San Jos� State University - Fall 2008
Professor Asha Weinstein Agrawal

URBP 213 - Communication Skills for Planners

Course overview and objectives

Do you ever find yourself asking questions such as:

• How can I write more clearly, so that people understand my memos quickly and don't miss my main point?

• How do I prepare an effective presentation that won't put my audience to sleep?

• How do I convince a resistant audience to support my planning proposals?

URBP 213 will help you develop answers to these questions.

Excellent communication skills, both written and spoken, make planners more effective in their careers. Successful planners recognize the importance of good communications skills, and they work throughout their careers to improve their writing and speaking ability.  In this class, you will learn advanced techniques to help in the life-long process of improving your ability to communicate ideas in a lucid, persuasive manner that gets results.

The class is taught in a hands-on style, using real-world writing and speaking exercises relevant to planning professionals. The art of communicating well requires constant practice, experimentation, and feedback. Receiving feedback and revising your work are two of the best techniques for improving your writing and speaking skills, so these opportunities are built into each assignment.  For each one, you'll receive feedback from your peers and/or the instructor. The process of critiquing your peers' work will also help you improve your writing and speaking skills, since you will be able to identify what aspects of their work are more successful and which less so, and then use these observations to modify your own work.

The class has nine key learning objectives.  Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:

1. Articulate the qualities that make for excellent, effective writing and public speaking in a professional U.S. planning context.
    

2. Identify and prioritize aspects of their writing and public speaking skills that they want to improve over time, and plan strategies for achieving these goals.
    

3. Identify and apply techniques that will help them to deliver a professional presentation with a speaking style that is easy to understand, sounds natural, and stimulates audience interest and comprehension.
    

4. Create documents and presentations that communicate a clear message to readers and listeners. For example, students will be able to:

1. Organize material logically and clearly, so that a reader or listener can easily understand the ideas presented.
    

2. Use headings, internal previews, and summaries to help readers or listeners easily identify the main points.
    

3. Design tables and figures that highlight the key message they are meant to convey.

5. Create documents and presentations that are strategically designed to persuade resistant audiences.
    

6. Create documents and presentations that are professional in appearance and style. For example, students will be able to:

1. Cite sources with footnotes and bibliographies properly formatted in Turabian A style.
    

2. Create PowerPoint presentations that use font sizes, colors, and images that will be easy for an audience to see and understand.
    

3. Apply simple design principles to create documents that are easy for readers to understand.

7. Properly cite all sources used, including exact language, data, and illustrations.
    

8. Design strategies to elicit useful feedback from colleagues and friends on their writing and public speaking.
    

9. Prepare useful, tactful feedback to help colleagues improve their writing and public speaking.

(SJSU course catalogue description for URBP 213: Advanced techniques for communicating clearly, persuasively, and professionally in a city and regional planning context. Covers writing and public speaking. Prerequisite: Instructor consent.)

Class meetings:  

Section 2: Wednesdays, 4:00 � 6:45 p.m., in Clark 316 (campus map)
Section 3: Thursdays, 4:00 - 6:45 p.m., in Clark 318

How to contact Professor Asha Weinstein Agrawal

Contact info

Office: Room 218C in Washington Square Hall (enter through room 216)
Email: asha.weinstein.agrawal(at)sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5853
Instructor website: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/weinstein.agrawal

Please note that it is usually faster to reach me by email than by leaving a phone message.

Office hours

I welcome students to come talk to me often during office hours, whether about a specific question or merely to chat about ideas relating to the course or other matters.

While I make every effort to attend all office hours, occasionally I might be unavailable due to illness or an emergency.  Before coming to see me, I suggest that you call or email to confirm that I will be available.

If you wish to speak to me but are unable to meet during my office hours, we can arrange an alternate time to meet in person or speak on the phone.

Course readings and materials

Required readings

1. Weekly readings

The readings will be available on-line through the SJSU library's electronic course reserves system.  If you need help accessing the electronic reserves, the process is explained at the library's "Electronic Reserves Help" page.

I may also hand out a small number of additional articles in class.  If you miss class, be sure to check with another student to get a copy of any handouts you may have missed.

2. Style book

Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 7th ed. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2007.

This book is available for purchase at the campus bookstore, as well as at many bookstores around the Bay Area and on-line.  Be sure to buy the correct edition.

Recommended reference books

I encourage you to consider buying the following reference books, if you don't already own them.  They are useful for anyone who does much writing and editing.

1. The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

This writing and publishing style guide is one of the definitive sources used by publishers and professional offices around the United States. It offers detailed guidance on topics ranging from how to format a table of contents, to when one should and shouldn�t capitalize the word �president,� to the proper use of italics. (It is not a grammar book, however.) Note that the Turabian book is based upon the citation formats used in the Chicago Manual of Style.

2. A grammar book of your choice.

Other required materials

You must bring either a digital cassette (sometimes called a "DVC") or a VHS tape to class when you give presentations.  I will let you know in closer to the presentation dates which format tape to bring.

Course assignments and expectations

Your participation in the class will consist of attending all class meetings, completing readings and short homework assignments, critiquing drafts of other students' work, and preparing four graded assignments.  You should plan to spend an average of seven hours a week on the course in addition to the weekly class meetings.

I will calculate your grade for the course as follows:

Class participation grade

The class participation grade is based on the quality of:

• Your participation in class discussions.
• The homework assignments
• The written and verbal comments you provide your classmates in the peer feedback sessions.

All students begin the semester with an assumed "A" for class participation, and I then deduct points for missing or low-quality work as follows:

• Discussions: Students are expected to attend all class sessions and participate actively in discussions.  Multiple absences and/or repeated tardiness will result in a lower class participation grade, since you cannot participate if you are not present.
   
• Homework: I assign a number of short homework assignments designed to help students learn the course material and prepare for class discussion.  These assignments are due at the beginning of the class period for which they are assigned.  If you must miss a class, you may email me the homework before the start of the class to receive full credit for completing it.  Late homework will receive partial credit.  I do not assign a letter grade on the homework, but record the assignments as either a √+, √, or √-.  I normally assign a √, unless the assignment is incomplete or of very low quality (√-), or of exceptionally good quality (√+).
   
• Peer reviews: For each assignment, students will review each other's work. In some cases you will prepare written comments outside of class, as well as discussing your peers' work in class.  I will scan these written comments and record them as either a √+, √, or √-.  If you miss a class discussion, it is your responsibility to arrange to give and receive the assigned written and/or verbal feedback from your peer review partners outside of class.  This should be done within a day of the missed class.  If you do give your feedback late, email me a copy of your written comments and tell me the date and time when you talked with your partners , so that I can give you credit for completing the peer review.  (Otherwise, you will receive no credit for that peer review.)

Polices on turning in graded assignments (#1 - #4)

• Any student who fails to complete all graded assignments will automatically fail the course.
   
• For assignments #1 - 3, late work will be penalized one-third of a grade for each week late.  For assignment #4, the late penalty is one full grade for each day late, with papers more than three days late not accepted.  (I have very little time to grade assignment #4 before I must turn in grades for the semester, which is why I cannot accept later papers.)  An assignment counts as "turned in" only when it arrives in my email in-box.  Since email is occasionally unreliable, I recommend you not turn in papers at the very last hour they are due. Once I receive your work, I will send a confirmation email to you.
   
• If life begins to overtake you such that you expect you will not be able to complete an assignment on time and you let me know well before the due date, we can discuss alternative arrangements that might reduce the grade penalty for lateness.

Policies on resubmitting assignments #1 and #3

I encourage you to consider revising and resubmitting assignments #1 and #3, both to improve your understanding of the course material and as a way to improve your course grade.

If you wish to revise and resubmit the job application letter (#1), I encourage you to meet with me to discuss your work before you prepare the revised letter. In addition, here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

• I expect a genuine rewrite�you must do more than just fix the specific issues I have pointed out in my comments to you. You do not, however, have to write a new reflective memo.
   
• Rewritten papers will not automatically receive a higher grade; I will lower your grade or leave it unchanged, should that be my assessment of the revised work.
   
• You must turn in the revised letter no later than two weeks after the day I return the graded letters to the class.  If you turn in your original letter late and so receive my comments late, your rewrite is still due two weeks from the date I return papers to the rest of the class, even though this may reduce the amount of time you have to rewrite your paper.

You also have the option to revise and re-present the second presentation (assignment #3).  If you chose to revise and re-present it, I encourage you to discuss the assignment with me before completing your revision.  Also, keep in mind the following guidelines:

• I expect a thorough revision of the presentation that goes beyond merely fixing specific issues that I have pointed out in my written comments.  For example, you will want to consider refining your core idea, re-organizing the talk, choosing better examples or evidence, and revising the PowerPoint slides.  You do not, however, have to write a new reflective memo.
   
• Revised presentations will not automatically receive a higher grade; I will lower your grade or leave it unchanged, should that be my assessment of the revised work.
   
• All revisions will be presented during the exam periods in December (more details to be given in class).

SJSU policy on academic integrity

SJSU's Policy on Academic Integrity states: �Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jos� State University, and the University�s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Judicial Affairs. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct.�

Citing sources and avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of someone else�s language, images, data, or ideas without proper attribution. It is a very serious offense both in the university and in your professional work. In essence, plagiarism is both theft and lying: you have stolen someone else�s ideas, and then lied by implying that they are your own.

Learning when to cite a source and when not to is an art, not a science, and it is impossible to list every possible type of plagiarism. However, here are some typical examples of plagiarism that you should pay particular attention to avoid:

• If you use a sentence (or even a part of a sentence) that someone else wrote and don�t identify the language as a quote by putting the text in quote marks and referencing the source, you have plagiarized.
   
• If you paraphrase somebody else�s theory or idea and don�t reference the source, you have plagiarized.
   
• If you use a picture or table from a web page or book and don�t reference the source, you have plagiarized.
   
• If your paper incorporates data someone else has collected and you don�t reference the source, you have plagiarized.

The University of Indiana has developed a very helpful website with concrete examples about proper paraphrasing and quotation. See in particular the following pages:

• http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/overview.html
  
• http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/examples.html
  
• http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/test.html

On the last page listed, you will find a quiz to test how well you understand proper paraphrasing. 

If you still have questions after reading these pages, feel free to talk to me. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, whereas even unintentional plagiarism is a serious offense.

Course citation style

When you cite another author�s work in any assignment for the course, use footnotes and a bibliography formatted following the directions in Kate Turabian�s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed., University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Note that Turabian�s book describes two systems for referencing materials: (1) "notes" (footnotes or endnotes), plus a corresponding bibliography, and (2) in-text parenthetical references, plus a corresponding reference list. Be sure to use the first system, with footnotes and a bibliography, for all work you turn in during the semester.

Campus policy in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon possible, or see me during office hours. SJSU Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the SJSU Disability Resource Center to establish a record of their disability.

You can find information about the services SJSU offers to accommodate disabled students at www.drc.sjsu.edu.

Course schedule (subject to change with reasonable notice give in class or via email)

Notes:

• Readings are to be completed by class on the day listed. In addition to required readings, I have included some "recommended" readings that are optional.
• Assignments are due the day listed, unless otherwise noted.  They are highlighted in red.  Note that the graded assignments have multiple components.  For example, you will have to complete drafts before the final assignment is due.  Read the assignment sheets carefully for more details and listen for additional instructions given in class.
• Because you need to remember many due dates for this class, I recommended that during the first week of class you note all assignment due dates for the semester in your calendar.  This will help you to remember them.

*          *          *          *          *

Week 1: September 27/28

Topics

• Introductions and course overview
• What is "communication"?
• Writing and speaking to your audience (not to yourself)
• Overview of assignments #1 and #2

No reading

► Draft #1 job application letter due by 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 2

Week 2: September 3/4

Class will consist of student-instructor meetings held in Washington Square Hall 218C.  Bring a copy of your draft letter to the meeting.

Reading

• Fowler, H. Ramsey, Jane E. Aaron, and Kay Limburg, eds. Excerpts from "Chapter 3: Composing Paragraphs." In The Little, Brown Handbook, 5th ed.  New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992 (pp. 70-81).
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Writing Center. "Revising." August 28, 2002.  Available at: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/revision.html.
• Hairston, Maxine et al.  "Chapter 5: How Do You Revise, Edit, and Proofread?" and "Chapter 15: How Do You Manage Transitions?"  In The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, 6th ed.  New York: Longman, 2002 (pp. 60-82, 220-228).

Week 3: September 10/11

Draft #2 job application letter due (email a copy to Asha before class and bring 3 paper copies to class)

Topics

• Effective sentences and paragraphs
• The process of revising drafts
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Student critiques of draft job application letters

Reading

• Orwell, George. �The Politics of the English Language.�  In The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage.  San Diego: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1984 (pp. 355-66).
• Limerick, Patricia Nelson.  "Limerick's Rules of Verbal Etiquette."  In Something in the Soil: Legacies and Reckonings in the New West.  New York: W.W. Norton, 2000 (pp. 342-43).
• Recommended: Turabian, Kate L. "Chapter 11: Revising Sentences." In A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007 (pp. 109-119).
• Recommended (for fun): Remnick, David. "Postscript: Miss Gould." New Yorker (February 28, 2005): 34-35.

Week 4: September 17/18

Final job application letter due to Asha, by email, before class. Also, bring a paper copy of your memo to class.

Topics:

• Structuring information presentation
• Planning a talk

Reading

• Makay, John J.  "Chapter 8: Organizing and Outlining Your Ideas."  In Public Speaking: Theory into Practice. 2nd ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1995 (pp. 183-207).
• DeVito, Joseph A. "Unit 9: Elements of Organization." In The Elements of Public Speaking. 3rd ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1987 (pp. 96-112).
• Zelazny, Gene.  Excerpts from Say It with Presentations: How to Design and Deliver Successful Business Presentations. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006 (pp. 1-23).
• Tierney, Elizabeth. �Practicing and Planning.� In How to Make Effective Presentations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996 (pp. 96-101).

► Draft outline for Presentation 1 due to peer feedback partners by Friday, September 19, 5:00 p.m.

Week 5: September 24/25

Peer feedback comments on draft outlines for Presentation 1 due in class (instructions)
Freewriting homework due (.htm)

Topics

• Principles of persuasion
• When to cite sources (how to avoid plagiarism)
• Peer critiques of Presentation 1 outlines

Reading

• Elbow, Peter. "Freewriting." In Visions across the Americas: Short Essays for Composition, edited by J. Sterling Warner and Judith Hilliard. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 2001 (pp. 13-16).
• Read the excerpts from the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath available at http://www.madetostick.com/excerpts OR listen to a 40 minute interview with Chip Health about the book available from the radio program "Tech Nation," at http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1704.html.
• DeVito, Joseph A. "Unit 15: Elements of Persuasive Speaking." In The Elements of Public Speaking. 3rd ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1987 (pp. 203-214).
• Lipson, Charles. "Chapter 3: Plagiarism and Academic Honesty." In Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004 (pp. 32-48).

Week 6: October 1/2 ( *** class will be extended 15 minutes *** )

Presentation 1 given in class (videotaped)

No reading

Week 7: October 8/9

Memo reflecting on Presentation 1 due to Asha by email before class; also, bring a paper copy to class

Topics

• Discussion of Presentation 1
• Incorporating visual aids into a presentation
• Effective speaking style, Part 1

Reading

• Handout on "Sketching Your Storyboard" from Gene Zelazny
• Munter, Mary. "Chapter VI: Speaking: Visual Aids."  In Guide to Managerial Communication: Effective Business Writing and Speaking, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003 (pp. 108-141).
• Fujishin, Randy.  "Chapter 7: Delivering Your Speech: Being Yourself."  In The Natural Speaker, 5th ed.  Boston: Pearson, 2006 (pp. 107-128).
• Strongly recommended: Busse, Meghan, and Florian Zettelmeyer.  "Some Pointers for Preparing Presentations." No date. Available at http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/meghan/300/Presentations_handout.pdf.

Week 8: October 15/16

Speaking style homework due in class (.htm)
Citation style homework due in class (.htm)

Topics

• Effective speaking style, Part 2
• Formatting bibliographies and footnotes (including an in-class quiz)

Reading

• Lipson, Charles. "FAQs About All Reference Styles." In Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004 (pp. 171-181).
• Review Chapters 15, 16, and 17 of Turabian
• Optional (for fun): Menand, Louis. �The Nightmare of Citation.� New Yorker (October 6, 2003): 120-126.

► Draft outline and PowerPoint slides of Presentation 2 due to peer feedback partners by Friday, October 17

Week 9: October 22/23

Comments on peer partners' Presentation #2 materials due in class (directions)

Topics

• Coping with stage fright
• Overview of assignment #4 (persuasive report)
• Structuring formal reports
• Peer critiques of Presentation 2 materials

Readings:

• Daly, John, and Isa Engleberg. �Coping with Stage Fright: How to Turn Terror into Dynamic Speaking.� In The Results-Driven Manager: Presentations That Persuade and Motivate. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2004 (pp. 49-58).
• Urech, Elizabeth. "Control Your Nerves with the 3-B Exercises."  In Speaking Globally: Effective Presentations Across International and Cultural Boundaries. Dover, NH: Kogen Page, 1998 (pp. 75-77).

Week 10: October 29/30

Group A students give Presentation 2 in class (videotaped)

No reading.

Week 11: November 5/6

Group B students give Presentation 2 in class (videotaped)

No reading.

Week 12: November 12/13

Memo reflecting on Presentation 2 due by email to Asha before class; also, bring a paper copy to class
Homework on figures due (.htm)

Topics

• Discussion of Presentation 2
• Designing figures

Reading

• Tufte, Edward R.  �Chapter 2: Graphical Integrity� & �Chapter 4: Data-Ink and Graphical Redesign.�  In The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd ed.  Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 2001 (pp. 53-77, 91-105).
• Zelazny, Gene.  Excerpts.  In Say It With Charts: The Executive's Guide to Visual Communication, 4th ed.  New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001 (pp. 9-27).
• Recommended: Turabian, Kate L. "Chapter 8: Presenting Evidence in Tables and Figures."  In A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed.. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007 (pp. 82-97).

Week 13: November 19/20

Topics

• Designing tables
• Designing written documents

Reading:

• Turabian, Kate L. "Chapter 26: Tables and Figures."  In A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed.. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007 (pp. 359-371).
• Munter, Mary. Excerpts from "Chapter III: Writing: Macro Issues."  In Guide to Managerial Communication: Effective Business Writing and Speaking, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003 (pp. 51-63).
• Hairston, Maxine et al.  "Chapter 19: What Is Document Design?"  In The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, 6th ed.  New York: Longman, 2002 (pp. 330-345).

*** NO CLASS November 26/27 - Thanksgiving Break ***

Week 14: December 3/4

Draft Persuasive Report due to Asha by email before class; also, bring three paper copies to class

Topics

• Student evaluations of the class (SOTES)
• Peer critiques of the draft Persuasive Reports

No reading

Week 15: Optional instructor-student meetings to discuss the Persuasive Reports

Class will consist of optional-but-strongly-recommended student-instructor meetings held in Washington Square Hall 218C.  Bring a copy of your draft Persuasive Report to the meeting.

No reading.

► For both sections, the Final Persuasive Report (assignment #4) is due to Asha by email on Tuesday, December 16, at midnight (NO extensions)

Exam period:

The scheduled exam periods are:
- Section 2: Thursday, December 18, 5:15 - 7:30 p.m.
- Section 3: Friday, December 12, 2:45 - 5:00 p.m.

If all students in a section agree, we will adjust the time for this last class meeting to the usual Wednesday or Thursday time (on December 17 and 18).

Topics

• Option to present revised versions of assignment #3
• Email: Getting what you want (politely)
• Assessment of your goals for improving your speaking and writing skills in future

Reading

• Iacone, Salvatore J. �Email: To Send or Not to Send?� In Write to the Point: How to Communicate in Business with Style and Purpose. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2003 (pp. 123-136).

Page last modified: 17 September 2008