COM 42 — Improvisationally Speaking
Quarter: Spring
Instructor(s): Matt Abrahams, Adam Tobin
Date(s): Mar 30—May 18
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Mondays
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—9:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $550
Refund Deadline: Apr 1
Unit(s): 1
Enrollment Limit: 55
Status: Registration opens Feb 23, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Spring
Day: Mondays
Duration: 8 weeks
Time: 7:00—9:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Mar 30—May 18
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $550
Refund Deadline: Apr 1
Instructor(s): Matt Abrahams, Adam Tobin
Enrollment Limit: 55
Recording Available: No
Status: Registration opens Feb 23, 8:30 am (PT)
Do you get nervous before a Q&A, hesitate to speak up in meetings, or are you afraid of needing to present your hour-long business proposal in 20 minutes? Many of us are uneasy about speaking in public, especially in an impromptu, off-the-cuff manner. However, much of what happens in our personal and professional lives requires exactly this type of communication. By building on our natural speaking and improvisational abilities, we will become more comfortable presenting with authority and awareness.
Informed by research, this hands-on course blends theory, principles, and practice in public speaking and improvisation. Through exercises, you’ll learn to speak extemporaneously with greater ease and clarity in any setting. The course will emphasize development and delivery of formal presentations and in less-formal, impromptu speaking opportunities—job interviews, introductions, toasts, and question-and-answer sessions—through up-on-your-feet activities. We’ll explore gaining confidence, conveying credibility, engaging with your material and audience, and quickly putting ideas together. Everyone will participate in improvisational exercises.
MATT ABRAHAMS
Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Matt Abrahams is an educator and coach who has published research articles on cognitive planning, persuasion, and interpersonal communication. He is the author of Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot and Speaking Up without Freaking Out. Abrahams is the host of the Stanford Graduate School of Business podcast Think Fast, Talk Smart. He received an MA in communication studies from UC Davis. ADAM TOBIN
Senior Lecturer, Film and Media Studies, Stanford
Adam Tobin is a screenwriter and playwright. He created the series About a Girl and Best Friend’s Date for Viacom’s TeenNick and received an Emmy for his work on Cash Cab. Tobin also wrote the script and lyrics for She Persisted, The Musical, a New York Times Critic's Pick, based on Chelsea Clinton’s book. He has taught story seminars at DreamWorks Animation, Blue Sky Studios, and Aardman Animations. Tobin received an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Matt Abrahams, Speaking Up Without Freaking Out, 3rd edition (ISBN 978-1465237385 )
(Required) Patricia Ryan Madson, Improv Wisdom (ISBN 978-1400081882)
(Required) Patricia Ryan Madson, Improv Wisdom (ISBN 978-1400081882)