Practicing Communication Skills
The Fox Program provides arenas in which students can practice their public speaking skills.
The Fox Red and Blue Speaking Society is a student-run organization that seeks to promote the development of communication skills amongst Penn's student body. To that end, the Society holds bi-monthly events, the most popular being our Toastmasters and Speakeasy.
In Toastmasters, each participant makes a toast to a topic chosen at random. Topics may range from a favorite vacation spot, to Locust Walk, to a post-it. After the toast, the speaker is critiqued by his or her peers. Although no one is required to participate, the event is very informal, and most students find that by the second time around, they are excited to make a toast.
SpeakEasy events invite students to present a speech to an audience of their peers. Speeches run the gamut from previous Presidential Inaugural Addresses, to television comedy and team pep talks. Speakeasy is not only a lesson in oral communication, but one in body language and presentation style as well.
If you would like to get involved with the Fox Red and Blue Speaking Society or would like more information, please contact Colby Farber at farbercm@sas.upenn.edu.
