Hi Jason- good thought, I struggle with this myself. I know one thing that has helped me hook students in is relating different branches of com (0rganizational, interpersonal etc.) to things the students already find interesting or already participate in, like facebook, fantasy football, comic con and so on. This works with the resistant students the most because of the surprise factor. I find that if I can introduce the idea that com covers a myriad of topics off the bat, then the students remain more open-minded as the semester progresses. Hope that helps!