About the Oral Communication Program

Contact the Oral Communication Program

Visit our Speaking Center in Meyer Library, Suite 123, or our staff offices on the 4th floor of Sweet Hall.

Email our staff at speakinghelp@stanford.edu

Contact us individually:

• Doree Allen, Ph.D., Program Director: doree.allen@stanford.edu, (650) 725-4149
• Thomas Freeland, Ph.D., Program Lecturer: thomas@stanford.edu, (650) 736-2337
• Lindsey Yeager, Oral Communication Specialist and OCT Manager: lindsey.yeager@stanford.edu, (650) 725-7667

Oral Communication Program History

The genealogy of public speaking at Stanford is particularly interesting in light of oral communication's recent academic renaissance. Although the ability to speak with clarity and grace has been one of the uncontested aims of a liberal arts education, the place of speech training within private institutions like Stanford has not been entirely clear. But the importance of oral communication skills prevails. Studies reveal this, common sense certainly tells us this, and, most convincingly, Stanford graduates who enter the professional world and witness the value of these skills on a daily basis remind us of this in their alumni correspondence.

The Center for Teaching and Learning's Oral Communication Program reflects the enduring relevance of the spoken arts at Stanford and the university's renewed commitment to "provide students instruction in oral communication," as it was phrased in 1994 by the Committee on Undergraduate Education. With the support of the President's Innovation Fund, a new position in oral communication was created at CTL in 1996. Since then we have developed a full-scale program which serves the university--undergraduates, graduates, and faculty--in a variety of ways, outlined below.

As we engage nationally with other college and university programs that share our mission, the possibilities for enhancing oral communication skills at Stanford seem limitless. In our efforts to develop a new and stimulating pedagogy of "public speaking," we hope to expand the traditional definition of our subject and move beyond the confines of a superficial skills orientation. Among other things, learning to listen more intently, to analyze more cogently, and to trust one's own voice more deeply. To this end, we have committed ourselves to revitalizing a rhetorical tradition at Stanford and to fostering an awareness of the seasoned and fundamental place of oral expression in a liberal education.