Public Speaking: Concepts and Skills for a Diverse Society

Comprehensive, cutting-edge coverage. Continually setting the standard for excellence, PUBLIC SPEAKING: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY was the first public speaking textbook to focus on diversity, include an interpreted speech (given in Spanish and translated into English), describe invitational rhetoric, discuss receiver apprehension, and show alternative patterns of speech organization.

“Diversity in Practice” boxes. Enhancing the book's emphasis on diversity, these insightful boxes present brief summaries of public speaking traditions from a range of perspectives. Examples include ancient cultures (Chapters 1 and 17), global groups (Chapters 7 and 13), ethnic groups (Chapters 10 and 15), and co-cultures (Chapters 12 and 14).

“Ethics in Practice” boxes. PUBLIC SPEAKING has always emphasized ethical speaking and listening. Included in most chapters, “Ethics in Practice” boxes present short examples or cases that invite students to contemplate the ethical implications of chapter concepts, using probing questions that are appropriate for class discussions.

“Build Your Speech” boxes. Hands-on skill-building activities help students apply text concepts to actual speechmaking. “Build Your Speech” boxes provide excellent starting points for completing speech assignments.

Critical Thinking and Application Exercises. End-of-chapter questions help students better understand and critically evaluate the chapter content and further apply the skills they learn. Critical Thinking Exercises are designed for individual reflection on chapter concepts, while Application Exercises are designed for group assignments and in-class discussions.

“Stop and Check” activities in MindTap. These critical-thinking and skill-building exercises help students check their progress throughout the chapter to ensure thorough understanding.

Sample speeches. Many chapters include excerpts from student outlines or speeches. Chapter 17 provides a cautionary, negative model. In addition, Appendix B includes speeches by professional speakers as well as speeches and outlines that provide models illustrating how other students fulfilled a typical assignment. Most of these speeches and many others are available in online supporting materials.

New and updated information. A new section on listening competencies incorporates up-to-date cognitive science research regarding basic skills (surface processing) versus advanced skills (deep processing) for listening. Chapter 7 includes new material about legacy journalism and native digital news outlets in the rapidly changing world of journalism; it also introduces MAPit, a new strategy for evaluating online materials. Chapter 12 features a new section on powerful (versus powerless) language forms.

Information about online courses. Reflecting the increase in nontraditional courses, the Eighth Edition includes research about online courses (Chapter 1), information about audiences in online courses (Chapter 6), and tips for videotaping speeches (Chapter 14).

Succinct coverage. Clear and concise, PUBLIC SPEAKING: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY, 8e delivers more streamlined approach than ever. The briefer text no longer includes the narrative chapter with its explanation of narrative theory, but the new Chapter 18: Special Occasion Speaking includes the exemplum pattern for narratives and incorporates the guidelines in Appendix B material for special occasion speeches.

Updated references to social events. Completely up to date, the Eighth Edition includes the most current examples and illustrations available.

Enhanced online materials. In response to reviewer requests for a shorter book, many sample speeches, Stop and Check boxes, and Build Your Speech features are available in an interactive online format.