The Speaking Center and the Office of Admissions co-sponsored the Public Speaking and Advocacy Workshop Feb. 1, 2014. The workshop included instruction on effective speaking, delivery skills, handling communication apprehension, and advocacy, given by Anand Rao and Tim O’Donnell. Students gave a three to five minute speech that they prepared in advance, and also participated in a town hall debate. Speaking center consultants observed those speeches and debates and provided feedback to the students. A total of 20 students participated, including students from Colonial Forge High School, Mountain View High School, Stafford High School, Spotsylvania High School, Riverbend High School, and the Fredericksburg home school speech and debate club. You can find more information about the workshop at: http://academics.umw.edu/speaking/speaking-intensive-program/public-speaking-advocacy-workshop-feb-1-2014/
UMW’s Speaking Center Achieves National Certification
The University of Mary Washington’s Speaking Center recently received certification from the National Association of Communication Centers, making UMW one of only eight certified communication centers in the country.
The certification is based on a review of the training program of the center’s tutors and consultants. At UMW, Speaking Center consultants are undergraduates who receive training to provide peer tutoring and consultations to fellow students.
“The center’s training program was revamped this past fall and now provides broad support and communication training for new consultants,” said Anand Rao, associate professor of communication and director of the Speaking Center. “The center does more than just work on public speaking assignments – the center’s consultants run workshops and classroom presentations on a variety of communication topics, and work with individuals and groups of students on presentations, class discussions and interviews.”
UMW’s Speaking Center was established nearly 20 years ago and has been housed in Combs Hall since 2002. The center will move to the new Information and Technology Convergence Center this summer. Last year, the center served more than 1,600 students through individual consultations, class visits and student workshops.
For more information about the center, visit http://academics.umw.edu/speaking/speaking-center/ or contact Rao at (540) 654-1546.
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Anand Rao Presents at Workshop in China
Anand Rao, associate professor of communication and director of the speaking intensive program, will be a presenter next week in Shanghai, China, at a debate training workshop for high school English teachers.
The “Training Workshop on the Harvard Debate-National Forensic League Curriculum” will be held from Wednesday, May 23 through Monday, May 28. Rao will be one of four presenters at the workshop, along with Stefan Bauschard (Harvard Debate), Adam Jacobi (National Forensic League), and Ryan Galloway (Samford University). The workshop will be attended by 100 English teachers from 50 of the top magnet high schools across China.
The workshop is sponsored by two government agencies, “The Society of Cultivating Innovators” and “Innovation Method Society,” which are supervised by the Ministries of Education and Technology. The agencies are considered the highest ranking non-profits in China organized by the central government. Harvard Debate and the National Forensic League, the leading organizations for high school debate in the United States, are working with the Chinese agencies to develop a high school debate program for the top students across the country. The workshop is the first presentation of a debate curriculum that is in development by Harvard Debate and the National Forensic League for use in Chinese high schools this coming fall.
Anand Rao to Direct Workshop at Harvard
Anand Rao, associate professor of communication and director of the speaking intensive program, will direct a summer workshop on public speaking and argumentation in Boston, Mass. The workshop for high school students is sponsored by Harvard Debate Council, the officially-recognized debate program at Harvard. The workshop will be held on the Harvard campus from July 15 through 27, and students will work on presentation skills for both live and online audiences. More information about the workshop can be found on the Harvard Debate Council website: https://www.hdcworkshops.org/camps/session/9.
Students Tour Nation’s Capital and Talk Leadership
UMW students with Rep. John Lewis in Washington D.C.
On Wednesday, March 21, UMW students got an inside look at Washington D.C. and learned about leadership in the process. “Leaders of the Free World: Global Citizenship,” part of the AT&T Student Leadership Colloquium, gave 10 students the opportunity to spend the day at the U.S. Capitol Building, while thinking critically about leadership and citizenship.
The group visited Rep. Rob Wittman’s office, took a tour of the Capitol building with aides from Rep. Bruce Braley’s office and talked with Rep. Jared Polis about the importance of education. The students also spoke with Rep. John Lewis for more than two hours about leading through change.
Courtney Chapman-Thomas, director of leadership and coordinator of strategic initiatives, and Anand Rao, associate professor of English and director of speaking intensive programs, accompanied the students, who ranged from freshmen to graduating seniors. The day trip was open to all students on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The next event for the AT&T Student Leadership Colloquium will be a leadership discussion and project on Monday, April 2. The discussion will take place in Lee Hall, Room 411 at 6 p.m. and will be based on the topic “I serve, but do I lead?”