Founding Director of the Program in Speaking and Learning Rebekah Maggor coaches a student in a vocal exercise. Maggor oversaw the Speaking Tutors program, created the “Public Speaking Practicum” class Expository Writing 40, and helped instructors incorporate speaking into classes.

Ever since Rebekah Maggor came to Harvard in 2004 to help international students with classroom communication, she has been expanding the public speaking resources available to the Harvard community. As founding director of the Program in Speaking and Learning, she launched Expository Writing 40–the “Public Speaking Practicum”–created the Speaking Tutor program, and worked with course instructors to incorporate speaking into their curricula.

Although Maggor is leaving her post next year, students have taken up her cause, founding a group called Harvard Speaks! to promote public speaking opportunities on campus.

Meanwhile, the Office of Undergraduate Education is faced with the question of how to maintain the programs Maggor initiated and ran.

“This is a hard moment to find extra resources, but I’d love it if we had some kind of program for public speaking,” says Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Noel Bisson. “We’ve had one really fantastic person and we’re in the process of figuring out how to cobble together those duties in the future.”

SPEAKING AND THINKING

Enrollment in Expos 40 is limited to  12 students, though in its inaugural session last year it had 80 applicants, and this year it had 104.

The small class size is necessary so that students can give individual feedback to one another, Maggor says.

“You can’t learn how to speak intelligently without learning how to listen critically,” she says. “After a presentation, I’ll ask the other students ‘what was the main argument? Could you follow the logic? How were the main points substantiated?’ This is training them to listen critically.”

She is adamant that “public speaking” encompasses a much broader range of skills than is generally perceived.

“There’s a link between clear speaking and clear thinking-when you reach the point that you can teach something to someone, that’s when you understand it,” Maggor says, explaining that the way scientists, politicians, and friends communicate affects their work and relationships.

Expos 40 alum and Speaking Tutor Jarell L. Lee ’10 says the skills he gained in the class aided him in job interviews and will be important when he begins his job with Teach for America in the fall.

He adds that peer feedback and reviewing footage of his speeches in Expos 40 taught him to structure his thoughts in a more effective and organized way, “whether I’m arguing with my friends about who’s better, LeBron or Kobe, or whether it’s in the classroom.”

Four Expos 40 graduates have become Speaking Tutors, whose job is to counsel students on any type of oral presentation or interview they need assistance with. The first tutor was former Undergraduate Council President Andrea R. Flores ’10, who spoke as a tutor to many classes and groups about effective communication.

“Public speaking is not simply about making persuasive speeches or getting an A on a presentation, it is about being able to organize your thoughts, and argue them effectively in any situation,” she wrote in an e-mail, emphasizing the importance of preserving the tutor program.

TEACHING THE TEACHERS