PREFACE

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PREFACE

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As longtime teachers of public speaking and former coaches of forensics, we have spent more than forty combined years teaching students about the power of speech in their own lives and its value in shaping our society. In creating the first edition, we distilled our best practices while transmitting our passionate commitment to the craft of public speaking. Our goal was to create a product that would grab students’ attention while meeting the teaching and learning needs of students, colleagues, and friends across the communication discipline.

We recognized that covering the vast field of public speaking—from classical rhetoric and contemporary theory to the specific steps of researching, preparing, and delivering a speech—can be a tremendous challenge given the time constraints of the course. Instructors need teaching materials that are comprehensive yet flexible enough to work with a variety of teaching styles. At the same time, students want a book that is engaging, fun, and affordable.

Keeping these challenges in mind, we came up with a three-part plan. First, we would make sure to include both traditional and compelling content. The organization would seamlessly integrate with instructors’ syllabi, and the accessible language and current examples would engage students. Second, we would team up with the brilliant Peter Arkle to develop illustrations that would illuminate concepts much more efficiently than would photographs. Professors have since confirmed that these are smart, pedagogically effective learning tools, and students have told us the fun images actually motivate them to read more of the text. Third, we would aim to be affordable for students, with the resulting cost at less than half the price of most traditional introductory speech texts.

For this edition, our focus has expanded to help our students thrive in a digital age. New and continuously improving technology is a game changer, one that instructors can use to streamline their own methods, and that students can use to become more effective speakers. Based on user feedback and our own experiences, our large-scale

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changes include a new chapter on mediated presentations and video-based assessment that converges print and digital formats. Whether students are taking an online course, creating a YouTube video for a school club, or prepping for a Skype job interview, this edition will guide them.

In our new chapter on mediated public speaking (chapter 15), we explore both prerecorded and real-time presentations, discussing the challenges and opportunities they afford. We offer lots of practical advice, such as which device to use, how to practice, and what to do when technical difficulties arise. Throughout the chapter, we provide guidelines for presenting both in the classroom (for this or another course that requires a recorded presentation) and beyond (in the workplace and the community).

We’re also excited that new technology is allowing us to move beyond the printed page with our new video activity feature. The symbol image shows students when to jump online to view videos that model good (and not so good) public speaking practices and to answer related questions. These activities visually clarify key concepts that may be difficult to show through text alone. In addition, students can access videos that show key terms in action (just look for the image in the end-of-chapter key term lists) as well as many other student and professional speeches. All in all, more than two hundred clips are available with every purchase.

In terms of other changes, we’ve expanded online coverage throughout the book, most notably in our research chapter (chapter 7). Here we explore the topic of digital resources, from using e-books and online indexes, to exporting citations, to evaluating Web sources. We’ve incorporated cutting-edge scholarly research throughout the book, especially in our chapter on listening (chapter 4). We’ve also added two contemporary speeches: a commencement speech by actress Viola Davis, and an address by Michelle Bachelet, former executive director of UN Women. Finally, we’ve worked with Peter on a host of new illustrations, full of pop-culture references and real-life examples that speak directly to students.