Our People

About Our Consultants

A Consultant Profile

Our consultants have completed CST 390, the three-credit speaking center theory and practice course. CST 390 is nationally certified as appropriate for speaking center consultant training. Consultants might also develop and/or facilitate workshops.

Our consultants are students who work under the professional credentials and supervision of the speaking center directors. They engage with speakers as are peer consultants and students first. All consultants have a 3.0 or higher overall GPA. They represent a wide variety of undergraduate majors and minors across the curriculum.

All consultants facilitate dialogue about oral communication which is nonjudgmental and value free while consulting. They are never put into a situation where they are expected to assess or grade speakers. Consultants are amazing listeners! Listening during consultations is what they spend nearly all their speaking center time doing. They all have strong interpersonal communication competencies and a genuine passion for helping others. Also, they have more knowledge about public speaking, more experience in peer-to-peer interpersonal communication, and more resources available to them in oral communication than most other UNCG students.

Our consultants love the feeling of having made a difference after working with and meeting the needs of speakers. They also engage with their work environment as if it is a community of practice. This is because they need to practice a speech just as much as everyone else and they always practice their workshop before they go out to present for us. Moreover, they do not present flawless speeches as they are not professional speakers. All consultants are personally invested in their own process of becoming more confident and competent oral communicators. They understand that practice is part of the process and are learning new things from their experiences with speakers every day!

Each consultant must work at least 4 hours a week most average 5-10 hours a week for us. At most, they offer one speaking center orientation speech or workshop each semester.

As alumni, our consultants have gone on to serve with organizations such as AmeriCorps, advanced their studies in areas that include law, communication studies, ministry, social work, business, and counseling or have gone directly to successful careers in teaching, banking, information technology, training, sales, graphic design, case work (for Congressman Brad Miller), entrepreneurship, nursing, personal training, management, public relations, nonprofits, development, and many other fields.

Our consultants are a pleasure to work with and it is an honor for those who get to to serve as faculty mentor to them.