Oral Communication Program
"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud." —Emile Zola
Our Mission
The Oral Communication Program reflects the enduring relevance of the communication arts at Stanford. At the heart of our mission is the belief that when we enhance our students’ oral communication skills, we are teaching more than public speaking. We are teaching listening skills, and more broadly, we are helping our students to understand the relationship between their own communication choices and actions, the processes of inquiry, and their learning. We hold as an elemental principle that “students learn to speak so that they can speak to learn”; that is, we see a demonstrable correlation between improved speaking skills and enhanced learning outcomes.
Pictured above: Sreya Guha, a senior majoring in symbolic systems, speaking at the 131st Opening Convocation Ceremony. Photo by Andrew Brodhead.