Speech and Presentation Skills A Proposed Course Designed for Undergraduate Students

The ability to speak in public or even in a small group of people is a common problem among university students in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The problem gets more serious when a student is required to introduce or present his/her work. Lack of necessary communication, speech and presentation skills is the main cause behind the student’s fear of public speaking and consequently failure to deliver an acceptable outcome. This paper aims at introducing a coursedesign in speech and presentation skills. This proposed course targets undergraduate students aiming at opening new insights in the art and science of communication. The main aim of this course is to solve the problem of low performance by the student in using English as a combination of listening, negotiating and speaking. This course was primarily introduced to the first semester at the postgraduate level at Zawia University to a number of fifteen students where it provedsatisfactory and achieved its aims and objectives. Having delivered a number of presentations, students get used to the feel of giving a presentation and build confidence through ractice. students took part in this study became able to prepare and structure a presentation andperform the required research for the presentation. They also became able to manage the presentation and question timing besides being familiar with the use of technology. A research question became prominent. Can this course be beneficial if introduced to undergraduate students? This study arrived at significant outcomes as the designed course applied to third semester at the undergraduate level. Interest shown by students played a vital role in the success of the course. The researcher recommends that this course should be included as a part in the curriculum designed for the English departments in the faculties of Arts and Education.