The Speaker's Handbook

Sprague (San Jose State U.) et al. present a spiral-bound handbook on the public speaking process for students and individual speakers. They outline basic principles and key advice, with examples of speeches by students and public figures (many accompanied by online videos, outlines, notes, questions, and transcripts). Chapters can be read in any order, and range from preparation to presentation and various speaking contexts, and take a communicative approach that integrates writing, performance, and conversation. They include coverage of reasoning, emphasis on language, chapters on ethics, practicing, and attention to social and cultural diversity. This edition has new advice boxes on common challenges and new and updated content on estimating preparation time, tailoring points to an audience and situation, understanding how the six universal human values affect audience and analysis, learning to utilize research resources, and applying organizational patterns to speeches and workplace documents and presentations. It also has new activities, a new section on avoiding presenting opinion as fact, updated research on managing anxiety, and advice on adapting to generational differences. New and updated examples address pop culture and current events, and new speeches are included. Guidelines for employment and other interviews have been removed. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)