Product Description

Mastering Public Speaking equips readers with a firm grounding in the "hows" and "whys" of public speaking by providing an ideal balance of theory and skills while placing important emphases on critiquing, ethics, and critical thinking. With this top-selling book, readers learn how to think critically as they choose speech topics, conduct research, organize content, select language, manage nervousness, and deliver speeches. "Theory into Practice" and "Try This," features help readers understand and apply concepts and strategies of public communication to enhance their speaking competence. Mastering Public Speaking adds interest and relevance to all aspects of the speech-making process.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #373717 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 447 pages

From the Back Cover

Written in a casual, lively style and clearly organized, this edition of Mastering Public Speaking equips students with a firm grounding in the “hows” and “whys” of public speaking, providing an ideal balance of theory and skills while placing important emphases on critiquing, ethics, and critical thinking.

Building on its previous success, the Sixth Edition retains its popular and distinctive emphasis on the ethical contract between speaker and listener and on the value of critiquing speeches to improve one's own skills. Full of student examples from both two- and four-year schools (some of which are included in video form on MySpeechLab), Mastering Public Speaking adds interest and relevance to all aspects of the speech-making process.

New to This Edition . . .

• Theory into Practice, a boxed feature that appears in every chapter, helps students understand and apply concepts and strategies of public communication to enhance their speaking competence.
• Try This boxes, also in each chapter, engage students in specific assignments that will prepare them for speeches they give in- and outside of class. Students may self-select these activities or their instructors may assign them..
• Selected sample speeches discussed in the book are available on MySpeechLab in video format, offering visual examples for students.
• A stunning new design will engage students while presenting content in a more user-friendly style.

What your colleagues are saying . . .

“I find a lot to like in this text since I have used it since 1993. The book is very readable . . . and the mix of theory, practice, example, and application is super for an intro speech course.”
~ Kathy Lee Berggren, Cornell University

“This text is undoubtedly the strongest public speaking textbook I have worked with . . . In fact, the next time a textbook review committee is formed for a standardized public speaking course, the Grice and Skinner text will be my first recommendation.”
~ Marianne Palmisano, Glendale Community College

Customer Reviews

Very nice
The book is very informative. It has cheatsheets printed on the back cover. There is also information to help you with your first speech because the author realized that speeches would be prepared before the student could finish reading the book.

Disappointing
I'd considered buying this book from Amazon, and decided to first examine a copy at the Boston Public Library. I was unimpressed. The tone seems aimed at middle-school students, and the text is littered with patronizing "Dick & Jane" anecdotes. A quick glance through the table of contents suggests that Grice and Skinner address nearly every conceivable aspect of public speaking -- but a closer examination reveals a complete lack of depth. It seems as if they simply brainstormed ways to add pages without actually investigating their subject.

The most derelict example I found was the second chapter, devoted entirely to a discussion of ethics. This chapter includes a section on plagiarism, where Grice and Skinner define plagiarism and warn students that getting caught may result in failing a class or being expelled from school -- hardly the sort of information you'd expect from a college-level textbook. Meanwhile, Grice and Skinner lazily sidestep the most challenging issue -- the employment of speechwriters -- by confining its mention to a brief, rhetorical question among the chapter-end exercises. In other words: "Here's a complex issue. We've exhausted our space with rudimentary ones, but we encourage you to do some real work on your own!"

There are some informative, useful books on public speaking. Richard Dowis and James Humes have each written excellent books on crafting and delivering a speech. Virgil Anderson and Ann Utterback have written valuable books on training your voice, and Livingston Taylor and Keith Johnstone have written classics on stage performance. My suggestion is to skip this book. I was thoroughly disappointed with its lack of ambition, and I'd hate to be stuck with a professor who found it respectable.

Mediocre text
I had to use this book for a public speaking class and found it to be quite tiring to get through. Its few good ideas and suggestions are easily lost within its high-school approach and broad conjectures about communication.