Hey all!
Took the Principles of Public Speaking DSST Pt 1 and 2 on Tuesday, and already got my scores back for both. Received a 489 on the written and a pass on the spoken. Here are my thoughts:
Prep time: 30 minutes (literally in car before the test)
Difficulty: 2/10
Part 1- Multiple Choice: Honestly, this was both trickier and easier than I thought. Before I joined the military, I had a job in which I was often required to speak in front of influential audiences, anywhere from 5-500 people. Public Speaking has always been one of my strongest skills, and I actually prefer speaking to a group than to somebody one on one (call me a weirdo, and I'll agree). So because I was using instacert for my previous exam (Principles of Supervision) and when I saw they didn't have a module for this portion, I kind of ignored it and thought I could go in and crush it without any prep. But some nerves and cold feet saw me sitting in my car outside the testing facility about an hour before test scrambling to find a study guide to give me a bit of prep. I eventually found Mastering the DSST (by Peterson) chapters 6-8: Principles of Public Speaking. On the amazon store, you can literally just buy these 2 chapters for $2.99 and get them as an e-book, and I highly recommend it. The multiple choice was not super hard, and although there are some tricky terms that you should know, there aren't that many- like I said, I studied for about 30 minutes before hand. But these couple chapters shored up my vocab knowledge, and for this test some of the terms you need to know to get the question right. Read this chapter, and focus on these subjects:
Types of speeches and what form of speech is best for them(informational, persuasive, entertaining, etc.)
Types of preparation for speeches (impromptu, manuscript, etc)
Logical fallacies (bandwagon, hasty generalization, red herring etc)
specific unfamiliar vocab (ad hominem, ad populum, ethos, logos, pathos)
Different speech structures (spatial, chronological, temporal)
Audience analysis and relevance (these can be a bit straightforward, but you will get multiple questions on them)
I think if you really know these, it's about 60% of the battle. About 30% of the battle is simply critically analyzing the question and finding the most logical answer. I bolded the vocab section because if you go into the test not knowing what those are, you will be caught off guard. Really focus on the 3 "os"- pathos, logos and ethos; all of the logical fallacies, and the different speech structures. There are some Latin terms, but reading through the chapter and/or finding the quizlet stack with these flash cards is really helpful.
I didn't think I did great and got a 489- I know we don't know the exact number of questions we get wrong on any test, but the absolute worst possible score I got was 89/100, and probably closer to 95/100. You all should be fine.
Part 2: Preparing a Speech
I think a lot of people get in their head about this, because the test is called "Principles of Public Speaking" and they think oh my god, I have to prepare a speech in 10 minutes and public speak?? No, no you don't. You will be in a room, by yourself, no proctor, speaking into a microphone and somebody 3-7 days from now will be listening to it and grading it. The best advice I can give is to take deep breaths, be calm and soldier on. They are giving you an impromptu subject- they don't expect you to be an expert on it, and have stats and figures. Hell, I made some up and still passed. Here's how I spent my 10 minutes, gave my speech, and my recommendations/ dos and donts:
1. Write an intro sentence: For me, I made it a hooky question. Pose the audience a question to get them involved. This is the very first thing they will hear, so make it good.
2. Write a thesis: For my thesis statement, I simply said something like, "today, I will convince you why (insert argument here) focusing specifically on (insert two-3 points you want to hit). I highly recommend that you only make it two points- 3 minutes goes by fast, and if you try and get 3-5 points in, you're not going to be able to expand on these and be convincing.
3. Bullet point rest of intro, and body paragraphs: I've always been pretty good at impromptu speaking, or as my mom calls it lovingly, "bulls***ing". I just bulleted in what I wanted to expand on based on the two focus points from my thesis, made up some stats and some anecdotes/examples, and winged it.
4. Write out your concluding last sentence. If nothing else, really focus on your first and last sentence and fully write it out. This will be the first and lasting impression that the grader has on you, so if you knock these out of the park you have a good chance of making up for some mistakes. I made my last sentence a rhyme actually, as a final point of emphasis. I went down the "if the glove don't fit, you must equit" pathway and it worked for me.
5. Briefly bullet the rest of your conclusion. This doesn't have to be rocket science. I literally wrote on my notes "restate your thesis in a different way, retouch on points, and hit the last sentence".
This should take about 10 minutes. One you start recording:
1. Do speak slowly and clearly
2. Don't say "umm" or "like": You don't need to fill the silence. If you're searching for a word in your head, search for it. The audience doesn't need or want to hear umm or like.
3. Do use inflection: don't be monotone- make it sound like you're interested in the topic, even if you're not.
4. Do breathe: might sound self explanatory, but before you start, and after each sentence, take a deep to moderately deep breath. It slows you down and gives you a quick sec to gather your thoughts.
5. Don't try and write the whole speech out: There's a reason why they give you 10 minutes and not 50. They don't want a manuscript or memorized speech style. They want an impromptu speech to see how you do off the top of you're head. Don't let them psyche you out.
Look, I firmly believe they're not expecting you to be MLK or Obama. The grader understands you've got 10 minutes to prep a subject you're not an expert in without any resources. I think they're trying to throw you off your game and see if you have the ability to sound confident even when you're not. Was this my best effort when it comes to giving a speech? No, not by a long shot. Did I say umm? Yes, one time by accident. Does the grader care about a couple mistakes, umms or stumbles if overall, you speak confidently, don't come off as boring and have a linear, straight forward organizational structure with some good points, examples and even anecdotes? No.
Bottom line is, you got this (on both fronts). Don't be intimidated by the speech portion, and remind yourself that "just because it's called principles of public speaking, doesn't mean that I am public speaking". You're not. You're prepping an impromptu speech to give into a microphone, by yourself that one person will ever listen to.
I got my multiple choice score right away, and my speech took 2 and a half days to be graded. I've heard it can take up to 7-10 days, I guess I just got lucky. You'll get an email with your total score, showing your multiple choice and your pass/fail result on your speech.
You got this!
Took the Principles of Public Speaking DSST Pt 1 and 2 on Tuesday, and already got my scores back for both. Received a 489 on the written and a pass on the spoken. Here are my thoughts:
Prep time: 30 minutes (literally in car before the test)
Difficulty: 2/10
Part 1- Multiple Choice: Honestly, this was both trickier and easier than I thought. Before I joined the military, I had a job in which I was often required to speak in front of influential audiences, anywhere from 5-500 people. Public Speaking has always been one of my strongest skills, and I actually prefer speaking to a group than to somebody one on one (call me a weirdo, and I'll agree). So because I was using instacert for my previous exam (Principles of Supervision) and when I saw they didn't have a module for this portion, I kind of ignored it and thought I could go in and crush it without any prep. But some nerves and cold feet saw me sitting in my car outside the testing facility about an hour before test scrambling to find a study guide to give me a bit of prep. I eventually found Mastering the DSST (by Peterson) chapters 6-8: Principles of Public Speaking. On the amazon store, you can literally just buy these 2 chapters for $2.99 and get them as an e-book, and I highly recommend it. The multiple choice was not super hard, and although there are some tricky terms that you should know, there aren't that many- like I said, I studied for about 30 minutes before hand. But these couple chapters shored up my vocab knowledge, and for this test some of the terms you need to know to get the question right. Read this chapter, and focus on these subjects:
Types of speeches and what form of speech is best for them(informational, persuasive, entertaining, etc.)
Types of preparation for speeches (impromptu, manuscript, etc)
Logical fallacies (bandwagon, hasty generalization, red herring etc)
specific unfamiliar vocab (ad hominem, ad populum, ethos, logos, pathos)
Different speech structures (spatial, chronological, temporal)
Audience analysis and relevance (these can be a bit straightforward, but you will get multiple questions on them)
I think if you really know these, it's about 60% of the battle. About 30% of the battle is simply critically analyzing the question and finding the most logical answer. I bolded the vocab section because if you go into the test not knowing what those are, you will be caught off guard. Really focus on the 3 "os"- pathos, logos and ethos; all of the logical fallacies, and the different speech structures. There are some Latin terms, but reading through the chapter and/or finding the quizlet stack with these flash cards is really helpful.
I didn't think I did great and got a 489- I know we don't know the exact number of questions we get wrong on any test, but the absolute worst possible score I got was 89/100, and probably closer to 95/100. You all should be fine.
Part 2: Preparing a Speech
I think a lot of people get in their head about this, because the test is called "Principles of Public Speaking" and they think oh my god, I have to prepare a speech in 10 minutes and public speak?? No, no you don't. You will be in a room, by yourself, no proctor, speaking into a microphone and somebody 3-7 days from now will be listening to it and grading it. The best advice I can give is to take deep breaths, be calm and soldier on. They are giving you an impromptu subject- they don't expect you to be an expert on it, and have stats and figures. Hell, I made some up and still passed. Here's how I spent my 10 minutes, gave my speech, and my recommendations/ dos and donts:
1. Write an intro sentence: For me, I made it a hooky question. Pose the audience a question to get them involved. This is the very first thing they will hear, so make it good.
2. Write a thesis: For my thesis statement, I simply said something like, "today, I will convince you why (insert argument here) focusing specifically on (insert two-3 points you want to hit). I highly recommend that you only make it two points- 3 minutes goes by fast, and if you try and get 3-5 points in, you're not going to be able to expand on these and be convincing.
3. Bullet point rest of intro, and body paragraphs: I've always been pretty good at impromptu speaking, or as my mom calls it lovingly, "bulls***ing". I just bulleted in what I wanted to expand on based on the two focus points from my thesis, made up some stats and some anecdotes/examples, and winged it.
4. Write out your concluding last sentence. If nothing else, really focus on your first and last sentence and fully write it out. This will be the first and lasting impression that the grader has on you, so if you knock these out of the park you have a good chance of making up for some mistakes. I made my last sentence a rhyme actually, as a final point of emphasis. I went down the "if the glove don't fit, you must equit" pathway and it worked for me.
5. Briefly bullet the rest of your conclusion. This doesn't have to be rocket science. I literally wrote on my notes "restate your thesis in a different way, retouch on points, and hit the last sentence".
This should take about 10 minutes. One you start recording:
1. Do speak slowly and clearly
2. Don't say "umm" or "like": You don't need to fill the silence. If you're searching for a word in your head, search for it. The audience doesn't need or want to hear umm or like.
3. Do use inflection: don't be monotone- make it sound like you're interested in the topic, even if you're not.
4. Do breathe: might sound self explanatory, but before you start, and after each sentence, take a deep to moderately deep breath. It slows you down and gives you a quick sec to gather your thoughts.
5. Don't try and write the whole speech out: There's a reason why they give you 10 minutes and not 50. They don't want a manuscript or memorized speech style. They want an impromptu speech to see how you do off the top of you're head. Don't let them psyche you out.
Look, I firmly believe they're not expecting you to be MLK or Obama. The grader understands you've got 10 minutes to prep a subject you're not an expert in without any resources. I think they're trying to throw you off your game and see if you have the ability to sound confident even when you're not. Was this my best effort when it comes to giving a speech? No, not by a long shot. Did I say umm? Yes, one time by accident. Does the grader care about a couple mistakes, umms or stumbles if overall, you speak confidently, don't come off as boring and have a linear, straight forward organizational structure with some good points, examples and even anecdotes? No.
Bottom line is, you got this (on both fronts). Don't be intimidated by the speech portion, and remind yourself that "just because it's called principles of public speaking, doesn't mean that I am public speaking". You're not. You're prepping an impromptu speech to give into a microphone, by yourself that one person will ever listen to.
I got my multiple choice score right away, and my speech took 2 and a half days to be graded. I've heard it can take up to 7-10 days, I guess I just got lucky. You'll get an email with your total score, showing your multiple choice and your pass/fail result on your speech.
You got this!
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