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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $209.99

Format:
Paperback
448 pp.
33 photographs, 10 figures, and 74 boxes, 8" x 10"

ISBN-13:
9780195420081

Copyright Year:
2006

Imprint: OUP Canada


Public Speaking in Canada

Building Competency in Stages

Sherry Devereaux Ferguson

Public Speaking in Canada takes an assignment-based approach to teaching oral communication skills. Instructors can choose from a range of possible assignments, including speeches of introduction, welcoming speeches, informative and demonstration speeches, persuasive speaking, social occasion speaking, impromptu speaking, debates, good will speeches for business or political occasions, sales presentations, project proposals or debriefings, team presentations and much more. Topics covered in the text include communication apprehension, perception, listening, audience adaptation, visual aids, speaker credibility, logical supporting materials, and emotional appeals. Students can engage in a coffee shop discussion on ethics, where they consider problems associated with ambiguous or misleading language or fallacious reasoning. Loaded with many examples, sample student speeches, and illustrations, instructors and students will find Public Speaking in Canada: Building Competency in Stages an easy-to-use and comprehensive treatment of communication skills.

Readership : Students in public speaking courses, usually called 'public speaking' or 'speech communication', offered in communication departments at a variety of levels in both universities and colleges. Secondary market: various other departments where public speaking is required, including business, engineering, fashion, etc.

Each chapter begins with Learning Objectives and ends with a Conclusion and Questions for Discussion
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Public Speaking in the Age of Accountability: A Critical Model
The Birth of Critical Society in Canada
Trends in the Environment
A Critical Model for Public Speaking
2. Communication Apprehensiveness: Learning to Cope with Anxiety
Suggested Assignment: Assessing and Coping with Anxiety
Situational Anxiety and Public Speaking
Causes of Communication Apprehension
Physical Manifestations of Communication Anxiety
Coping Strategies
3. Listening with a Purpose
Suggested Assignment: Hearing, Perceiving, and Processing Information
Purposeful Listening
Influence of Perception on Message Reception
Reciprocal Responsibilities of Listeners and Speakers
4. Acquiring the Basic Skills
Suggested Assignment: The Speech of Introduction
Step 1: Getting Started
Step 2: Getting Organized
Step 3: Writing an Introduction
Step 4: Developing the Body of the Speech
Step 5: Connecting Your Thoughts
Step 6: Closing with a Memorable Thought
Step 7: Practising and Delivering the Speech
5. Researching, Analyzing, and Adapting to Your Audience
Suggested Assignment: The Speech of Welcome
Researching and Analyzing Your Audience: Creating Useful Profiles
Analyzing Your Speaking Environment
Adapting to Your Audience
Taking Ethical and Critical Concerns into Consideration
Appendix: Sample Speeches of Welcome
6. Putting Principles of Delivery into Practice
Suggested Assignment: The Impromptu Speech
Preparing an Impromptu Speech
Building Credibility through Delivery
Meeting Technical Challenges
Setting Realistic Goals
Putting the Significance of Delivery into Perspective
Appendix: Selected Videos on Public Speaking, Available in Canadian Libraries
7. Visual Aids and Software Presentations
Purposes of Visual Supports
General Principles
Different Kinds of Visual Supports
Presenting Statistics in Visual Formats
PowerPoint and Other Computer-Generated Presentations
Appendix: PowerPoint Presentation
8. Researching and Supporting Your Ideas: The Informative Speech
Suggested Assignment: Preparing the Informative Speech
Different Types of Informative Speeches
Step 1: Choosing Your Topic
Step 2: Framing Your Purpose Statement
Step 3: Writing Your Thesis Statement
Step 4: Researching Your Speech
Step 5: Identifying Points of Possible Confusion
Step 6: Choosing an Organizational Pattern
Step 7: Developing an Outline
Step 8: Writing a Preview Statement
Step 9: Writing Your Introduction
Step 10: Developing Your Outline with Supporting Materials
Step 11: Linking the Parts of the Speech
Step 12: Adding Interest with Visual Aids
Step 13: Concluding the Speech
Appendix: Sample Student Informative Speeches
9. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Persuasive Discourse
Suggested Assignment: A Debate Involving Minority Voices
Ethos as a Persuasive Strategy
Pathos as a Persuasive Strategy
Logos as a Persuasive Strategy
10. Speeches to Convince, Stimulate, or Actuate
Suggested Assignment: Preparing a Persuasive Speech
Step 1: Selecting Your Topic
Step 2: Framing a Tentative Position Statement
Step 3: Translating Your Position Statement into a Thesis Statement
Step 4: Researching Your Audience
Step 5: Defining Your General Purpose
Step 6: Framing a Desired Outcome
Step 7: Matching Audiences with Organizational Patterns
Step 8: Writing Your Introduction
Step 9: Supporting Your Ideas
Step 10: Choosing Evocative Language
Step 11: Adapting Your Materials to Your Audience
Step 12: Linking Your Ideas
Step 13: Writing Your Conclusion
Step 14: Delivering Your Speech
Step 15: Responding to Questions
Appendix: Sample Student Persuasion Speeches
11. The Language of Propaganda
Suggested Assignment: Engaging in a Coffee Shop Discussion on Ethics
Defining Propaganda
The Toolbox of the Propagandist
Fallacies in Reasoning
Problems with Statistics
The Critical Communication Model as a Basis for Assessing the Ethics of Communication
12. Speaking in Social Contexts: The Social Occasion Speech
Suggested Assignment: Preparing a Social Occasion Speech
Types of Social Occasion Speeches
The Use of Humour
Appendix: Sample Student Special Occasion Speeches
13. Speaking in Classroom Contexts: Team Presentation
Suggested Assignment: Making a Team Presentation
Choosing a Theme
Setting Teaching and Learning Objectives
Deciding on an Agenda of Learning Activities
Managing Group Dynamics
Delivering the Presentation
14. Speaking in Political and Business Contexts: Goodwill and Other Special Purpose Speeches
Suggested Assignment: Preparing a Special Purpose Speech
Political Contexts
Business Contexts
Delivering the Manuscript Speech
15. Professional Speechwriting
Suggested Assignment: Preparing a Ghost-written Speech
Steps in Producing a Ghost-written Speech
Techniques for Preparing a Manuscript for Delivery
Relinquishing Ownership
Evaluating Your Efforts
Employment Opportunities as a Freelance Writer
The Debate over the Ethics of Ghost Writing
16. The Nature and Function of Rhetorical Criticism
Suggested Assignment: Preparing a Rhetorical Analysis
Speaker Motives
Environment
Audience
Speaker
Message
Outcomes
Cost of Achieving Outcomes
Appendix: Sample Rhetorical Analysis
Appendix: A Selection of Speeches
Dr Martin Luther King Jr: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, 28 August 1963
Prime Minister Joe Clark: Eulogy for John G. Diefenbaker, Saskatoon, 22 August 1979
Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau: Paul Sauve Arena, Montreal, 14 May 1980
Prime Minister Kim Campbell: Canada Day, Vancouver, 1 July 1993
Earl Charles Spencer: Eulogy for Diana Princess of Wales, Westminster Abbey, London, 6 September 1997
Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson: Eulogy for Canada's Unknown Soldier, Ottawa, 28 May 2000
Dr Leslie Tutty: 11th Anniversary Memorial Service for Montreal Massacre, Calgary, 6 December 2000
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien: Ottawa Central Mosque, Ottawa, 21 September 2001
Patrick Brazeau, Vice-Chief, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples: Native Women's Association of Canada, Ottawa, 22 March 2004
Vivienne Poy:
Notes
Index

Companion Site

Sherry Devereaux Ferguson is at the Department of Communications, University of Ottawa.

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Special Features

  • The assignment-based approach allows each chapter to present the information and skills required to fulfil the assignment that accompanies that specific chapter allowing for maximum teaching flexibility
  • The additive approach builds on each assignment allowing students to apply principles learned earlier in the course while acquiring new knowledge and skills
  • Chapters 1-3 suggest introductory exercises that allow students to consider their ethical obligations as speakers, confront their public-speaking fears, and come to a better understanding of how listeners process information and share responsibility for the success of a speech event
  • Includes material on visual aids and PowerPoint and other software presentations
  • Every chapter asks students to look at the ethical questions related to speechmaking
  • Includes lengthy discussion of informative, persuasive, social occasion, and business and political genres
  • Includes unique assignments such as a coffee-shop discussion on ethics and a speech of welcome
  • Includes an entire chapter (#15) on ghost-writing
  • Provides a chapter on the basics of how to put together a rhetorical analysis
  • Provides an abundance of examples, tips from professionals, sample student speeches, and visuals
  • Includes many Canadian examples and speeches as well as some from the United States and Britain
  • Each chapter includes learning objectives and discussion questions
  • Provides an appendix with memorable speeches by historical and contemporary figures
  • A test bank, an activity manual for instructors, and references within the chapters to on-line and other resources are available