COMMUNICATING AS A PROFESSIONAL. Letters. The Job Search. Memos and Electronic Mail. Articles and Reviews of Literature. Oral Presentations.

English for Careers

Credits: 17

Synopsis. A course in Business English, Business Communication, or English.

Designed to keep pace with changing student populations, current workplace needs, and the emerging 21st century culture, this course offers a lively, accessible, and user-friendly alternative for the many students (including those with poor English skills) who dread the thought of barebones traditional grammar and communication instruction and its overkill of rules. Personalized by warmth, light humor, and inspiration, it focuses on the “real-world” English skills needed to get a good job, hold the job, and advance in a career—i.e., how to write and speak Standard English for careers and to avoid noticeable errors. It features a reading level that assures readability for nearly any student, and uses unique presentation techniques (e.g., Read-Recap-Replay segments and adult-level “on-the-job” information embedded in skill exercises) that make principles easier to learn and remember than in similar texts.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• Tools of the Trade (Parts of Speech).
• Secret Life of a Sentence Revealed (Fragments, Run-Ons, Comma Splices, Correct Sentences).
• Ain't Is in the Dictionary (Dictionary Use in the 21st Century).
• Apples, Tigers, and Swahili (Plural, Compound, Proper, and Inclusive Nouns).
• Be Kind to the Substitute Week (Pronouns).
• Looking for the Action? Then Find the Verbs!
• Words That Describe (Adjectives and Adverbs).
• The Taming of the Apostrophe (Possessives and Other Apostrophe Usage).
• The Pause That Refreshes ,.?!.
• Punctuation Potpourri (:;:"-'—__).
• A Business Dictionary (Specialized Business Vocabulary).
• Weather or Knot (Homonyms, Prepositions, Pronunciation).
• Sentence Power (Writing Great Sentences).
• Sincerely Yours (Workplace Writing).

Social Psychology

Credits: 22

Synopsis. This Social Psychology course has motivated students to take social psychology out of the classroom and into their lives. It has now been combined with a free, online source of relevant and timely articles on social psychology.

With a research approach, it provides many opportunities for students to go beyond the course content and learn more about social psychology from articles in leading social science journals, popular magazines, and the New York Times.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• The Field of Social Psychology: How We Think About and Interact with Others
• Social Perception: Understanding Others
• Social Cognition: Thinking About the Social World
• Attitudes: Evaluating the Social World
• Aspects of Social Identity: Self and Gender
• Prejudice: Its Causes, Effects, and Cures
• Interpersonal Attraction: Initial Contact, Liking, Becoming Acquainted
• Close Relationships: Family, Friends, Lovers, and Spouses
• Social Influence: Changing Others' Behavior
• Prosocial Behavior: Helping Others
• Aggression: Its Nature, Causes, and Control
• Groups and Individuals: The Consequences of Belonging
• Social Psychology in Action: Applications to Law, Medicine, and Organizations

Public Relations Man

Credits: 19

Synopsis. To succeed in public relations, professionals need an innate sense of the power, excitement, and value to societys primary institutions of its practice. This course uses a unique hands-on approach that prompts students to think critically about the field. Suitable for public relations professionals/public affairs officers, marketing professionals, advertising professionals, and general managers.

KEY TOPICS: Prepares students to deal with a full range of situations and to arrive at effective, ethical solutions. Offers two new lectures on Investor Relations and International Public Relations. Features new contemporary cases including Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, Gary Condit, Trent Lott, Microsoft public relations, and more. Presents new hypothetical cases including cases on speechwriting, Internet monitoring, and sex discrimination. Features new contemporary interviews with such public figures as Gov. Jesse Ventura, Rudy Giuliani PR Director Sunny Mindell, National Black Public Relations Association President Pat Tobin, and White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Presents a greater inclusion of minority and female practitioners. Provides Suggested Readings and Suggested Book lists.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• I. EVOLUTION.
  What is Public Relations? Growth of Public Relations.
• II. PREPARATION/PROCESS.
  Communication. Management. Public Opinion. Ethics. Law. Research.
• III. THE PUBLICS.
  Print Media Relations. Electronic Media Relations. Employee Relations. Multicultural Community Relations. Government Relations. Consumer Relations. Investor Relations. International Relations.
• IV. EXECUTION.
  Writing for Eye and Ear. PR and the Internet. Integrated Marketing. Crisis Management.
• V. THE FUTURE.
  The Golden Age.

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