Love public speaking?
Love helping others?

Help others love public speaking!

Be an Oral Communication Tutor (OCT)!

The application deadline has passed.

Who are OCTs?

Oral Communication Tutors (OCTs) are peer speaking tutors who support students at all stages of the oral presentation process. Both graduate and undergraduate students can serve as OCTs.

What do OCTs do?

OCTs work with graduate and undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines to brainstorm, organize, and rehearse their oral presentations. Typical issues that OCTs work on with students include: structure, delivery, voice, pacing, non-verbal communication, effective use of visual aids/multimedia, overcoming speech anxiety, etc. While most of an OCT's work with students occurs outside of class time (during individual or group consultations), OCTs are often also paired with classes that emphasize instruction in oral presentation, e.g. PWR 2 classes and DWR 2 seminars. OCTs make occasional visits to their assigned classes to conduct mini-workshops or to provide in-class assistance with students' oral presentations.

Requirements for being an OCT:

We are seeking applicants from all backgrounds and disciplines. Graduate students are especially encouraged to apply.

We look for applicants who have a strong interest in oral communication, tutoring/teaching, and multimedia presentation, and who showcase the qualities of an effective tutor. Please note that prior experience in these areas is not required.

Applicants need to include the contact information of one reference person. (See application for more details.) A letter of reference is not required.

All applicants who are offered positions as OCTs must complete a 1-3 unit training course in Spring Quarter 2008 (CTL 119: Oral Communication Tutor Teaching Practicum; Thursdays, 3:15-5:05pm) before they can begin work as an OCT. In this course, readings, exercises, and supervised teaching refine students’ own speaking skills and prepare them to work as peer speaking tutors in a variety of academic disciplines.