MEMORANDUM FOR Training Department
SUBJECT: Adjutant General School (AGS) Senior Leaders Course and Advanced Leaders Course Oral Communication Development Program
1. References:
a. FM 6-0, Commander and Staff Organizations and Operations, May 2014.
b. Student Text 22-2, Writing and Speaking Skills for Army Leaders (Command and General Staff School), June 2012.
c. Noncommissioned Officer Academy Policy Memorandum #36 – Student-NCO Disenrollment’s, Dismissals, Removals, and Appeals Process, 6 June 2018.
2. Purpose. Provide a structured, verbal communication development program focused upon educating and challenging officers while introducing various products and formats used throughout the Army.
3. Applicability. This program applies to all students and faculty currently assigned to the Noncommissioned Officer Academy (NCOA), Soldier Support Institute (SSI) as well as guest instructors/facilitators.
4. Overview.
a. Communication and presentation skills are critical to the success of an AG officer. Confidence and comfort with these skills comes with practice and constructive feedback. The AGS NCOA Oral Communication Development Program serves to enable students to refine briefing skills, gain experience briefing senior leaders, and stimulate critical thinking.
b. The program consists of the one individual briefs, two group briefs, and instructor/facilitator feedback.
5. Objectives:
a. Refine briefing skills of NCOA students.
b. Re-introduce students to expectations of senior leaders.
c. Produce lifelong learning, clear and concise communication, and critical thinking.
d. Utilize a consistent briefing rubric and standard for assessment.
6. Roles and Responsibilities.
a. Student:
(1) Role.
Students are expected to take ownership for their learning. They are adult learners and have a vested interest in the professional military education and development. Therefore, students will research, outline, rehearse (multiple times prior to execution), execute, receive feedback, and implement feedback. Each student is responsible for his or her learning and briefing progression.
(2) Responsibilities:
(a) Provide read-ahead slides at least three days prior to briefing execution.
(b) Rehearse. Conduct multiple rehearsals of the brief to varied audiences. Rehearsals help refine the information, streamline thought processes, boost confidence and enable a briefer to anticipate questions. Rehearsals should include automations and technology for familiarization and to minimize unwanted surprises or delays during the brief.
(c) Remain open-minded to feedback from AAR.
b. Instructor/Facilitator:
(1) Role.
Faculty assists students with briefing prior to date of execution. This includes providing guidance and assisting with questions on the subject, providing feedback on individual briefing style and technique, and providing suggestions to assist in the oral communication development.
(2) Responsibilities:
(a) Provide honest, candid feedback to students on oral communication skills while ensuring specific stylistic preference is not considered when evaluating.
(b) Provide feedback on student outlines no later than 24 hours from receipt. The intent is for students to have two days to adjust briefing as needed.
(c) Provide assessment of brief to each student no later than three days from the date of execution. At no point will a student be required to brief another requirement without having the opportunity to apply principles learned from previous briefs.
(d) Provide grader expectations by assignment so students understand what areas the instructor/facilitator typically focuses.
7. Speaking Tips:
a. Know your audience and their information needs. Know your material thoroughly. Organize your information logically.
b. Body language is important. Use appropriate hand gestures and facial expressions. Avoid reading from a prepared speech.
c. Speak with conviction and confidence. Enunciate clearly, speak slowly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling related to your topic. Project your voice to the back of the audience and vary your tone as needed to keep your audience engaged.
d. Maintain eye contact with the audience. Have momentary direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience varied with glances at the whole audience. Use eye contact to keep the audience engaged.
e. Pause. Allow yourself and your audience time to think and reflect as your brief. Listen fully to questions and pause before answering.
f. Know when to stop talking. Do not bore the audience with repetitious or unnecessary words. Time the presentation during rehearsals. Know how to conclude the presentation so as not to belabor closing remarks.
g. Rehearse audio and visual aids. Ensure all necessary equipment is set up and functional prior to the presentation. Use handouts at the appropriate time.
h. When using PowerPoint, be succinct with your information, use slides as a visual aid, and number each slide.
8. Briefing Steps.
a. Plan:
(1) Analyze the situation. Determine the audience, purpose and type of brief, subject, classification, physical facilities and support required, and preparation timeline
