Public Speaking Building Competency in Stages

Public Speaking: Building Competency in Stages is an introduction to public speaking, a course that is found in nearly every 2 and 4 year college/university in the country. It is generally the first course students take in Communication, and many other disciplines require that their majors take this course - consequently the enrollments are huge. As the titles implies, Ferguson takes an incremental approach to the topic, and most importantly, she feels strongly about getting students throuh many chapters of theory and advice before getting to the different types of speeches that students do - informative, persuassive, special occasion, and small group. Ferguson brings the genres up front, and teaches the concepts incrementally as the pertain to the genre. She also has an overview chapters, very early, that serves as a comprehensive introduction to the basics of speaking - a very sensible pedagogical element missing from most books. in addition, the book will offer greater emphasis on audience analysis and rhetorical criticism, which gives her book a distinctive and sophisticated feel.

Each chapter ends with a Conclusion.. 1. Public Speaking in the Age of Accountability: A Critical Model. I. The Roots of Critical Society. II. Trends in the Environment. A. Increasing Activism in the Political Sphere. B. Increasing Activism in the Economic Sphere. C. Increasing Activism in the Legal Sphere. D. Increasing Diversity in the Cultural Environment. E. Changes in Technological Environments. F. Changes in Social Environments. G. Changes in Rhetorical Conventions. III. A Critical Model for Public Speaking (CCM). A. Speaker. B. Message. C. Channel. D. Environment. E. Audience. F. Noise. G. Feedback. H. Impact of Speech. I. Criteria for Judging Speech. 2. Communication Apprehensiveness: Learning to Cope with Anxiety. I. Causes of Communication Apprehension. II. Situational Anxiety and Public Speaking. III. Coping Strategies. A. Before the Speech. B. During the Speech. C. After the Speech. 3. Listening with a Purpose: Exercises in Hearing, Perceiving, and Processing Information. I. Purposeful Listening. II. Influence of Perception on Message Reception. A. Nature of Perception. B. Influence of Perception on Communication. C. How Listeners Respond. D. Influences on Listening Effectiveness. III. Reciprocal Responsibilities of Listeners and Speakers. A. Giving Nonverbal Feedback. B. Giving Verbal Feedback. 4. Acquiring the Basic Skills: The Speech of Introduction. I. Step 1: Getting Started. A. Choosing a Theme. B. Deciding upon a Purpose. C. Framing a Thesis Statement. II. Step 2: Getting Organized. A. Identifying and Ordering Major Points. B. Developing an Outline. C. Writing a Preview Statement. III. Step 3: Writing the Introduction. A. Immediacy Techniques. B. References to the Novel. C. Suspense and Shock Techniques. D. Linguistic Strategies. E. Activity, Drama, and Conflict. F. Humor. G. Gimmicks. IV. Step 4: Developing the Body of the Speech. V. Step 5: Connecting your Thoughts. A. Transitions. B. Signposts. C. Internal Summaries. VI. Step 6: Closing with A Memorable Thought. VII. Step 7: Practicing and Delivering the Speech. A. Using Note Cards. B. Practicing Timing the Speech. C. Using Visual Aids. 5. Researching, Analyzing, and Adapting to your Audience: The Speech of Welcome. I. Researching and Analyzing your Audience. A. Creating a Demographic Profile. B. Creating a Psychographic Profile. C. Creating a Personality Profile. II. Research and Analyzing your Speaking Environment. III. Adapting to your Audience and Speaking Environment. A. Choosing a Topic and Approach. B. Framing a Realistic Purpose. C. Recognizing your Audience. D. Adapting to the Situation. VI. Words of Caution. 6. Putting Principles of Delivery into Practice: The One-Point Speech. I. One-Point Speeches. II. Delivery Options. A. Extemporaneous Speaking. III. Building Credibility through Delivery. A. Composure. B. Dynamism. C. Trustworthiness. D. Sociability. E. Status. F. Competency. G. Objectivity. IV. Meeting Technical Challenges. V. Setting Realistic Goals. 7. Visual Aids and Other Software Presentations: The Co