Volume XXXII, No. 27 | November 12, 2010

Speech Critiques: Using Social Media to Encourage Self-Evaluation Activity Background

In 1969, Andy Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Who needs 15 minutes? With social media and wireless digital devices, fame is constant. College students have immediate access to personal videos, pictures, and messaging at their fingertips. One form of social media, YouTube, has become an important teaching and learning tool, allowing students to critique themselves in my Introduction to Speech class.

My quest for a fresh way to present students with criticism was born from my frustration. Nervous students delivered speeches, and traditionally I wrote critiques that evaluated their verbal and nonverbal skills. These critiques were overlooked and tossed aside. I needed a new way to make students interested in their performance. First, referencing my past experience in speech class, I considered the classic, clumsy video recorders that accommodate VHS tapes. Surprisingly, the college library still had a few of these prehistoric devices available for checkout. However, knowing that social media is a popular trend, I turned my focus to the classroom. With classes equipped with wireless Internet, laptops, and mounted projectors, I decided to give students their fame, by allowing them to critique themselves and their classmates via their speech videos posted on YouTube.

Activity Description
The process is simple. On the first day of class, I announce that each speech will be recorded digitally, posted on the Internet, and evaluated by class members. There is usually little resistance; everyone wants to be famous. Throughout the semester, each student’s speech is recorded and uploaded onto YouTube, placed in a private group that I authored. By making the speeches private, only the speech students and invited guests are allowed to view and comment on the videos.

In order to make social media a teaching tool, the assignment requires each student to watch his or her speech, critiquing it for adequate verbal and nonverbal skills. Evaluation categories, derived from lectures and the textbook, reinforce lessons. Students then post their critiques online for others to read. Students are encouraged to watch each other’s speeches and post comments of encouragement and advice.

As a final component of each speech assignment, near the end of the semester, students are required to pick their favorite speech video from each speech method delivered in class. Though there is some favoritism between friends, the favorite speeches are generally the best. These students are given bonus points; and when given permission to reference their speech videos, I add the superb speech samples to a video catalog to use in future classes.

Activity Results
After using YouTube as a speech critiquing tool, I learned that students are very critical of themselves. The postings are honest, with statements such as, “I play with my hair a lot,” and “I didn’t know I sounded like that.” Interestingly, additional postings on the videos produce conversations between students that offer helpful advice and personal experiences. The objective of the assignment—to encourage students to evaluate themselves to identify room for improvement—was met.

Social media, specifically YouTube, and technological advances in the classroom provide the opportunity to assign students activities that are important, interactive, and personal. Honest critiques, interesting online conversations, and a voting system that recognizes exceptional speech assignments offer new ways to teach and evaluate in an Introduction to Speech class.

Maria Christian, Instructor, Communications

For further information, contact the author at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, 1801 E. 4th Street, Okmulgee, OK 74447. Email.