Offering comprehensive coverage in a concise format, PUBLIC SPEAKING: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY, 8e is a culturally informed book that never loses sight of its fundamental purpose: training students to be effective public speakers and listeners in a world filled with monumental cultural, political, and technological changes. It combines 2,500-year-old principles with up-to-date research into concepts, skills, theories, applications, and critical-thinking proficiencies essential for listening and speaking well. Discussions of classic public speaking topics are grounded in an awareness of the impact of cultural nuances-ranging from gender differences to co-cultures within the United States to the traditions of other nations. This provides students with a key element in being an effective public speaker: a heightened awareness of and sensitivity to the audience. Reflecting the latest research and practices, it includes new coverage of listening competencies, online courses, legacy journalism, native digital news outlets, MAPit, powerful language forms, and more. In addition, numerous sample speeches and interactive skill-building exercises are available in MindTap.

Preface.
1. Introduction to Public Speaking and Culture.
2. Giving Your First Speech: Developing Confidence.
3. Ethics in a Diverse Society.
4. Effective Listening.
5. Selecting Your Topic and Purpose.
6. Audience Analysis.
7. Researching Your Speech in the Digital Age.
8. Choosing Supporting Materials.
9. Organizing Your Main Points.
10. Introductions and Conclusions.
11. Outlining Your Speech.
12. Choosing Effective Language.
13. Presentation Aids.
14. Delivering Your Speech.
15. Informative Speaking.
16. Foundations of Persuasion.
17. Persuasive Speaking.
18. Special Occasion Speaking.
Appendix A. Speaking in Small Groups.
Appendix B.
Glossary.
References.
Index.

Offering comprehensive coverage in a concise format, PUBLIC SPEAKING: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY, 8e is a culturally informed book that never loses sight of its fundamental purpose: training students to be effective public speakers and listeners in a world filled with monumental cultural, political, and technological changes. It combines 2,500-year-old principles with up-to-date research into concepts, skills, theories, applications, and critical-thinking proficiencies essential for listening and speaking well. Discussions of classic public speaking topics are grounded in an awareness of the impact of cultural nuances-ranging from gender differences to co-cultures within the United States to the traditions of other nations. This provides students with a key element in being an effective public speaker: a heightened awareness of and sensitivity to the audience. Reflecting the latest research and practices, it includes new coverage of listening competencies, online courses, legacy journalism, native digital news outlets, MAPit, powerful language forms, and more. In addition, numerous sample speeches and interactive skill-building exercises are available in MindTap. Information about online courses. Reflecting the increase in nontraditional courses, the Eighth Edition includes research about online courses (Chapter 1), information about audiences in online courses (Chapter 6), and tips for videotaping speeches (Chapter 14). Succinct coverage. Clear and concise, PUBLIC SPEAKING: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY, 8e delivers more streamlined approach than ever. The briefer text no longer includes the narrative chapter with its explanation of narrative theory, but the new Chapter 18: Special Occasion Speaking includes the exemplum pattern for narratives and incorporates the guidelines in Appendix B material for special occasion speeches. Updated references to social events. Completely up to date, the Eighth Edition includes the most current examples and illustrations available. Enhanced online materials. In response to reviewer requests for a shorter book, many sample speeches, Stop and Check boxes, and Build Your Speech features are available in an interactive online format. Comprehensive, cutting-edge coverage. Continually setting the standard for excellence, PUBLIC SPEAKING: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY was the first public speaking textbook to focus on diversity, include an interpreted speech (given in Spanish and translated into English), describe invitational rhetoric, discuss receiver apprehension, and show alternative patterns of speech organization. “Diversity in Practice” boxes. Enhancing the book's emphasis on diversity, these insightful boxes present brief summaries of public speaking traditions from a range of perspectives. Examples include ancient cultures (Chapters 1 and 17), global groups (Chapters 7 and 13), ethnic groups (Chapters 10 and 15), and co-cultures (Chapters 12 and 14). “Ethics in Practice” boxes. PUBLIC SPEAKING has always emphasized ethical speaking and listening. Included in most chapters, “Ethics in Practice” boxes present short examples or cases that invite students to contemplate the ethical implications of chapter concepts, using probing questions that are appropriate for class discussions. “Build Your Speech” boxes. Hands-on skill-building activities help students apply text concepts to actual speechmaking. “Build Your Speech” boxes provide excellent starting points for completing speech assignments. Critical Thinking and Application Exercises. End-of-chapter questions help students better understand and critically evaluate the chapter content and further apply the skills they learn. Critical Thinking Exercises are designed for individual reflection on chapter concepts, while Application Exercises are designed for group assignments and in-class discussions.