If you are not comfortable with public speaking, this is the teacher to support you. Very engaging, very helpful. Will answer your questions honestly, doesn't beat around the bush with anything. His grading system doesn't correlate to traditional grading systems, but this shouldn't scare you off. It is so he can grade each student individually by their growth rather than the overall level of the class. You have 4 speeches, and the final speech is 25% of your grade. All the topics are very flexible, very simple.

this is one of the best classes I've ever taken, and so far the best professor I have met. It is so easy to engage in this class, as well as easy to succeed. If you are interested in improving your public speech, take this class with this professor. This professor is extremely helpful and clear. I genuinely look forward to this class. Especially the speech days. It is definitley intimidating, but so worth it. Take this class with hurwitz. ALSO havent even recieved my grade yet and I dont care what I get because either way this class was 100% worth all my time and energy.

Literally the best class and best professor. Hurwitz is so so nice and funny and this class is super manageable. He grades based on improvement, so even if you're not a big public speaker compared to other people taking the class, it doesn't matter because it's all based on how you improve on your speeches over the quarter. There's very little work, and his constructive criticism at the end of your speech is super helpful and is delivered very kindly. TAKE THIS CLASS WITH HURWITZ! You won't regret it!

Professor Hurwitz is beyond amazing. Every time when I came to class, Professor Hurwitz displayed incredible enthusiasm and excitement in teaching new concepts of a new module. Instead of focusing heavily on theory, Professor Hurwitz made the class incredibly practical. This not only helped me to do well in the class, but has also transcended my public speaking skills to the next level. The lessons I have acquired for this course will stay with me for the rest of my life. In my humble opinion, this is a class that should be taken by all UCLA students regardless of major, as it will provide you with the opportunity to work on skills necessary to do well in life such as body language, mindset and attitude. I am incredibly grateful for every moment that I have spent in Professor Hurwitz's class, and I truly hope he will get to teach more courses in the future, as I would love to take another course with Professor Hurwitz.

I literally never give reviews on here, but this class was so insanely amazing that I had to make an account. If you're interested in developing your speech skills, or if you just want a fun course to be in (or if this is your prereq for comm haha) TAKE THIS CLASS!!!
The way the class is formatted is pretty quickly paced, so I wouldn't say it's the easiest class ever, but assignments are simple and intuitive. You'll have four speeches total, with one being the final--that's IT. The instructor is so entertaining, and he creates a really warm, non-judgemental environment in throughout the quarter, which is perfect for those who need to warm up to public speaking.
He provides really honest and constructive feedback while still managing to pick out and encourage the features that improve your personal speaking style. The grading is based off of improvement, so he isn't comparing you to any other students. All he really cares about is honest effort and application, which is really refreshing to see in an instructor.
Overall, this is literally my favorite class I've ever taken at UCLA, and it legitimately makes me really sad that the quarter is ending.

Prof Hurwitz is great! If you aren't comfortable with public speaking, be ready to put in effort. Prof grades on improvement so as long as you do your best, you should be fine.

As someone that struggles with public speaking, I was really intimidated by taking this class, but this class changed that. Professor Hurwitz is really funny and makes lectures straight to the point. Total of three speeches, one response speech, and a final speech. There are three days of lectures and then three days of speeches and so forth until the final speech. What makes Professor Hurwitz different from all other professors is that he does not have slides during lectures and just gives lectures verbally and graded your speeches based on your improvement and not comparing your performance to other students. I did not write notes in this class which was different for me because everything was explained well and notes were not necessary. I recommend reaching out to him before each speech delivery to see if your speech is going on the right track. There are activities in class where you can earn extra credit toward your speech grades. Class participation is important and can easily get credit by giving feedback to students after their speech delivery. Overall, a very manageable class with a great professor.

I really liked this professor and this class. He was flexible with speech schedules and always helpful when we had questions, a super nice guy. The grade consisted of our 3 speeches. You don't get much direction for exactly what needs to be in each speech (like there is no rubric) which is a good thing and a bad thing because it gives you room to talk about what you want but can also make you feel a little lost if you are someone like me who likes alot of structure. Overall though if you participate by giving your classmates feedback on their speeches and you practice your speeches beforehand and make sure to implement the techniques you learn in class into your speeches it should be a pretty easy A.

At first, I was wary of choosing a professor that only had one Bruinwalk rating, albeit a great one, but I am so glad that I did. Professor Hurwitz is the kind of professor that prioritizes a student's learning over anything else. He understands that students have a life outside of his classroom that can be stressful at times and he is accommodating. He is a generally easy grader, but that does not mean that he does not provide critiques. The class is comprised of 4 speeches and Professor Hurwitz takes care in providing specific feedback to everyone so that they can improve on the next one. His class is an engaging and fruitful experience where genuine learning is the goal (in contrast to other classes...comm 10). I genuinely hope that he is able to teach more classes of comm 1 and eventually more classes in the Communications department so that more students can reap the benefits of his teaching.

Most engaging and personable professor I've had at UCLA- cannot recommend Dr. Hurwitz enough. Class consisted of 4 speeches given throughout the quarter and 1 impromptu speech response. Prompts can be abstract but lend themselves to really fun speeches. You are only technically required to attend class the day you're assigned to speak; but I genuinely recommend going to all of his lectures as they are so funny + tons of extra credit opportunities. He is a generous grader and more concerned with your personal growth as a speaker than penalizing your grade.