Possibilities and Realities: A Speech Major in the Workplace

It has always been said that the academe molds a student based on the impractical theories written on textbooks and manuals. Given the ideologies taught in school, which are mostly dealing with the whats and whys of the “scheme of things,” one is almost kept shielded from the unkind realities outside the confines of the university. Often, a student who has imbibed these theories may experience culture shock and, worse, resistance once steeped into the so-called real world. And at this point, one gets confused on which to follow and believe in: the mastered mechanisms of academic ideas one has immersed himself into for the past three or four years of his college life; or the given and often unexpected chunks of facts—often rude, often uncompromising— ushered into one’s realizations as he enters the workplace? Oftentimes these ideas clash with one another as the student, now part of the labor force, acts based on the intuition nurtured by school against the unquestioned customs and traditions which everyone has learned to live by in the office place. Indeed, it is never easy.

For the past three or more years as a Speech Communication major, there surely are doubts on whether this course can do me good. Apart from the issues of profitability and practicality, there are also issues on the competency and comprehensiveness of the course. How many times have I heard the phrase, “Jack of All Trades, Master of None,” or the infuriating tags and stereotypes such as “Pang-call center” and “Puro dada lang”? Surely, the labels are as many as the questions howling in the hollowness of my mind. Yes, we are trained to speak and deliver well, to delve into the “human communicative experience,” and to master the art of oral, visual, and written communication. However, the fact still remains that an English major with an exceptional mastery of the figs and trunks of syntax and whatnots will always be first in line above anyone else in the research industry. Or how a Broadcast Communication or Journalism degree holder—who can skillfully define what a news peg is—will always have the upper hand in terms of employment in media organizations. As a speech major who dabbles his feet in various subjects—and more often than not lose track on his concentrations—I then become more skeptical of where my course may lead me in the long run.

In my first bite of reality, I somehow found relief upon learning that there are pieces of knowledge which I can put into practical use in the line of work that I have now. Despite the fact that there will always be someone better than me in terms of organizational knowledge and presentational skills, I still feel confident that in one way or another I can step up as a leader and speak my mind like a pro—in competent, grammatically-correct English at that! If anything, Speech Communication has largely improved my oral skills, given the type of training—and the lambasting, I must stress—that majors undergo in mastering effective communication. Furthermore, years of studying the communication models—from Aristotle’s to Schramm’s to Dance’s—also helps a lot because it gives me ideas on how to sift messages and to even process understatements from my co-workers and bosses.

As a Speech major, I believe that I am equipped with the practical theories that help me in directing my manner of handling situations in the workplace and my ethics as a co-worker and employee. The Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts provides a plethora of subjects that guide and equip a student with the proper skills on and mindset about work. Subjects such as organizational communication, intercultural communication, and rhetoric are deemed important in the line of work that I have now. Personally, these subjects stand out the most because they make me knowledgeable about the theoretical transactions of companies, about dealing with other people of different backgrounds, and about the keys to competent speaking and writing.

I will start with the good concepts that I learned from my organizational communication class under Dr. Celia Bulan. This class taught me that employees are more of a company’s assets rather than liabilities. This means that a boss or a supervisor should treat his colleagues as potentially productive members of the organization, not as burdens which the company carries. One of the basic theories under the human resource development is about tapping each one’s ability to yield into a greater and more dynamic working place. All members of an organization, if given the proper guidance and nourishment, can possess an element of success for both himself and the company as well. Moreover, it is also in my organizational communication class where I learned about the concept of “replaceable clogs.” It is argued that a boss must assure that once a worker goes absent, it is easy to find a substitute for the job that has been vacated. Though this concept may seem inconsiderate and insensitive, this I guess becomes highly important to a company which value efficiency and productivity. Another thing I learned from OrCom 101 is about the organization being an organism, whose body parts are interconnected to one another. This means that every member has a role to play, and that the outcome of such role can slightly or greatly affect the systems and procedures of the organization.

Intercultural communication is also an interesting subject in which I imbibed from a lot of concepts and theories. What comes to mind is Hofstead’s Five Cultural Dimensions. This includes the ideas of power distance; individualism vs. collectivism; masculinity vs. femininity; uncertainty avoidance; and long-term and short-term orientation. Through this, I have become more sensitive to my co-workers and more on-guard with my judgments toward their ethics, their beliefs in life and in work, etc. These concepts remind me that people come from different social backgrounds and that they have their own approaches toward work. No one must feel ethnocentric about his own standards, given the many ways in which things can be created. Moreover, it is through intercultural communication that I learned about respecting space. I have high regard with people who have been in the work longer than me, since they are the ones immersed in the work and have earned this certain degree of knowledge and expertise.

The commonly dreaded Speech 130: Introduction to Rhetoric surprisingly helps me in my work as a researcher for Storyline. Since we are asked to do write-ups for stories that we ourselves researched, it is very important for one to know how to string out words in a manner that is appealing and engaging. With Aristotle’s five canons of rhetoric—namely invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery—I find that these too, apart from being effectively used in public speaking, can also be applied to writing. Largely, through these canons writing and processing of thought is made easier. Organization and structuring of ideas is so much easier once one subscribes to the canons laid down by Aristotle. Indeed, one cannot go wrong!

Despite this, though, there is still that lingering feeling that we, as speech majors, can deliver more if only… The problem with our department is the seemingly diluted curriculum that we have, thus the confusion on focus and specialization. It would help if the curriculum would be classified based on specified fields, such as speech in the academe, in the media, in advertising, etc. With this, students’ knowledge wouldn’t drown in the dense pool of subjects that they are taking. Granted that speech communication hones good speakers, but this does not suffice for jobs that demand for more skills than just merely speaking. Skills such as writing, events organizing, or marketing would always be asked from an employee. And given our curriculum, this is quite difficult to pull off.

With these things said, I still have great confidence that a speech major is competent enough to shine and lead in his work. Oral communication is highly important. However, as time passes by, this criterion will wear off, too. So there needs to be a concentration in the course. It is not enough that one does excel in the work; he must also set the trend. If these things are achieved, there indeed is, for a speech major, a bright future looming in the horizon.