With limited funding and increased job competition, STEM professionals face a growing need to communicate their science. In this study, conservation biology faculty and practitioners from across the United States designed classroom exercises and teaching interventions intended to bolster oral communication skills. Through repeated oral presentation assignments integrated into course requirements, we examined individual student learning gains via quantitative assessments. We used two teaching modes: in an "intensive" version of a teaching intervention, students watched their presentations on video and reflected on their performance using a rubric; the "light" version included delivery of the rubric only. Students completed pre- and post-course surveys of student confidence, and pre- and post-exercise content knowledge questions. Faculty scored student performance on the basis of a detailed rubric encompassing components of effective oral presentations. We saw content gains accompany enhanced skill performance between the first and second presentations, with greater gains occurring during the intensive teaching intervention. Our results indicate that practice of a skill coupled with reflection on the process bolsters student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]