Finding Your Voice

About 69 percent of employers are searching for college-educated candidates with good verbal communication skills, according to a 2025 job outlook survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, an association that connects over 18,000 college career services professionals.

With the opening of its new Presentation/Public Speaking Lab this fall, Rhode Island College’s Academic Success Center (ASC) is providing an opportunity for students to enhance public presentations in the classroom and presumably in their future professional careers.

The mission of this lab is to provide comprehensive, accessible presentation skills that build student confidence, strengthen communication competencies and promote academic and professional success across all disciplines through evidence-based approaches, individualized coaching and peer-supported learning environments, says Matt Vekakis, the ASC’s assistant director.

The lab, which has podiums, microphones and equipment to record practice sessions is inside the ASC headquarters on Level 1 in the RIC Library.  

“There had been rumblings about students not feeling prepared for public speaking,” Vekakis says. “So, this is a program to get our students to feel confident about the way they think and speak. And as they move on into their professional pursuits, I can’t think of any career where these skills wouldn’t be transferable.”

Five student tutors from the success center went through three days of intense training, learning the fundamentals of public speaking from Interim Provost Valerie Endress, RIC alumna Suzy Alba ’05 and Celeste Warner ’90 (wife of RIC President Jack Warner) and RIC Professor of Communication Kim Martin. The tutors were given feedback about body language, gesturing and maintaining eye contact. At the end of the training, they were tasked with presenting speeches of their own.

“It’s harder for younger students these days to engage with public speaking because they’ve learned to communicate more in an online context,” says Martin, noting that public speaking will be a new general education offering in the spring. “In general, they need more help with face-to-face public and professional skills. However, we must also acknowledge that people are instinctually nervous to present or speak in public.”

Jacqueline Joly and Madison Correia, two of the tutors who received the training, say that while they come from public speaking backgrounds, they learned that public speaking isn’t a one-size-fits-all undertaking.

“Everybody deserves to have their voice heard, and this is a great way to do that,” says Correia, a graduate student studying psychology. “I’m excited that RIC is offering this lab because it is important for students to communicate clearly and engage people in a way that interests them.” 

Joly, a finance major, says she will urge students she tutors in the lab to equip themselves with a script before making a presentation.

“My writing is such a big component of how I set up a speech,” says Joly, who also is one of the ASC’s writing tutors. “I think the writing and the speaking parts complement each other since they’re both a form of communication.”

Joly says she will spread the word about the new lab in freshmen writing courses, where she serves as an embedded tutor three times a week.

“I want students to feel empowered with their voices,” she says. “No matter what you do, this is a skill we exercise all the time. Whether you’re participating on a panel or just talking to colleagues, public speaking is an ability you need to have.”

Correia says while some people are natural public speakers, she will encourage all her peers to keep practicing.

“It’s optimistic to think that you can wing it while doing a speech,” she says. “Public speaking is like anything else in life, you get better the more you do it.”

Martin, the communications professor, agrees.

“I tell students in my courses that I am a perfect example that public speaking is a skill you can improve on because I’m a natural introvert,” Martin says. “If I can do it, then I know they can do the same.”

Students can book appointments at the ASC’s Presentation/Public Speaking lab up to two weeks in advance.

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