Three innovations combine to make it possible for Arizona State University to move 1,600 students a year through a performance based communication course with no expense but the salary of a single faculty member. Apart from the obvious economic benefits, the mass lecture/small group breakdown format assures that the student will receive an academically sound introduction to the field of communication, and the course design permits a standardized public speaking experience that improves both the form and the substance of student performances. This is possible because undergraduate teaching assistants are selected on the basis of having been superior students in the course during the prior semesters; therefore, the best students are recycled back into the course as TAs. The primary disadvantage lies in the grading, since the influence of the TA upon a student's grade must be kept to a minimum, and only the course director determines the final rank-ordering of the student speeches and then assigns grades to the individual students. The three innovations that must be included in the system to make the use of undergraduate TAs practicable are (1) a contiguous lecture breakdown schedule, (2) a personalized text-syllabus-workbook publication, and (3) a "classroom apprenticeship" course to serve as a vehicle for giving the TAs academic credit as payment for their service to the course. (A sample course calendar is included.) (HTH)