There has always been an oral-communication component in my upper-level business communications classes. I used to justify this to my students this way: In my own professional life, no matter how beautifully clear and researched the documents my clients pay me for are, they still want me to come into their office and explain my work to them. There is no way around it.
Now that AI platforms have made it very easy to generate text for student work, I have another rationale for the oral-communication requirement. It is not only a handy way for students to demonstrate that they know and really understand what they wrote, it might also be the best way.
Knowledge exists in the body and in the pulse of time, three things that come together in the human voice speaking to others. This knowledge blooms through conversation.
