ABSTRACT
Public speaking is an invaluable skill that students need to be competitive in today's global market, as well as a useful assessment tool for educators to evaluate students’ mastery of course content. As educators outside of the discipline of communication may seek to implement oral communication intensive or public speaking-based assignments and assessments in their classrooms, they are challenged to consider how to create inclusive and welcoming classrooms that promote positive perceptions toward public speaking, an often anxiety-inducing undertaking for many students. To assist in the development of caring and nuanced classrooms, the present chapter offers two questions for consideration, debate, and reflection: How can public speaking challenge students’ feelings of belongingness, and what strategies can be used to shift public speaking to support institutional Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and promote student feelings of belongingness? From the perspective of two critical communication scholars seeking to disrupt steadfast norms related to public speaking (e.g., nonverbal expectations, use of Western mainstream English), strategies are offered for critically evaluating the purpose of public speaking-based assignments and considering how communication expectations are framed within a classroom environment.
