Advancing Oral Communication Through TED Talk Assignments

Responding to the need for clearer instruction on presentations, particularly virtual presentations, we created an advanced writing and oral communication course where the culminating project was a TED talk presentation. Teaching to this format allowed for instruction on visual communication, genre theory, and collaboration. Students also produced a proposal and annotated bibliography, infographic, script, written report, and several reflections as scaffolding assignments. Students responded well to this format, becoming more engaged than in previous semesters, and produced excellent work.