Which of the following statements regarding leadership and ethics is accurate

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The chapters cover what you hope and expect from an introductory level public speaking textbook. read more

Reviewed by Christopher Anderson, Adjunct Faculty, Bristol Community College on 6/21/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The chapters cover what you hope and expect from an introductory level public speaking textbook.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

The content is accurate, but sometimes ignores the historical birth of the ideas in favor of more recent discussions. While this approach will work well for most avenues of student, students in communication majors would benefit from additional nods to early scholars such as Quintillian, Ciscero, and Aristotle.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

For the most part this text holds up well across each chapter with the possible exemption of chapter 15 concerning presentation aids. The rapidly changing landscape of visual aids makes chapters on them, in any level of communication textbook, difficult to keep relevant. The good news is that anyone choosing to adapt this book for their own course can choose to update this chapter or omit it as they see fit.

Clarityrating: 5

The points in each chapter are accessible to introductory scholars. The book may be slightly tedious in upper level courses, but this is clearly a fundamental course book and should only be used as such.

Consistencyrating: 5

I would need a few semesters of working with the book to be certain, but it does not seem to contradict itself after my first viewing.

Modularityrating: 3

The variety of visuals is both a benefit and a potential issue. Students today are often more prone to need a consistent approach to layouts. The chapters themselves are consistent in their format, but the variety of visual aids could be problematic for some students.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The chapters are organized as you would expect to see in a book used for a 15 week semester. The real strength of the book's organization lies within the way each chapter is laid out in sub-points. A clever instructor might even point this out to their students to push the idea of how well topic organizational patterns work in public speaking.

Interfacerating: 5

The variety of ways in which to engage with the book is wonderful, and there seem to be no interface issues with any of them.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The book is well written.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

The book's relevance to culture is simplistic, but effective. For anyone adapting this ebook to their own course, a course director could easily add ideas endemic to their local community in a way that would make great sense to their students. Otherwise, the need for specific instances of cultural relevance are less necessary that other items.

Reviewed by Caleb Lamont, Adjunct Faculty in Communication Studies, Eastern Oregon University on 6/13/21

This text covers a wide range of topics, all of which are important for students to be aware of for a public speaking text. I especially liked the section on ethical public speaking, as a lot of other public speaking texts do not touch on this.... read more

Reviewed by Caleb Lamont, Adjunct Faculty in Communication Studies, Eastern Oregon University on 6/13/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This text covers a wide range of topics, all of which are important for students to be aware of for a public speaking text. I especially liked the section on ethical public speaking, as a lot of other public speaking texts do not touch on this. Content wise, this text really covered everything there is to know about public speaking I feel. While I did feel that some topics could have been given their own entire chapter though, all the major concepts were still touched on. The only additions could be an index and glossary.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

There is no author biases, this was a well written text and had no errors in what was being presented.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Everything is relevant today, and will likely continue to be for some time before edits need to be made. Even when that happens, the overall content will still be accurate, it will only need to be more modernized.

Clarityrating: 5

Everything presented in this text is very easy to understand and easy to follow.

Consistencyrating: 5

Each chapter pretty much follows the same format and flow, and has information divided into sections. Following the same format/structure from chapter to chapter prevents surprises so students know exactly what to expect.

Modularityrating: 5

Information is divided into sections, and smaller 'chunks' so it makes reading chapters more bearable and allows students the opportunity to stop reading and pick up right where they left off easily without missing anything that is being presented to them.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Everything is well organized throughout, chapters flow clearly and logically.

Interfacerating: 5

Solid all around.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I found no errors of any kind.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

For the type of class that this text is for, it did a fine job here and was not insensitive or offensive.

Solid textbook all around and introduces students to public speaking in highly effective ways.

Reviewed by Emily Wilkinson Stallings, Faculty Member - Senior Instructor, Virginia Tech on 5/19/21

This textbook has the classic coverage of most Public Speaking textbooks today with an emphasis on ethics. I do see that cultural identities are missing which would be important when considering the audience (although the demographic information... read more

Reviewed by Emily Wilkinson Stallings, Faculty Member - Senior Instructor, Virginia Tech on 5/19/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This textbook has the classic coverage of most Public Speaking textbooks today with an emphasis on ethics. I do see that cultural identities are missing which would be important when considering the audience (although the demographic information in the audience chapter is covered quite well). And there is a very brief overview of culture on page 26. Also on page 107 there is a discussion of the diversity found in audiences.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

There is a bibliography at the end of each section in the chapters - this is nice in demonstrating the accuracy of materials., e.g. credible sources.
In chapter 1, section 1.2 under Models of P.S., I am disappointed that the 3 models shown are not detailed enough for me - I will add materials to enhance the understanding of how these models work in relation to P.S.
Chapter 2 on ethics is excellent, covered well.
Go to Interface (below) for comments on being unbiased. - I took Accuracy to mean something different, accuracy of the material.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

This book, along with all P.S. books will be around forever. I do think when & if revised, there needs to be attention to cultural considerations and to replace some of the illustrations - they seem dated.

Clarityrating: 4

The content borders on information overload. Dense is the word I would use. Some long paragraphs, a lot of text. However, the Learning Objectives, Key Takeaways, Exercises, End of the Chapter Assessments help the student pull the main ideas that helps with organizing and remembering material in their minds.
I also like the use of headings and the use of bold for key words.

Consistencyrating: 5

There is consistency in the layout of this text. Each chapter is divided into sections. Each section is clearly labeled and begins with Learning Objectives and ends with Key Takeaways, Exercises, and a bibliography (references). All parts of each section have clear labeling all the way through the chapter. There is an ethical box connecting the material of that chapter to ethic at the end of each chapter and an end-of-chapter assessment with answer key (wish it didn't have that or the key was placed at the end of the text).

Modularityrating: 5

As I commented above, yes the material is 'readily divisible into smaller reading sections'. From my view this is well-done by the author.
I notice a worksheet at the end of Chapter 9, which is positive for students as they work through their introduction to a speech.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

As commented above, the organization is excellent. Students could easily create an outline from the structure on the chapters. Chapters and Sections are logically ordered with consideration to the steps in developing a speech.
The only chapter that I personally would move earlier in the book, is Chapter 13 on language. I do understand the reasoning of the author's placement. After writing your outline for the speech, you could then consider language, so the placement can make sense. Personal viewpoint.

Interfacerating: 3

Interface is good.
As I look at pictures, they tend to be of older white men - I do not prefer this as I think it s not a good representation of the population of our country. Little inclusion of women or people of color. (oops, I am incorrect there is a picture of a woman of color on page 250)
On page 199 there is a picture of a bibliography that looks distorted [a simple copy from a copy machine] and overwhelming. Being overwhelming was the purpose , I believe.
In one area I saw a reference to the Bible used as an example. I have no problem with this, if other religious texts are also utilized - I have not seen that included.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I have not detected any grammatical or spelling errors. Upon use of the textbook, they would show up more readily if there.

Cultural Relevancerating: 2

As I've already stated, this is an area that needs work in this textbook.

I am looking forward to trying out this textbook in my public speaking class this summer.
I am concerned with the density of the book, simply information overload [again, this is my perception].

Reviewed by Jeff Wade, Instructor, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/11/21

The work is well sourced, and covers most aspects of public speaking with thoroughness. However, it is without a glossary or index. The chapters are well laid however, and the "Key Takeaways" and "Exercises" at the end of each sections provides... read more

Reviewed by Jeff Wade, Instructor, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/11/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The work is well sourced, and covers most aspects of public speaking with thoroughness. However, it is without a glossary or index. The chapters are well laid however, and the "Key Takeaways" and "Exercises" at the end of each sections provides clarity. I found the approach to speech anxiety (Ch. 3) especially enlightened. Anxiety is not a one-size fits all; and embracing the uniqueness of individual skill sets is the key for success.
Lacking in this book's treatment is even a cursory discussion to the physiology of the voice and vocal production. Admittedly, a course in Voice and Diction is more appropriate for a thorough examination of these techniques. So to that extent, this omission is somewhat understandable. Still, it is surprising that basic physiology (the diaphragm, Larynx, etc.) and its relevance toward the production of full resonance is ignored.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The book is dispassionate in its examination of passionate topics and difficult techniques.
Further, it places the material in the proper context(s). I found no errors. All the links in the text seemed to work as well.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Without dwelling on the up-to-the-minute trends in mass media, for example, this book effectively presents timeless content with some basic modern thinking. For example, its focus on ethics is well presented early in the text (Ch. 2). Its use of the Credo for Ethical Communication is an important way to start the critical thinking process. There is a sensitivity to modern nuances and perceptions in this book, which allows the students to critically examine their goals, and those if their audiences.

Clarityrating: 5

The prose of this public speaking book is consistently basic, without being vague or boiler plate. Even its approach to "drier" topics such as research and outlining are easily accessible.

Consistencyrating: 5

The framework for topics and issues presented in this text is one of its best features. Topics are laid out before hand and thoroughly recapped. I found the students came to rely on this consistency to help them absorb material ranging from research techniques to subjective speaking styles.

Modularityrating: 5

Another attribute of "Stand Up, Speak Out" is its organization. Like public speaking itself, there is no one particular order to present material. This book allows the instructor the freedom to effectively "jump around" the text as needed. There is no confusion in this, as again, the text is reliably consistent in its presentation. For example, many of the later chapters on giving specific speeches could be sewn into the course as "speech units" as each technique is covered.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

While not containing a glossary or index, Stand Up, Speak Out is dependably clear. It relies on basic prose to break down complicated concepts. The best example of this is from Chapter 13 on language, which might be described as a slightly more detailed glossary. The students embrace this fundamental delivery of key terms.

Interfacerating: 5

This text could not have been more easy to use.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

No grammatical or editorial errors were found.

Cultural Relevancerating: 3

The book might have incorporated a more diverse and expansive look into things like "Stages of Listening," for example (Ch. 4). Is there one way to hear and listen? To whom are we, as a society, not listening? The book addresses the difference between hearing and listening, but seems to miss the most obvious metaphor for it. In fact, this treatment lacks depth in general, regardless of context. In this case, the plain basic approach of the text does not seem to measure up to the topic.

The book was remarkably easy to use and to navigate. Students found its consistency its best feature.

Reviewed by Christy Takamure, Professor, Leeward Community College on 4/23/21

The textbook covers the major components you will find in other public speaking texts. Links connect the reader to more information if they are interested in specific examples. Although the concepts are clearly defined, there is room for more... read more

Reviewed by Christy Takamure, Professor, Leeward Community College on 4/23/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The textbook covers the major components you will find in other public speaking texts. Links connect the reader to more information if they are interested in specific examples. Although the concepts are clearly defined, there is room for more discussion on broader communication concepts, more specifically, in the persuasion and language use chapters. The information can be supplemented with other resources. There is no index and/or glossary.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The textbook is written clearly and with no biases. The authors did a thorough job in citing sources throughout. The APA and MLA guidelines were to date with good examples.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The information presented is relevant and can be continued for long-term use. Adding information about presenting speeches digitally will bring this textbook up-to-date especially now when much of the teaching and learning is remote and online.

Clarityrating: 5

The writing style is accessible and easy to follow and understand. Examples are provided to add clarity.

Consistencyrating: 5

I like how the textbook is consistently formatted which allows the reader to know what to expect in each chapter. It is also worded clearly and concisely.

Modularityrating: 5

This textbook is easily divided so the different sections can be utilized out of sequence if needed. It allows flexibility to rearrange or add supplemental information whenever needed.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The textbook is well-organized and clearly formatted. The consistent structure of the contents makes it easy to read. The smooth flow of the textbook begins each chapter with an overview and then leads to each section with Learning Objectives to help identify the key points. Finally, each section ends with “Key Takeaways”. “Exercises” and end-of-chapter assessments are available to reinforce learning.

Interfacerating: 5

Although the organization of the textbook is clear, it would be helpful to add an index and bibliography so that the reader can find information easier. I would have liked to see more illustrations and photographs which adds interest and appeal.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not find any significant grammatical or mechanical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The illustrations displayed cultural diversity with various ethnicities, races, and backgrounds represented. It would have been ideal to include a discussion on cultural relevance whenever it deemed appropriate to expand how culture may influence the communication process. This inclusion would be more appealing to the population at my campus which includes many minority groups.

Overall, I believe that this textbook does a great job on covering the major components of public speaking. It is highly suitable for an introductory public speaking course.

Reviewed by Daniela Ottati-Reperger, Adjunct Assistant Professor, New York City College of Technology on 3/22/21

The text has a table of contents that lists its 18 chapters. In addition, all chapters contain information that perfectly falls under the umbrella of public speaking. I would have liked to see additional chapters on nonverbal communication and... read more

Reviewed by Daniela Ottati-Reperger, Adjunct Assistant Professor, New York City College of Technology on 3/22/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The text has a table of contents that lists its 18 chapters. In addition, all chapters contain information that perfectly falls under the umbrella of public speaking. I would have liked to see additional chapters on nonverbal communication and intercultural communication, but concepts from those two areas are still covered in other sections of the text.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The content presented is accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The content covers the fundamentals of public speaking, and it will, therefore, not become obsolete within a short period of time. The text allows for updates to be made.

Clarityrating: 5

The text is very easy to follow and understand.

Consistencyrating: 5

There is consistency in how the text and other elements are presented to readers. There are “learning objectives” at the beginning of a section while “key takeaways” and “exercises” show at the end of each section. Chapter exercises and end-of-chapter assessments are also provided.

Modularityrating: 5

The chapters are divided into sections; this makes the content easy to use in case select chapter sections are assigned. There are headings used throughout the text that facilitate the identification of the topics covered.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The information from the text is presented in a logical way that still allows professors to rearrange how they prefer to present the material to learners.

Interfacerating: 4

There is a combination of images and graphics throughout the text. The graphics are of a good quality while the image selection process could improve (see 2.1 drawing and 2.2 black and white picture, for example).

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The text does not contain major errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. It includes discussions regarding diversity and what to do to make sure audiences are not offended. As mentioned before, the text could have benefited from having a stand-alone intercultural communication chapter.

This textbook can be perfectly used in a public speaking course. It is important to always highlight the role of the professor who will be able to choose how to use it and how to fill in any gaps.

Reviewed by Lisa Merritt, Adjunct Instructor, Central Oregon Community College on 1/14/21

The text is well organized and follows a logical progression. As others have stated, a much-needed Ethics chapter is located prominently at the front of the book as chapter two. All the traditional items one would expect to find in a public... read more

Reviewed by Lisa Merritt, Adjunct Instructor, Central Oregon Community College on 1/14/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The text is well organized and follows a logical progression. As others have stated, a much-needed Ethics chapter is located prominently at the front of the book as chapter two. All the traditional items one would expect to find in a public speaking text is present. However, given the dramatic changes brought about in 2020 it would be useful to have information on best practices of remote delivery.

The is brief contents is easy to read and well organized. There is not a detailed Table of Contents. It’s not really a problem, but simply an observation. The book is also missing a glossary. Again, not really a problem given that one can easily do an electronic search of the document instead.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The book reads well and includes relatively current pictures and examples. The writing is unbiased and inclusive. The content is accurate with useful examples.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The text is arranged in a logical progression and can easily be updated.

Clarityrating: 5

The book follows its own recommendation on clarity (page 105) by "using words that your audience will understand." While the standard pedagogy is clear and correct, the book is written in a colloquial manner. It keeps the information from being intimating or more difficult than it needs to be for an introductory course. It's an enjoyable read.

Consistencyrating: 5

There is visual consistency with how the chapters are arranged and presented. There is also consistency in tone and language.

Modularityrating: 5

Reading through the book is pleasurable. The information is chunked into short sections with clearly stated learning objectives. While it does make for many pages, I appreciate the spacing and headings. It's visually pleasing and easy to find concepts that one may be perusing to find.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

While the text is presented in a logical and progressive manner, that doesn't mean one can't easily teach the chapters "our of order" so to speak. For example, I prefer to explain the body of the speech before elaborating on how to develop a tailored introduction and conclusion. Thus I teach "out of order" from the book chapters that proceed from Ch. 9: Introductions Matter; to Ch. 10: Creating the Body of the Speech and finally; Ch. 11: Concluding with Power. Nonetheless, the order of the book makes sense and is very practical.

Interfacerating: 5

There are no interface errors that I have noticed. The spacing and allowable white space helps keep this text reader friendly and visually appealing.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

There don't appear to be any grammatical errors. This is a very professionally developed book.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The inherent nature of quality public speaking requires the discussion and inclusion of cultural elements and current practices. This book does a nice job of addressing these concerns. For example, Chapter 2: Ethics in Public Speaking includes the NCA Credo to Public Speaking which helps set the tone and expectation for inclusiveness and cultural appreciation throughout the text. To be clear, it's not an "intercultural" textbook. But it does address the very basics in regards to helping beginning speakers as they build awareness and understanding of audience analysis. No small task!

Having taught out Lucas' "The Art of Public Speaking" for two decades, I find Stand up, Speak out to be a nice alternative. The chapters follow almost the same sequence and information is as comprehensive making it a relatively easy switch for me. This sounds selfish in a way, but that can be a big challenge when trying to find an OER. It's nice when you can adopt an OER and not have to completely rework your course!

Reviewed by Michelle Scaman, Term Faculty, University of Alaska Anchorage on 1/7/21, updated 1/10/21

The textbook addresses the basic concepts of public speaking within a scope that is appropriate for 100 and 200 level courses and provides clear examples as well as useful exercises. One notable feature is the appendix which provides prompts that... read more

Reviewed by Michelle Scaman, Term Faculty, University of Alaska Anchorage on 1/7/21, updated 1/10/21

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The textbook addresses the basic concepts of public speaking within a scope that is appropriate for 100 and 200 level courses and provides clear examples as well as useful exercises. One notable feature is the appendix which provides prompts that allow for synthesizing the knowledge gained within the chapters by assisting students with their first speech. I do wish that the textbook included more information on rhetorical appeals as well as a discussion on logical fallacies but overall, it provides a solid foundation for learning public speaking.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Theories and models are cited clearly and introduced in a logical manner. Communication scholars are referenced and applied appropriately.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The examples within each chapter help to clarify the concepts introduced but are mostly broad enough that they don't seem dated. The more specific examples that were current at the date of publication, could easily be updated.

Clarityrating: 5

Public speaking terminology is clearly defined with examples to reinforce concepts.

Consistencyrating: 5

Each chapter and section featured learning objectives, concepts, terminology, examples, and key takeaways consistently.

Modularityrating: 5

Chapter sections are divided into concepts incrementally, making them easy to align with assignments. The learning objectives are easily identifiable within the subsections.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The textbook is clearly organized with each chapter transitioning smoothly to the next. The foundation and framework for the text are established in a logical manner that scaffolds information in an accessible manner. There are clear learning objectives and key takeaways.

Interfacerating: 5

The textbook is easy to navigate and images and charts were legible. This was appropriately evident in the 'Visual Aid" section as the example charts and images could be understood clearly.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not encounter grammatical errors while reviewing this textbook.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

Most textbooks fall short in this area of cultural competence. While the language was inclusive and some examples referenced culture, there is room for growth.

Reviewed by Karen Pleasant, Adjunct Instructor, Rogue Community College on 8/25/20

The text effectively covers the basics of Public Speaking, but it lacks both a glossary and information about fallacies. I liked the chart (a student exericse) about ethical issues as well as the comprehensive chapters on Communication... read more

Reviewed by Karen Pleasant, Adjunct Instructor, Rogue Community College on 8/25/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The text effectively covers the basics of Public Speaking, but it lacks both a glossary and information about fallacies. I liked the chart (a student exericse) about ethical issues as well as the comprehensive chapters on Communication Apprehension (myths and how to reduce apprehension in particular) and the chapter on listening.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I didn't notice any errors in the book and the information was presented in an unbiased way to all students with references to "us" and "you."

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The information contained in the book is up-to-date. Each chapter is organized with learning objectives and followed up with exercises and end-of-chapter assessments, so students know the relevance of the information presented and can they assess the knowledge they gained at the end.

Clarityrating: 5

Easy to read and the use of supporting illustrations and other visuals was very helpful to get the information across to readers.

Consistencyrating: 5

Yes, but a glossary would be helpful.

Modularityrating: 5

Chapters could be utilized in any order as needed by the instructor.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The text logically follows the steps inherent in preparing and delivering a speech.

Interfacerating: 5

The interface is fine and the images are clear and easy to read.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I didn't notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The use of language chapter addresses gender and ethnicity and more information about using inclusive language.

While the text covers the basics of public speaking, I have looked at other OER Public Speaking oriented textbooks that are more appealing and user friendly to me. I would like to see the inclusion of a chapter about fallacies, although I could add supplemental materials myself to cover the missing information.

Reviewed by Shelly Grady, Adjunct Communication Instructor, Community College of Aurora on 8/14/20

The big concern for me was that there was a brief mention of ethos, but no mention of pathos or logos, and little to no discussion of fallacy. These are vital components of the persuasive speech process, so I was looking for further detail. The... read more

Reviewed by Shelly Grady, Adjunct Communication Instructor, Community College of Aurora on 8/14/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The big concern for me was that there was a brief mention of ethos, but no mention of pathos or logos, and little to no discussion of fallacy. These are vital components of the persuasive speech process, so I was looking for further detail. The information on PSA is a great start, but it doesn't speak to pinpointing the onset of anxiety prior to the speech act, which is something I always try to address.

On the other hand, I found the text to be very comprehensive in regards to building the speech introduction, body, and conclusion, as well as in addressing outlining and resources. The analysis tools will be very helpful for students, and the charts do an excellent job of illustrating options.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

The content is error free, and for the most part it is not biased. I did find some contradictions in how gender is represented that could be viewed as biased. In the beginning, there is a clear warning against heterosexism, but the next time the author speaks to gender it is presented as binary. The author specifically warns against this in the section on using language appropriately, but the gender section itself doesn't acknowledge non-binary people.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The most recent example is from 2011, which in itself is not a concern. However, there are a number of places where the examples are identified as being recent, which can make the book seem somewhat outdated. The biggest concern here is that some of the links are no longer viable. Of these, some will redirect you, but the majority give an "oops, this page doesn't exist" style of warning. There are also a few links, such as the one for VSOTD, that require users to pay to access the referenced information. It is clear in the text which sites would incur a fee at the time it was published, but be sure to check the links now and update them as needed.

Clarityrating: 5

The book does a phenomenal job of breaking down the terms and making them easily understood. There are a number of communication theories addressed throughout, and the supporting examples do an excellent job of illustrating these. Each time a new term is introduced, the definition and supporting examples are offered.

Consistencyrating: 5

The Speaking Ethically sections do an excellent job of continuing the importance of ethics throughout the entire text. The book does a good job of scaffolding concepts throughout and calling back to previous chapters to build further upon presented information. The only lack of consistency was the previously noted contradiction in how gender is addressed in a binary way in some places but as non-binary in others.

Modularityrating: 5

I appreciate that each chapter is broken into subsections, which will make it easy for me to pick and choose which pieces I want and assign them in a different order. The Key Take Aways, Exercises, and Speaking Ethically sections were particularly valuable, and did an excellent job of breaking down the sections in accessible pieces.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The text is set up in such a way that you should ideally read all the way through prior to presenting. While this is common among public speaking texts, I do not think it is realistic for the classroom. You will need to rearrange the content unless you are planning to have your students present all of their speeches in the final weeks of the term. Outside of this, it is organized in much the same way that a speech is developed, which is ideal.

Interfacerating: 4

There were a few places where the print appeared to be cut off or a smaller size font at the bottom of the page, but this was very minor. The exercises are listed all numerically, but the answer key provides the letter for the correct response, which can be a bit confusing. Some of the links to external websites are broken, but the majority worked as intended.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

No grammatical errors found.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

While I did not find any examples that were offensive, I did not see any representation of non-binary gender. Outside of that, I thought the used examples did an excellent job of incorporating a variety of names. The text also did a good job of addressing the importance of inclusiveness, specifically in language choice and topic selection, as both a speaker and listener.

I will definitely be using large portions of this text in my class moving forward! I really liked how in depth the discussion was in regards to the introduction, conclusion, and transitions, and I will be using the worksheets provided throughout for my students. Many of the reference database websites were still live links, but be sure to check every link to see if it is active and whether or not it will charge, as some of them now do. You will need to find additional resources on the pillars of persuasion and fallacy in arguments, but in the basic construction a speech, the different speech types, and overall presentation, this book is a fabulous resource! As promised, it really focuses on ethics throughout the text, and the exercises at the end of each chapter should be excellent conversation starters for class discussion. One of my favorite aspects of this text is that it focuses on public speaking as both presenter and audience, which many other texts have lacked in my opinion.

Reviewed by Lucy McKain, Adjunct Professor, Middlesex Community College on 6/30/20

I thought this book covers most of the basics of writing and delivering a speech topic. I was disappointed however that it does not go into how to write a specific objective or purpose and why that is so important in your thinking and planning... read more

Reviewed by Lucy McKain, Adjunct Professor, Middlesex Community College on 6/30/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

I thought this book covers most of the basics of writing and delivering a speech topic. I was disappointed however that it does not go into how to write a specific objective or purpose and why that is so important in your thinking and planning before the speech. I have found students have a difficult time adapting topics to different audiences. So practice with this is critical to meeting the audiences needs as well as the speechwriters.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I think the many examples and topic comments are helpful to the learner.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Yes the images and illustrations are interesting and well done too.

Clarityrating: 5

The text is written clearly and is easy to follow.

Consistencyrating: 5

The overall design and framework is consistent.

Modularityrating: 5

The text modularity would not present any disruption to the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Text organization is clear and logical.

Interfacerating: 5

The interface is clear and free of distractions.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

There are no grammatical issues of concern.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

This text is culturally relevant.

I was hoping to find a linear diagram or model of the process of speech writing. I believe a graphic model for some students, helps to solidify the concepts with an image that is easily recalled.

Reviewed by Constance Berman, Professor of Communication, Berkshire Community College on 6/29/20

Quite comprehensive - including a chapter on the so important but often neglected topic on LISTENING; all parts of a speech structure covered well - intro; body; conclusion. Types - informational, persuasive, entertainment. Keeping learning... read more

Reviewed by Constance Berman, Professor of Communication, Berkshire Community College on 6/29/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

Quite comprehensive - including a chapter on the so important but often neglected topic on LISTENING; all parts of a speech structure covered well - intro; body; conclusion. Types - informational, persuasive, entertainment. Keeping learning objectives clear and then following up in sections is thoughtful. The only section I would recommend be updated is the Visual Aids - needs to be more complete on using Power Point and examples and structural and delivery guidelines.
I am sure there is an index but my reading version did not show it.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The text is quite accurate - especially in considering various modes of delivery and purpose. The chapters on research are quite up to date and long reaching

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The fundamentals of public speaking do not change - book definitely follows the "canon" of the course with examples that are relevant but not tied to current specifics.

Clarityrating: 4

Would be very clear for first and second year college students. Serious approach with an ear for what kinds of questions students might have - especially in the chapter on dealing with speech anxiety and debunking myths about nervousness and solutions to this pervasive problem.

Consistencyrating: 5

Very well organized with theory, practice, learning objectives and exercises and wrap-up for each section.

Modularityrating: 5

Easy to find topic subheadings - could be used by the instructor as a resource for different topics and does not need to be used chronologically. Can be a good resource.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Clear on organization - why and how the student can proceed. Sub-section headings are very helpful.

Interfacerating: 5

Some good illustrations - although could use more - do not seem to have navigation problems.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Certainly written well with good examples that students can follow - asks good questions and then answers them. Includes a section on humor which is down to earth and respectful and inclusive.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

Quite inclusive with a section on what inclusive means when you are speaking in public and furthermore, what it means to be "ethical" - in each chapter - and how to use sensitivity towards the speaker's audience. Good examples of knowing the audience and ways to show that you respect the audience.

When compared to the industry giant - Lucas' work - this open source book is a very good alternative.
On Persuasive Speaking - there might be a little more psychological presentation on what moves people and why people do not embrace certain ideas even if presented with great evidence - How to breach this barrier might be interesting to students in today's divisive climate.
I like the Appendices - gives a further look on some topics - short and easy to follow for students.

Reviewed by Stef Donev, Adjunct Faculty, Worcester State University on 6/21/20

In a time when people routinely talk about “fake news” and “alternative facts” and news agencies such as the Associated Press, CBS, NBC, etc., regularly run “fact checks” on speeches and announcements by politicians, government agencies, large... read more

Reviewed by Stef Donev, Adjunct Faculty, Worcester State University on 6/21/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

In a time when people routinely talk about “fake news” and “alternative facts” and news agencies such as the Associated Press, CBS, NBC, etc., regularly run “fact checks” on speeches and announcements by politicians, government agencies, large corporations and organizations, the book’s stress on the ethics of public speaking is a welcome addition to the long list of public speaking textbooks. It does this quite well, and clearly and concisely, without detracting from any of the other essential elements of public speaking.
The book also covers all the components of the speech-creation process, from generating topics and audience analysis to writing, the use of humor, and delivery. While it does not provide a glossary of terms or index, its table of contents lets students know exactly what each chapter and section deals with.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The book covers all aspects of speech preparation, writing, and delivery and does so accurately and professionally. It also includes samples and guidance for the standard range of speech types. As an added bonus, the book also offers good examples and advice on using humor in speeches, when and where to use it, good sources of it, how to let it develop and flow organically from the speaker’s topic and research, and how to find the right types of humor for different speeches and audiences.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The only real change in the craft of public speaking over the centuries has been the technology used to deliver it and make it more aurally and visually stimulating. Even though this technology keeps changing, the book offers a look at how to use current technology, covering everything from handouts, chalk board, and flip charts to maps, Power Point, and audio and video clips. If new technology is developed it would be easy to add it without disturbing the flow or structure of the book.

Clarityrating: 5

Like a good speech, the book is written clearly and simply. It is easy to follow and tailored to its audience. Even though it does not provide an actual glossary, it does explain the technical terms it uses.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book follows the standard pattern of other public speaking books, hits the same major points that the rest do, and does so with a bit more flair than many others.

Modularityrating: 5

The text is broken down into simple and clear bite-sized chunks, appropriate for people who tend to spend more time reading computer screens than books. The various sections, or modules, are distinctive and the explanations simple and focused.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The use of Learning Objective boxes at the start of each section let students know what is important in the upcoming sections, and the Key Takeways boxes at the end give them a chance to review and make sure they understand the points of what they have just read. It also includes exercises that can be used to test their actual understanding of the material.
As with most of the speech books I’ve used over the years, explanations, examples, and advice about various types of speeches are at the end of the book even though students will be standing up and speaking long before they go through all the chapters with the information they need to do those speeches well. This means a certain amount of jumping around. It is awkward and confusing, but so is developing the skills to be a good public speaker.

Interfacerating: 5

The book is easy to navigate, and the paging and art are consistent in the various formats, but, like all books with digital links, there is always the danger of web addresses and URLs vanishing over time.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

A grammarian might quibble over some of the comma placements and the usage of the occasional semicolons, but the text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The text talks about culture, cocultures, and subcultures and the importance of recognizing them and dealing with them intelligently and respectfully. It covers the various conditions which shape culture: age, gender, ethnicity, education, group membership, occupation, etc., especially in terms of audience analysis and shaping speeches to fit a specific audience.

Ethics is the second chapter of the book. Since there are times when teachers fail to get all the way through an entire textbook in a class, it is good that it is dealt with up-front, which helps ensure that it is part of every speech the students give.
I will use this book the next time I teach Public Speaking.

Reviewed by Patrick Bartee, Professor of Speech, Valencia College on 6/8/20

In my personal opinion, the book covers the major steps of effective public speaking tips. read more

Reviewed by Patrick Bartee, Professor of Speech, Valencia College on 6/8/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

In my personal opinion, the book covers the major steps of effective public speaking tips.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

I pulled this statement from the books information. Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speakingfeatures two key themes. First it focuses on helping students become more seasoned and polished public speakers, and second is its emphasis on ethics in communication. It is this practical approach and integrated ethical coverage that setsStand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speakingapart from the other texts in this market.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

This text is very straightforward and totally up to date.

Clarityrating: 4

The reading is very clear and very easy to understand.

Consistencyrating: 5

It is totally on point with consistency.

Modularityrating: 5

This text has everything necessary to help a student understand the flow and steps to effective public speaking.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The structure and flow worked well in my personal opinion.

Interfacerating: 4

There is nothing confusing in the reading and understanding in my opinion.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I didn't find any grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

It appears to be inline with cultural insensitivity.

No thank you. The text appears to be inline with methods of the learning pedagogy. I believe that a student would be able to follow the step-by-step style and flow of this text.

Reviewed by Sherri Raftery-Patton, Adjunct Faculty, North Shore Community College on 5/27/20

Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking is a practical, comprehensive and complete guide to learn the tools of public speaking. I highly recommend this book, every chapter is valuable, easy to understand, and questions at... read more

Reviewed by Sherri Raftery-Patton, Adjunct Faculty, North Shore Community College on 5/27/20

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking is a practical, comprehensive and complete guide to learn the tools of public speaking. I highly recommend this book, every chapter is valuable, easy to understand, and questions at the end of each chapter offer ways to learn how to review what was read.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The accuracy of this book is on point to the world of public speaking, communicating, and presenting, especially for beginners and those who want to review and rehearse their skills.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The relevance of this book is up to date. Perhaps offering ZOOM and online speaking options in our new age of virtual learning.

Clarityrating: 5

This book offers clarity, the words are easy and fluid to understand, and the technical terminology is appropriate.

Consistencyrating: 5

The flow and consistency worked and their were references to previous chapters and sections, that were helpful to go back and review.

Modularityrating: 5

I think the modularity worked well for this text and this subject matter.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Personally, for my courses, I would like to see these topics sooner in the text rather than later, especially the informative and persuasive speaking because those are required and having students review those early in the semester would be beneficial.
Chapter 16: Informative Speaking
Chapter 17: Persuasive Speaking
Chapter 18: Speaking to Entertain

Interfacerating: 5

The interface was easily manageable, perfect for online learning courses. The use of charts, graphs, photos were complimentary to the particular topic.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Grammar was appropriate, nothing real stood out.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

I found this book to be inclusive, offering cultural differences, and other races, gender identities, and ethnicities certainly adds more welcoming value to a wider audience. Variety of photos and speakers helps all students to feel inclusive and identified.

This is an excellent resource for students who are starting to learn public speaking and presentation skills. The content is worthy and I appreciate how easily and accessible it is. One comment I would recommend is to make it clearer with a button that says either "open" or "access" book here because it is not clear initially how to open the link. As a professor, I highly recommend Stand up, Speak out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking. Students will become more confident and knowledgeable by the end of the semester with the help of this text book!

Reviewed by Alyssa Harter, Assistant Professor , Umpqua Community College on 12/16/19

The textbook is very comprehensive in covering relative topics to Public Speaking in an effective manner. The authors provide an index and glossary, in addition to an embedded table of contents to navigate the text. read more

Reviewed by Alyssa Harter, Assistant Professor , Umpqua Community College on 12/16/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The textbook is very comprehensive in covering relative topics to Public Speaking in an effective manner. The authors provide an index and glossary, in addition to an embedded table of contents to navigate the text.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Free of errors and very unbiased.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The book is relevant and echos the tried and true conversations within Public Speaking for decades!

Clarityrating: 5

Any technical terminology is defined using clear definitions and bold font to clarify subject specific terms and concepts.

Consistencyrating: 5

Yes, consistency is clear.

Modularityrating: 5

The text is divided into smaller sections, in addition to being quickly navigated from the Table of Contents based on the smaller sections within a larger chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

I was a major fan of there being larger sections/progressions in speech making. Examples: Topic Selection/Research, Organizing the Speech, Delivering the Speech, and Speech Types. Most Public Speaking textbooks are organized in this manner, which is how logical public speaking courses progress.

Interfacerating: 4

The text lacks interface issues. However, the authors should constantly check the embedded links to videos to verify the owner of those videos do not remove/alter them in any way.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

No grammatical errors

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

One comment that I received from a student in my Public Speaking class using this textbook is that Ceremonial Speeches listed in Chapter 18 are Anglo-American. This student made note that most of the speeches listed talked about American custom, with little note of how other cultures would approach a speech such as a eulogy. Reviewing the text for myself, I agree with the sentiments this student posed.

Stand up, Speak out is a comprehensive and relevant textbook to adopt in the Public Speaking classroom. The content is easy to use and navigate for students and educators alike! I appreciate the chapter exercises, examples, and charts embedded within the text for students to refer to. Having used various public speaking textbooks, this one ranks highly among other well-revered authors and textbooks within our discipline.

Reviewed by William Bettler, Professor, Hanover College on 10/22/19

As an experiment, I used this text alongside another general public speaking text in my introductory public speaking class. I consistently found that while the two texts had more similarity than difference, this text had extras. For example, while... read more

Reviewed by William Bettler, Professor, Hanover College on 10/22/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

As an experiment, I used this text alongside another general public speaking text in my introductory public speaking class. I consistently found that while the two texts had more similarity than difference, this text had extras. For example, while both texts covered genres of speaking, rhetorical concepts/terms, presentation/visual aids, audience analysis, etc. this text had the extra dimension of integrating ethical considerations into each topic (and this is no small thing--this is a substantive difference). Further, the chapter exercises at the end of each chapter were useful to my students.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

This particular criterion doesn't apply as much to a public speaking text--it's hard to label something as "accurate" in the context of public speaking pedagogy. Public speaking texts tend to be collections of "best practices," and this text is an especially useful one. I particularly appreciated the chapters on Introductions and Conclusions, which are very detailed and could have easily been mentioned above in my response about "comprehensiveness." In terms of bias, the authors of this text do an excellent job of side-stepping some common pitfalls. For example, the chapter on presentation aids has an example from the Chinese alphabet, avoiding any hint of ethnocentrism.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Staying relevant is a real challenge for public speaking texts. With its emphasis on best practices, an effective speaking text is expected to encompass the history of public address, from the Ancient Greeks to the present day. Consequently, a chapter on Presentation Aids, is particularly challenging to write. This text is laudatory in its attempt to blend timeless wisdom (e.g. clarity and understanding are key goals of using presentation aids) with more timely observations, such as which type of software to use to make audience-grabbing graphics. Table 15.1 in section 15.3 is going to be quite useful to students, as it not only identifies the most popular software packages, but also contains links that enable students to download or purchase the software. While this sort of content is, by nature, time-sensitive, it represents a strength of this text.

Clarityrating: 5

This books is accessible and easy to read. It contains a fair amount of specialized language, definitions, and concepts. But it is quite thorough in its explanation and discussion of said content. For example, in section 4.2, the text identifies, defines, and discusses 4 different listening styles. These immediately became vocabulary words, but, at the same time, they are explained and illustrated in such a way that students who face the challenge of public speaking can easily recognize the different types in their potential audience(s) and adapt their speeches to suit the appropriate style(s). Section 5.2, which focuses on different types of audience analysis, is similarly detailed in its use of specialized language and, here again, students are likely to match their speech preparation to the type of audience analysis that suits their particular rhetorical situation. I make a distinction between vocabulary/specialized language--which has a purpose and serves to deepen understanding; and jargon, which is only intended to impress people, on a shallow level. This text is rich in vocabulary and specialized language and mercifully devoid of jargon.

Consistencyrating: 5

The text registers the tension between focusing on the speaker and focusing on the audiences and does an admirably job of demonstrating how they are two sides of the same coin. The 5 Canons of Rhetoric form a sort of shadow-organization for the early chapters, with the above-mentioned emphasis on ethics introduced early on, and integrated throughout. Later chapters use the anatomy of a speech as an organizational structure. The text concludes with consideration of the different genres of public speaking. This is all to the benefit of students. It makes the content seem to unfold logically and demystifies the art and technique of public speaking.

Modularityrating: 5

This is one of the real benefits of this text. When I used it in class I was able to portion out particular chapters as individual reading assignments. The emphasis on ethics and the responsibility of the speaker to consider the relationship with, and to the audience, forms the conceptual glue that holds these chapters together. I used the chapters out of order. For example, I like to discuss different genres of speaking fairly early in the term. Also, I like to discuss language and argument in smaller chunks throughout the term. These strategies were all possible with this text. It's quite flexible.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

As mentioned above, this text has a useful flow, as it moves from a set of chapters loosely based on the 5 Canons of Rhetoric, to a set of chapters built around the anatomy of a speech, and, finally, to a set of chapters covering some key genres of public speaking. Introducing "ethics" in the 2nd chapter is especially useful.

Interfacerating: 5

Interface issues are strong. The figures are easy to read and understand. Navigating is a breeze with not only chapter breaks, but also section links to click on.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The text is written in a professional style, free of grammatical errors. Nonetheless, it is a highly readable and accessible text, to which my students responded positively.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

This text reflects cultural sensitivity and is inclusive. This is reflected in photographic images, illustrative examples, and the general ethical disposition of the text. Section 2.2 contains the NCA Credo for Ethical Communication. This not only familiarizes students with a set of principles reflecting a high ethical standard, but it seems to set the standard for this particular text.

This is a strong text. It has all of the content that other texts have, but with its thoroughness and its consistent integration and discussion of ethics, it gives students something extra, something useful, something important. As I said above, I used this text alongside another, and students routinely preferred this text.

Reviewed by Jessica Papajcik, Associate Professor, Stark State College on 8/13/19

Stand up, Speak out scores well on comprehensiveness. It's breadth in coverage is what we should expect for a public speaking course. The table of contents is detailed and covers all subsections within each chapter. However, there is no glossary... read more

Reviewed by Jessica Papajcik, Associate Professor, Stark State College on 8/13/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

Stand up, Speak out scores well on comprehensiveness. It's breadth in coverage is what we should expect for a public speaking course. The table of contents is detailed and covers all subsections within each chapter. However, there is no glossary and this text does not provide sidebars for key terms and/or concepts. On a positive note, this text includes learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, "Key Takeaways" which is a bulleted summary, and an "Exercises" section at the end of each SUB-SECTION in every chapter. It also contains End-of-Chapter Assessment questions, however, answers are provided directly underneath the questions.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Stand up, Speak out is accurate in terms of content and writing. It is written objectivity with inclusive language.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Stand up, Speak out is written and arranged in a straight-forward way. Maintaining and updating this text should prove to be simple and easy to implement.

Clarityrating: 5

Stand up, Speak out is written clearly with many practical examples. Key terms are bold within the text and defined accordingly.

Consistencyrating: 5

Stand up, Speak out uses consistent formatting in terms of chapter layouts, subsection headings, key terms, fonts, and images.

Modularityrating: 4

Stand up, Speak out is divided into chapters, which are divided into sections, which are divided by concepts. The information is "chunked" in such a way that smaller reading sections can easily be assigned and students start/stop in the review process. I am not a fan, however, of the style of the chunking within the subsections. The font used to label each section concept is much too large and there is too much white space above and below the titles.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

Instructors disagree on the order of topics within a public speaking course. This text seems logically organized although I would have preferred the section on argument be moved into the persuasion section near the end of the text rather than put with researching and supporting materials.

Interfacerating: 5

Stand up, Speak out works well as an E-text. It navigates easily and the images and font are not distorted. The display is easy to follow and use.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Stand up, Speak out is free of grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 2

While this text is not offensive, it does not adequately incorporate and weave culture through the fabric of the text as I feel it should. It severely lacks content in terms of the cultural perspective. As a previous reviewer claimed, this text is "culturally void."

Overall, this text is a sufficient option for a public speaking course. Most instructors will need to supplement in terms of rhetorical theory, culture, and arguments/reasoning.

Reviewed by James Jarc, Assistant Professor, Central Ohio Technical College on 7/29/19

This text is very thorough and comprehensive for the most part. The content is well organized and clearly presented to the reader. Topics are all relevant to a basic public speaking course, and some of the modules could even be used for... read more

Reviewed by James Jarc, Assistant Professor, Central Ohio Technical College on 7/29/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This text is very thorough and comprehensive for the most part. The content is well organized and clearly presented to the reader. Topics are all relevant to a basic public speaking course, and some of the modules could even be used for professional development or workplace training programs! Each chapter includes a clear introduction as well as learning goals, review points/key takeaways, activities, and citations. While the text does not include an index, the chapter navigation feature is useful and handy. The search function is also quite convenient. I would have liked to see the authors include some more focused "key terms" and definitions, but that does not necessarily take away from the quality of this text.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

This textbook is quite accurate. The authors do a good job explaining complex concepts and providing support for the main arguments. Citations are clear and come from good source materials. The text is not biased, per say, but it is written in a very colloquial style which lends itself to some editorializing, and sometimes feels less than authoritative.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

This book is as relevant as possible, given the long-standing and historic nature of public speaking content. The book appeals to contemporary readers through the tone of the writing, imagery, examples, and exercises. It also includes more up-to-date information about technology, including references to popular presentation software/services. Some content, of course, will become outdated over time, but this text generally includes content that will age gracefully.

Clarityrating: 4

For the most part, the text is written in a clear, accessible voice. As noted above however, I found that sometimes the writing feels too familiar to the reader, and may not be as clear as it could be. Given the subject matter and the intended audience, however, the non-technical, non-academic writing should be welcome for students in a basic public speaking course.

Consistencyrating: 4

Writing, content, organization, and support are all mostly consistent throughout this book. The authors include visual cues (such as bold words for key terms), and utilize a common formatting schema throughout. Some chapters contain more depth than others, though this is understandable as some topics are more complex than others. Chapter exercises also vary in terms of quality, complexity, and learning objectives.

Modularityrating: 5

This text is clearly organized, and presented in manageable sections. Each chapter is divided into subsections for enhanced modularity. Further, each section contains clear headers and succinct paragraphs, with numbers and bullets when appropriate.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

In general, this text contains a clear and reasonable organizational structure. I personally disagree with how the chapters are organized (e.g., informative and persuasive speaking are near the end; introductions and conclusions are separated from delivery), but this is a matter of personal preference. All the information is there, and is formatted so that I could easily assign readings in a different order.

Interfacerating: 5

I found the design and interface of the text to be clear and user-friendly. The online format works really well. I enjoyed having the chapters and subsections in the sidebar for easy access. The search tool is also helpful.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

There are a handful of grammatical and stylistic issues throughout this text. I did also note some errors with formatting of in-text citations and references as well. None of these issues are overwhelming to the reader, nor to they detract seriously from the usability of the material.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

This material is generally free from cultural bias, and makes attempts to use inclusive and culturally-sensitive language. I found no instances of offensive or inappropriate content. The book does include some aspects of intercultural communication, but I feel it could go a bit deeper in some places.

Overall, a fine textbook for the basic public speaking course. It's packed with good information, provides solid recommendations for students, and offers great support for educators. The online format is a delight to use!

Reviewed by Lori Adair, Adjunct Instructor, Aims Community College on 6/5/19

This text book is very inclusive and covers all the typical concepts you would expect to find in a public speaking text with additional hyperlinks to extra content. The content is explained clearly, and often in a more concise method than many... read more

Reviewed by Lori Adair, Adjunct Instructor, Aims Community College on 6/5/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This text book is very inclusive and covers all the typical concepts you would expect to find in a public speaking text with additional hyperlinks to extra content. The content is explained clearly, and often in a more concise method than many other textbooks.
• Each section within each chapter also comes with additional information including: learning objectives, making it clear what students will gain from each chapter, key takeaways, chapter exercises with an answer key.
• The text uses a clean, easy-to-read font with appropriate and appealing free and public domain images
• This textbook does not come with an index or glossary but it does have an effective table-of-contents and search tool. The search tool will lead the reader to a page that includes all the sections where terms or concepts are referenced. However. the reader then has to select “read more” to find the actual term which can be a bit frustrating
• The text did a great job discussing newer technologies and options when presenting computer-based media aids

Content Accuracyrating: 5

All content is clearly explained and comes with an excellent variety of images given appropriate credit including hyperlinks to the original image content. The content did appear to be as relevant, error-free, and unbiased as any of the numerous public speaking texts I have used over the past 30 years.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The book was created in 2011 and utilizes timeless content so that no matter when the reader examines this text, they will find it useful and appropriate though perhaps a bit dated with some images and examples. However, public speaking concepts have remained constant for decades allowing the authors a lot of freedom in their content. Nonetheless, additional resources for presentations and online speaking would enhance the text books. Public speaking is often taken online and it could be helpful to discuss how to gather an audience and use resources to easily record and upload presentations.

Clarityrating: 5

The text is designed much like an actual speech outline. Each section comes with a preview, a body, and a summary, all of which are clear and concise. The authors use ordinary language easily understood by a wide audience without being overly simplistic. The author considers its audience and involves them using pronouns such as us, you and we.

Consistencyrating: 4

• The chapters move from general to specific in terms of content and conceptual framework making it easy to follow and understand where concepts are likely to be found. The chapter learning objectives and takeaways present clear objectives for what the reader should learn and what they should understand after reading the content. Each chapter then provides exercises to reinforce the content.
• The text follows a consistent pattern throughout, including bolding key words, and hyperlinking extra content and references. However, they could be more consistent with chapter exercises. Some provide question and answers but some don’t. For example, 15.4 provides an excellent exercise asking the reader to understand what is wrong with a specific slide but they don’t provide an answer. Ideally there would be more examples covering many problems with slides. They could even link to longer quizzes testing the concepts.

Modularityrating: 5

This text makes good use of heading design. Each section begins and ends the same and takes advantage of consistent colors to indicate learning objectives (black/gray box), key takeaways (green box) and exercises (blue box). It was very easy to find specific concepts using the contents tab. Information is presented in small, easily digested chunks. The only dissatisfaction I experienced was having to navigate to the next section after a very brief intro to the chapter. Example: Ch 4 The Importance of Learning. We are provided with 2 brief paragraphs and then a reference. You must navigate to 4.1 to learn more. Students will find it easy to skip the intro sections and go right into the first sections, missing out on valuable information. For this reason, I recommend merging section intros with the content for the first part of each chapter to encourage reading it.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Overall, the topics are presented in a logical order, though they add important information about the first speech in an appendix. By calling it an appendix, it appears less important. This is highly important! Perhaps make this an entire chapter with full example speeches and slide decks to give the appendix more value. If a different order of material is preferred, it’s easy enough to assign sections in the order desired.

Interfacerating: 4

This text can be viewed online electronically or downloaded into several formats including EPUB, Digital and Print Pdf, allowing an option for any user preference.
• For the online version, the home page provides an excellent table of contents which is hyperlinked allowing the reader to go directly to the desired section. However, once in the text, navigation is less intuitive. For example, the reader can use the contents to navigate to any sub-section, but once you reach the end of the page, you must select the contents button at the top again to move forward, or, even less intuitive initially, the reader can advance through the content by selecting the next arrow at the bottom right of the page. This is a bit cumbersome, but not too difficult to work with. It would be better if that content tab were locked at the top of the screen while the reader scrolls down to read.
• This text provides a search tool making finding specific topics or terms very easy to find.
• Readers are given the option to increase font size for easy reading comfort.
• While all links worked, some had to be selected a second time to make the connection.
• There are no page numbers for the electronic guide, so if a student downloads a different version, referring to specific pages is not possible.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

The text contains a number of minor errors including typos and misspellings. For a text of this size, it’s not overwhelming, but for a professional document, these instances should have been discovered and removed, and doing so would improve this text. These errors include a number of misspelled names such as George in one place and Geogre in another. Other specific misspellings and typos include but aren't limited to: Atrocitties, Publiclly, noisef, Suprisingly, condominium, opporutunity, Settiing, Aloting, Bilbiography.

It could also be a stylistic choice the author made including how commas, dashes and hyphens are used, or more accurately, not incorporated. Examples include using words not identified in a standard dictionary such as nonuseful and nonoffensive.
The text lacks commas after most introductory elements or between clauses and phrases consistently through the text.
It also lacks space between words such as (but not limited to) "orphansin”, order)Author, Laudel’sJournal

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

Cultural references were appropriate and up-to-date from my perspective. Images appear to be varied and diverse to make all readers feel represented. When discussing audience diversity, the inclusion of the word chrono-centric surprised and delighted me.

Overall, this OER text is excellent and I will be using it! It's ahead of its time given that it was written in 2011. What I like most is that it provides meaningful content in concise chunks, an approach that seems best-suited to my students these days.

Reviewed by Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Mary Washington on 4/26/19

The book touches on the main topics traditionally covered in a public speaking text/class, ranging from the role of ethics to the different types of speeches (informative, persuasive, entertaining). The text guides readers through the speech... read more

Reviewed by Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Mary Washington on 4/26/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The book touches on the main topics traditionally covered in a public speaking text/class, ranging from the role of ethics to the different types of speeches (informative, persuasive, entertaining). The text guides readers through the speech process, noting the role of both speakers and audiences. While I did not find a glossary or index, the table of contents is detailed and helps with navigating through the text.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I did not note any inaccurate information.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The content is up-to-date and includes examples and activities to help bring in new, relevant material. I suspect any future necessary updates will be 'relatively easy and straightforward to implement'.

Clarityrating: 5

The text provides a breakdown of key terms and concepts. The information is clear for college students to follow.

Consistencyrating: 5

I did not note any inconsistencies in the text. The consistency in the organization is a nice treat that will likely help students follow along (each chapter follows similar format--objectives, content, major takeaways and activities/discussion questions).

Modularityrating: 5

The table of contents in broken into subsections, given users the ability to re-organize the material to fit their course design.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Topics follow a logical order. However, as noted above, the organization and presentation of the book provides users with the opportunity to move things around to fit the course. In addition (as noted above) the organization of the Table of Contents is very user friendly.

Interfacerating: 4

Overall, the interface of the text is clear and user-friendly. The table of contents to the side (with appropriate links and redirects to different pages) seems like it would be very useful for students moving through an online text. I did notice a link that didn't work (White House source, section 1.2) but I believe that is a quick fix. It is also helpful that users have the option to make text larger.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not note any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The book does not appear culturally insensitive or offensive.

Some of the images were a tad confusing. Perhaps captions would help. For example, there's a puzzle (with missing piece) for section 11.1 on conclusions. Is this because 'conclusion is the final puzzle piece in the speech'? I assume so, but students may question the relevancy of some photos. I was also unclear on the reference style used. The references appear to be in APA but direct quotes do not include a page or paragraph number with the parenthetical citations. This may be confusing for students who are expected to learn and use APA. Lastly, I think it is great that the book is offered in various formats.

Reviewed by Sunni Davis, Faculty, Communication Studies, University of Arkansas Cossatot on 4/25/19

The text was very complete and covered the essentials for a basic introductory course in public speaking. Giving students a solid base in delivery is a key to giving confidence to beginning speakers, and this text covers the essentials in clear... read more

Reviewed by Sunni Davis, Faculty, Communication Studies, University of Arkansas Cossatot on 4/25/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The text was very complete and covered the essentials for a basic introductory course in public speaking. Giving students a solid base in delivery is a key to giving confidence to beginning speakers, and this text covers the essentials in clear and concise language. I particularly liked the sections on explaining the pros and cons of different speaking formats. End of chapter exercises were nicely done. I missed a glossary.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I found the methodology in the book to be in line with most popular textbooks on the subject.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The text reflects standard methods of teaching public speaking. Although technology changes, the basic precepts of instruction are adequate and the chapter on research can be easily supplemented to update as needed.

Clarityrating: 5

The language is appropriate for beginning speakers. It is clear, concise, casual and avoids overusing passive voice.

Consistencyrating: 5

Language is consistent and in spite of including multiple authors, is seamless. Terminology and framework is reflective of standard textbooks.

Modularityrating: 5

Nicely divided.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

I like to start students speaking early in a course, but this book places relevant information closer to the end of the text. That isn't really a problem as chapter readings can be assigned in any order, and I suppose instructors differ on the best way to teach students. My personal preference would be more integrated materials - the appendices could easily be integrated into chapter sub-topics.

Interfacerating: 5

Easy to navigate, no visible distortion of materials.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Nicely written.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

Good section on audience analysis, but I would like to see more emphasis on inclusiveness and cultural sensitivity.

Overall, I thought it was a good, basic book that will work well for any beginning public speaking class. I was very happy to see the chapter on ethics and thought the end of chapter exercises for that section were quite appropriate. I also liked the explanation of the different speaking formats. Using pyramids as a visual reinforced the foundational nature of the text.

Reviewed by Emily Plec, Professor, Open Oregon Educational Resources - Western Oregon University on 4/17/19

The only thing lacking from the book is a good foundation and introduction to the classical study of rhetoric from which contemporary public speaking practice draws. read more

Reviewed by Emily Plec, Professor, Open Oregon Educational Resources - Western Oregon University on 4/17/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The only thing lacking from the book is a good foundation and introduction to the classical study of rhetoric from which contemporary public speaking practice draws.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

The text uses some outdated terminology and examples, and demonstrates bias in terms of representation (mostly images of white males, few examples of contemporary speakers who diversify the visual representation). On the whole, though, the content is not overtly objectionable and shortcomings could be acknowledged or discussed in class.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The structure of the text affords a lot of chapter coverage to material that will not need frequent updating. Given the level of detail in the chapters, though, deciding what needs to be updated where might be challenging.

Clarityrating: 4

Clear writing but a far cry from compelling, especially for a course that introduces students to elements of style.

Consistencyrating: 5

I felt this was one of its strengths. There was a lot of useful repetition and high degrees of internal consistency.

Modularityrating: 5

I liked the searchable digital PDF version and did not preview other versions of the text. It is suitable for my purposes.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

I felt the overview of purposes was unnecessary and feel argumentation needs to be addressed earlier in the text.

Interfacerating: 5

I found the text very easy to interface with and find that for which I was looking.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

Some inelegant phrasing but no glaring grammatical errors in the chapters I read.

Cultural Relevancerating: 3

This is where the book could be most improved.

Reviewed by Doug Marshall, Assistant Professor , SUNO on 3/25/19

I find Stand up, Speak out to be a very comprehensive public speaking textbook. I find no major deficiencies with this work and find it to be very comparable to the major players in popular public speaking texts. read more

Reviewed by Doug Marshall, Assistant Professor , SUNO on 3/25/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

I find Stand up, Speak out to be a very comprehensive public speaking textbook. I find no major deficiencies with this work and find it to be very comparable to the major players in popular public speaking texts.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I have no real issue with the accuracy of this textbook. Some may have different opinions in regard to the positions and assumptions of the author but this is clearly accurate.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

One of my biggest gripes about popular public speaking texts is that many of them are packed with examples that are relevant for that one particular moment in time. In other words, public speaking texts purposely age themselves so that the author can update with new timely examples and sell more copies. This text is nearly void of popular culture references thus allowing the instructor to make those references his or herself. Excellent!

Clarityrating: 5

A textbook for an introductory course should not lose the students. This text presented material in a polished, clear way that helpfully unpacked any jargon or technical language that was used. I believe that this text balances the idea of meeting the student where he/she is and inviting them to become part of a bigger conversation.

Consistencyrating: 5

The structure of this textbook was clear and consistent. Terminology is used consistently.

Modularityrating: 5

It is divided up well. I see no issues here.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

I question some of their placement of the topics but I would just simply assign the chapters to be read out of order. For instance, the final chapter is preparing students for their first speech. Ideally, they would be covering this early because it is rare to wait until the end of the class to give the first speech. This small problem that I have can be easily addressed by the instructor.

Interfacerating: 5

The interface is fairly standard but good.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I admittedly do not have a great eye for grammatical errors (see all examples of my writing) but I found nothing problematic with this text.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

I found no issues of cultural inappropriateness.

Overall I enjoyed Stand up, Speak out. It has all of the necessary elements that a basic public speaking text should have. It is well written and has made me reconsider these open source texts.

Reviewed by Robert Green, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania on 3/13/19

Although the comprehensiveness of this textbook might be a barrier to some students, and although the market appears to be trending towards minimalist textbooks, the comprehensiveness of this textbook is one of its strongest points. Many... read more

Reviewed by Robert Green, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania on 3/13/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

Although the comprehensiveness of this textbook might be a barrier to some students, and although the market appears to be trending towards minimalist textbooks, the comprehensiveness of this textbook is one of its strongest points. Many commercial textbooks appear to take a "lean and mean" approach to the subject in terms of small chapters, efficient textual information, colorful stock art, and online subscription models. I think an apt comparison would be with "throwaway fashion trends."

This book, on the other hand, prioritizes comprehensive substance. In fact, I've used this book as a reference to supplement commercial textbooks. For example, I believe that the section on Using Notes Effectively (14.3) is the most-fully principled, conceptualized, and explained account on the subject (let alone among competing open-source texts).

I take off a point because the book lacks a glossary, index, or a listing of key terms at the start or end of chapters. Moreover, I could easily see how some students might get lost due to the comprehensive and substantive nature of the text. Nonetheless, clearly-labeled learning objectives and exercises should provide some guidance for students and instructors.

Content Accuracyrating: 3

Although this textbook generally provides a standard account, you might issue with liberties taken with traditional approaches.
Content is, for the most part, accurate. Concepts are grounded in relevant research literature, and a variety of examples are used to illustrate these concepts. I don't detect any unfair biases.

However, you are likely to find some odd, though minor, deviations. For example, I find issue with how the book models outline symbolization. In this text, subordinate points are listed as Arabic numerals (1., 2., 3.) rather than upper-case capitals (A., B., C.). Although that might not bother those unwed to tradition, I'm not sure why the change is an improvement. You'll also notice that Main Point II of the sample outline (pp. 329-331) does not meet the rule of division.
Finally, the textbook should correctly model assignments. I would also like to know why APA references are not formatted with hanging indent. Ultimately, I think these are issues that should be addressed in the next installment.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Textbooks on public speaking tend to lag when it comes to technological advances and current events (such popularization of "fake news" and conspiracies). Research librarians have developed new guidelines on evaluating the quality of sources, and I hope future updates will incorporate this research.

Nevertheless, I find that many principles of public speaking are timeless, and this book does an adequate job of establishing and explaining the importance of such principles. I often find myself building off of these principles to introduce new developments.

I appreciate that the text establishes expectations of intellectual rigor.

Clarityrating: 5

The text offers a substantive, comprehensive account of public speaking balanced by a casual tone. Chapters are clearly organized. Key concepts are in bold, and examples are of sufficient quality and quantity.

Consistencyrating: 5

I find the tone and style to be consistent throughout the text, which is often a problem with open-source public speaking texts.

Modularityrating: 5

I generally find the textbook to be well organized with chapters broken down into key sub-topics.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

I find no issue with the organization of the book. It is organized in a logical fashion, and the modularity of the text enables you to organize the sequence of
materials as you desire. I do wonder what purpose the appendixes serve. Why not include them in the chapters?

Interfacerating: 5

I find no issue with the interface of the digital pdf. The hyperlinks to various chapters and sub-sections appear to work, and I can generally navigate the text with minimal effort using the search function.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 3

I've found minor grammatical/typographical/stylistic issues. E.g. look at where Appendix 1 is listed on the table of contents. I've also found issue with APA formatting, in model student materials and in end-of-chapter references. Students find APA style challenging enough as it is, and the textbook's errant ways will only introduce more confusion.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

As a prior review has mentioned, public speaking is grounded in the western tradition. This book is grounded in that tradition, for better and for worse. There is no explicit chapter on intercultural communication. Important concepts related to culture and diversity are embedded in discussions of audience analysis, ethics, and language choice (among other areas). For a public speaking class, I prefer the embedded approach because it develops a sense of inclusion and diversity as practice. Much has happened over the past two years with respect to diversity and inclusion, so instructors might wish to supplement materials to account for developments.

Although I do find issue with how the book covers some issues, I generally believe that the book offers a comprehensive account of the subject. It is well organized and written in an accessible style.

Reviewed by Carrie Tomko, Senior Lecturer, OhioLink on 3/5/19

From start to finish, Stand Up Speak Out (SUSO) contains a comprehensive collection of topics on public speaking, ideal for the college classroom. There is nothing lacking in this online resource. read more

Reviewed by Carrie Tomko, Senior Lecturer, OhioLink on 3/5/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

From start to finish, Stand Up Speak Out (SUSO) contains a comprehensive collection of topics on public speaking, ideal for the college classroom. There is nothing lacking in this online resource.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

No issues with accuracy.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The textbook is set in a timeless fashion, without reference to current pop culture that might fade over time, as are other textbooks available. Therefore, this one will stand the test of time.

Clarityrating: 5

OUTSTANDING clarity in presentation of topics and subtopics, with step-by-step choices and advice in constructing a speech, for example.

Consistencyrating: 5

The format of the book's verbiage consistently presents information to the student in a way that is parsed and absorbed easily. Headlines and sub-headlines add to this easy.

Modularityrating: 5

Easily, this textbook can be referenced in whole, or in partiality. Whether teaching a semester's worth or a chapter's worth, Stand Up Speak Out (SUSO) provides pockets of information full of details.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

As an educator, I appreciated the practical layout of each chapter, as well as with the collection of chapters that flow naturally and logically, sure to enhance student learning.

Interfacerating: 5

No issues in interface. Nothing distracting or confusing for the reader.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I found no errors with grammar.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The textbook does not offer politically incorrect presentation.

Clearly, this is the best open textbook available for a public speaking course!

Reviewed by Rachel Davidson, Assistant Professor of Communication, Hanover College on 1/25/19

The book covers every necessary aspect that students need to know for an introductory public speaking course. read more

Reviewed by Rachel Davidson, Assistant Professor of Communication, Hanover College on 1/25/19

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The book covers every necessary aspect that students need to know for an introductory public speaking course.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Not a heavy emphasis on a rhetorical approach to public speaking but I think that is ok for an introductory class who may not fully understand the rhetorical tradition.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Some examples are likely to be dated soon but that is to be expected with any textbook.

Clarityrating: 5

The language used to convey the ideas is appropriate for a student reader.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book is consistent with other public speaking textbooks and uses consistent language throughout.

Modularityrating: 5

Students will appreciate how easily the book can be navigated by section/topic.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Organizationally, the book reads well and seems to chronologically follow the speechmaking process.

Interfacerating: 5

Navigation is clear and straightforward.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I didn't notice grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

Text is not insensitive or offensive though is written from an implied Western framework that privileges American expectations in effective public speaking--not a detriment to the book, just an observation.

Reviewed by Ben Walker, Associate Professor, Southwest Minnesota State University on 9/25/18

This text has everything you'd expect in an introduction to public speaking book. read more

Reviewed by Ben Walker, Associate Professor, Southwest Minnesota State University on 9/25/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This text has everything you'd expect in an introduction to public speaking book.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

All the information is accurate and in line with the discipline as a whole.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The authors have done a nice job making sure the content is relevant. Nothing is significantly dated.

Clarityrating: 5

The writing and flow of the book is easy to understand and terms are explained well. The visual aspect of the text also makes it appealing.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book is consistent throughout, with no major issues. Everything is unified in the approach to teach public speaking.

Modularityrating: 5

All the chapters make sense. They are separated in a similar fashion as most public speaking textbooks.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The topics are organized in a similar fashion as most public speaking textbooks. The topics build skills from foundational to more advanced.

Interfacerating: 5

Visually, the book is pleasing to the eye and does not distract from the content.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

No major grammatical errors that I saw.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

This text is not insensitive, but it does approach public speaking in a very ethnocentric way. American academia is rooted in whiteness and so is it's traditions. The textbook is appropriate for introduction courses because it is similar to what most textbooks offer. That being said, what most texts offer is based on a public speaking tradition that is a bit stale and focused on traditional Western/white oratory.

Solid text. I am happy there is something of this quality for free.

Reviewed by Kristen Hungerford, Visiting Assistant Professor, Miami University on 8/2/18

The text covers all areas and ideas that are typically discussed in an introduction to public speaking book. However, the textbook is missing an index or glossary of terms that would be important for students to refer to and learn from, either... read more

Reviewed by Kristen Hungerford, Visiting Assistant Professor, Miami University on 8/2/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 3 see less

The text covers all areas and ideas that are typically discussed in an introduction to public speaking book. However, the textbook is missing an index or glossary of terms that would be important for students to refer to and learn from, either placed at the beginning or end of each chapter or at the end of the textbook. Also, in my printed version of the text, the table of contents states that there should be appendices at the end of the book. However, there were none located at the end of my printed version of the text.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The book is accurate in its explanation of relevant course content on the fundamentals of public speaking. The author provides a wide variety of examples from many different cultural sources.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The content is up-to-date. Other then maybe sharing more popular or widely known examples, content in public speaking textbooks does not dramatically change. Really the only updates that continue to change are in regards to media/technology and public speaking and maybe more current examples of ethics in public speaking.

Clarityrating: 4

The text is accessible for all reading levels. The only drawback I noticed in the textbook is the lack of citing enough or any references as in-text citations throughout the chapter or at the end of the chapter. It is typical to see more direct citations from ancient and modern rhetoric and communication sources listed throughout the chapters of public speaking textbooks. This task also reinforces to students the importance of conducting research and properly citing sources.

Consistencyrating: 5

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework that is standard for a textbook on public speaking.

Modularityrating: 4

The text is easily presented into smaller reading sections that may help students retain information. However, in comparison to other public speaking textbooks, I think that having some of the smaller reading sections in the textbook makes it too choppy. I would prefer to view a more continuous stream of thought on some of the topics in some of the chapters with listed subheadings of course, as I have seen done more effectively in other public speaking textbooks.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The topics follow the typical arrangement of course content on public speaking for this kind of text. The topics provide a natural progression for students learning about speech preparation.

Interfacerating: 3

The printed version of this textbook does not contain any page numbers. Page numbers are only listed in the table of contents in the printed version. The lack of page numbers in the printed version would make it very hard for an instructor to use during class time. It would make it nearly impossible to direct students toward certain page numbers for course content and examples.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The text seems to contain no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

As previously stated, the textbook uses a variety of cultural examples of public speaking situations. The only drawback that I notice is that the examples are not famous or popular ones that students might relate to more when reading the book. In other public speaking textbooks, I tend to see copyrighted examples of really popular public speakers - such as from national politicians or entertainers, etc. However, I understand that it might cost more to acquire the rights to those really popular public speaking examples.

The biggest drawbacks included not enough listed references, no listed glossary of key terms, no listed page numbers in the printed copy of the text, and a lack of popular examples from public speeches. Other than those areas, I think a reader would be more engaged with reading a textbook with more eye catching, fancier headings and other aesthetics, including more images, graphics, and charts to further explain key concepts.

Reviewed by Ruth Fairchild, Instrucotr, Ridgewater College on 6/19/18

Stand Up, Speak Out covers public speaking effectively, providing clear explanations of the content. As the title says, both the practical and ethical aspects are included. The sections on audience-centered speech design, research, and evaluation... read more

Reviewed by Ruth Fairchild, Instrucotr, Ridgewater College on 6/19/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

Stand Up, Speak Out covers public speaking effectively, providing clear explanations of the content. As the title says, both the practical and ethical aspects are included. The sections on audience-centered speech design, research, and evaluation of sources are especially thorough. One area that some instructors may expect, but will not find, is the history of public speaking; fortunately that could be supplemented easily with material from other sources.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

The content is presented fairly and accurately. Examples within the text show a broad range of contexts and applications for public speaking. The visual components of the text vividly enhance reader understanding. Two of the images in Chapter 15 do not match the correlating text, but otherwise the figures are well chosen and explained.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Much in public speaking stays the same over the years, but this text emphasizes the relevance of the field and the related skills in the 21st century. In several chapters, this point is made through a “why” section: why public speaking, why analyze the audience, why outline. Throughout the text examples draw from current affairs and social media, as well as from contemporary students. As the text ages, these examples may need to be updated since many are from before 2010.

Clarityrating: 5

The text excels in clarity and ease of reading. Key words are shown in blue letters and are explained within the text itself. A glossary or lists of key words by chapter would be useful and eventually may be available through the shared supplemental materials.

Consistencyrating: 5

The structure is consistent throughout. Headings are in bold and are clearly spaced. The inclusion of learning objectives at the beginning of each section and of the coordinating key takeaways at the end reinforce the focus of the section. After the initial chapter on ethics, the end-of-chapter “Speaking Ethically” exercises tie the content together nicely.

Modularityrating: 4

The division of the chapters and sections would make it easy to assign them according to a variety of schemes. A different organization of the text would not detract from its cohesive feel. When a concept is referred to in a later section, a reference to the previous coverage of it is given. However, more such references could be given in earlier sections to highlight that further coverage of certain concepts is available in another section. For example, Chapter 9 refers to Chapter 6, but 6 does not refer to 9. In short, more cross-text references would be welcome.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

Even though the chapters and sections could be assigned in varied orders, the overall organization of the text is coherent and cohesive. It matches common structures of public speaking texts, moving from foundational topics to speech design and delivery, and then to types of speeches.

Interfacerating: 5

Readers can navigate the text smoothly from one part to another using the pull-down table of contents. Images display nicely online and look the same in the PDF version. I did not try the mobile versions but would expect them to work well, too.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The textbook contains minimal typographical or grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

The images and examples in the text provide diversity. Since there are no sections overtly related to cultural variations in public speaking or to diverse students’ challenges with it, instructors would need to cover that with supplemental materials.

Although I currently use the online Public Speaking Project textbook and find it effective, I would be likely to try Stand Up, Speak Out because it is a bit more streamlined.

Reviewed by Lisa Hoopis, Adjunct Professor, Rhode Island College on 6/19/18

This book was very easy to understand and comprehend. I plan on using this with my peer education group who has to do public speaking. This text was perfect in covering the basics and giving them a good foundation. read more

Reviewed by Lisa Hoopis, Adjunct Professor, Rhode Island College on 6/19/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This book was very easy to understand and comprehend. I plan on using this with my peer education group who has to do public speaking. This text was perfect in covering the basics and giving them a good foundation.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The book was accurate and up to date. I like that the information was supported by research and examples.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The basics of public speaking were covered here and relevant examples were used. I feel it would have to be updated regularly to keep it up to date but that can easily be done with current examples.

Clarityrating: 5

The book seemed straight forward, relevant and to the point and covered all of the basics I would expect it to cover. I like that it clearly discusses issues around plagiarism and freedom of speech and was divided into 4 clear areas. In this day of political turmoil I feel it is helpful for speech writing and also having thoughtful, meaningful challenging conversations.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book was consistent in format and layout and was the framework was laid out with objectives and references which I think is important.

Modularityrating: 5

I did not see any issues with the layout. I like how the information was presented and repeated for comprehension. I liked objectives were clearly laid out and there was a table of contents that organized everything nicely.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

I really enjoyed the layout of this and flow throughout the book. I think it would be easy to assign students sections of this book although it is difficult to navigate to sections without going through the entire book. I like that it starts students at the beginning gaining confidence, considering audience d then creating and delivering the speech. I would have also liked to see something on seeking and accepting feedback and journaling the experience at the end. I liked the way the chapters were laid out and organized.

Interfacerating: 4

It is difficult to find a particular section without going through the entire book. I would like to see clickable tabs on the side that would take you to where you need to go rather than just the errors to the next section. I liked the visual features and the tips it offered. Some of the links did not work which was frustrating especially if students want to get more information. I liked how it provided objectives at he start of the chapter and a review of the info. for comprehension.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

I would have liked to see more on this area. I do feel it was a little weak in this area and would recommend adding something around mention of privilege and presenting to communities you are not a part of and being culturally aware and sensitive and using inclusive language is important.

I would have liked to see more on preparing for controversy at the conclusion and responding to difficult questions. Overall I feel this text did a fantastic job at covering the basics and I am considering using this text with my peer educators.

Reviewed by Brian Timm, Professor, North Hennepin Community College on 5/21/18

This text addresses key concepts appropriate for an introductory level public speaking course. The content is extensive and larger courses may not have the time to address all of the material included. It would be nice to see more coverage about... read more

Reviewed by Brian Timm, Professor, North Hennepin Community College on 5/21/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

This text addresses key concepts appropriate for an introductory level public speaking course. The content is extensive and larger courses may not have the time to address all of the material included. It would be nice to see more coverage about how to effectively present in group contexts. No glossary, but the online search function is user friendly. Coverage of ethics in public speaking would create opportunities for class discussions.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Content is accurate, arranged in a useful manner. It appears to be free from overt bias.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The content appears to be up to date, though some of the examples may require more context in the future.

Clarityrating: 5

Textbook is written clearly and accessible for an introductory college level course.

Consistencyrating: 5

Terms are used consistently and in an accessible format. The end of chapter exercises allow students to reflect on the content learned in each chapter.

Modularityrating: 5

The text is presented in a way that would make it easily adaptable to different course structures or schedules. The content does not rely on being presented in a specific order.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The structure of the content in the text is logical. Presenting the introduction, body, and conclusion content in separate chapters allows for more time to focus on each rather than having them lumped together.

Interfacerating: 5

The text is easily searchable for terms both online and in PDF format. The online version makes moving between chapters easy with the navigation menu.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

No major grammatical errors or typos.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The text does not appear overtly culturally insensitive. Given the emphasis on speaker ethics, this makes sense.

The outlining section could offer more examples, but overall this is a solid introduction to public speaking textbook.

Reviewed by Narissra Punyanunt-Carter, Associate Professor, Texas Tech University on 3/27/18

This is the BEST public speaking book on the market. It covers every major and essential aspect of public speaking. read more

Reviewed by Narissra Punyanunt-Carter, Associate Professor, Texas Tech University on 3/27/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This is the BEST public speaking book on the market. It covers every major and essential aspect of public speaking.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The information is completely accurate and unbiased. Students love using this book!

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The book provides several examples that help make the public speaking easier to comprehend and retain. The information is straightforward and very relatable.

Clarityrating: 5

The book is clear and concise!

Consistencyrating: 5

The terms in this book are consistent with other text books on the market.

Modularityrating: 5

The author(s) do a great job confining and reiterating information so that students can truly learn the information.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The organization of this book is logical, straightforward, and clear. I love how this book is organized. It helps making a speech easier and effective.

Interfacerating: 5

The book provides great visual features so that it makes learning fun and exciting.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

No grammatical errors. It is written very well!

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

This book is perfect for all classes on public speaking. It is inclusive of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

I've reviewed a lot of public speaking textbooks in my career. This book is by far the most thorough and most comprehensive books on public speaking. My students truly enjoy learning from this book. And I adore using this book to teach public speaking. If instructors need a public speaking textbook, then they should definitely use this book. I would require it for all my public speaking courses.

Reviewed by Morgan Hess, Instructor of Record, University of Maryland on 2/1/18

The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately, some with more originality than others. The ethics approach is interesting, and provides for many discussion starting points. The practical how-tos (speaking anxiety, visual aids,... read more

Reviewed by Morgan Hess, Instructor of Record, University of Maryland on 2/1/18

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately, some with more originality than others. The ethics approach is interesting, and provides for many discussion starting points. The practical how-tos (speaking anxiety, visual aids, etc.) are less exciting, but sufficient overall.

There is not an effective index and/or glossary.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I didn't see any bias or errors. Lots of citations for curious or unconvinced students.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The book basically perpetuates the known facts and information regarding public speaking. It's not particularly culturally relevant, so take that as you will. The information is straight forward and user friendly.

Clarityrating: 5

SO clear! any undergraduate can easily read and understand it. The examples are especially clear.

Consistencyrating: 5

The progression of ideas make sense, moving from a general conceptual framework in the early chapters to more specific applications later on. Terms were consistently defined and used.

Modularityrating: 5

Divided easing into assigned readings.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

As mentioned above, the structure was logical. I won't have to mis up chapters on my syllabus, which is nice.

Interfacerating: 5

Simple, colorful, easy to see.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I didn't notice anything!

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

It's not insensitive or unethical (haha!) in any way. It's not particularly "culturally relevant" in the examples it uses, but If this question is asking about its accessibility its perfectly adequate.

I like it! Puts a different spin on public speaking for an intro class, and definitely worth pulling from.

Reviewed by David Sours, Humanities Instructor, Rogue Community College on 8/15/17

The book’s discussion is generally thorough, explaining concepts clearly, illustrating their importance to the speech development process, and providing concrete examples. Particularly excellent are the discussions of ethics (especially... read more

Reviewed by David Sours, Humanities Instructor, Rogue Community College on 8/15/17

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The book’s discussion is generally thorough, explaining concepts clearly, illustrating their importance to the speech development process, and providing concrete examples. Particularly excellent are the discussions of ethics (especially plagiarism issues), listening critically, and audience analysis. Also good are the sections on how to select a speech topic and purpose, research and citing sources, developing main points and supporting evidence, common organization patterns and outlining techniques, and constructing arguments. Practice, delivery, presentation aids--all of the topics common to college public speaking courses are included in sufficient detail to make this a very useful text.

The section on communication anxiety and how to address it is unremarkable in that it covers similar terrain to most other public speaking texts without shedding new light on the subject. It will nevertheless be useful for many students.

The text has no glossary or index; however the table of contents is interactive and easily accessible from any page, making it easy to hunt down topics of interest. There is an effective search tool as well.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The authors write with precision about all aspects of the public speaking process. They explain concepts clearly, and provide excellent historical and contemporary illustrations. They are meticulous about citing sources. Claims and supporting material appear to be accurate and carefully considered.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Although the text was originally published in 2011, at no time does the content seem to be out of date or irrelevant to our current political or social climate. Because many of the conceptual illustrations are drawn from history, they have a timeless quality. But even the more recent examples will remain useful to speech students for some time, such as a reference to the 2010 debate over the Affordable Care Act. Regardless of changes that may be made in our health care laws, the authors' point should still be relevant for the foreseeable future.

In a number of instances, the authors make effective use of academic forecasts which should continue to have relevance for the foreseeable future. Following is one example, found in section 1.1:

“Researcher Norman W. Edmund estimates that by 2020 the amount of knowledge in the world will double every seventy-three days (Edmund, 2005). Because we live in a world where we are overwhelmed with content, communicating information in a way that is accessible to others is more important today than ever before.”

Clarityrating: 5

The text is engaging because of the use of specific and highly relevant examples, word precision, and the use of direct language to draw in the reader (e.g., through the use of direct pronouns). The authors have a highly organized style, making frequent use of previews, transitions, and summaries to maintain reader focus. Terminology is explained clearly and rendered useful through the use of examples that the student reader should be able to relate to.

Also, the authors appear to have many years of experience behind this, and to have given careful thought to some of areas that often can be quite confusing to inexperienced student speakers. For example, their discussion of speech purposes in section 6.1 includes a brief but illuminating analysis of why many people become confused about the difference between informing and persuading. To some, this may seem a minor point, but it can actually lead to significant problems in speech focus and preparation. The authors explain this and other many other issues with great clarity.

Consistencyrating: 5

Key terms are used with consistency throughout the text. As explained below under Organization, the progression of ideas should make sense to the overwhelming majority of readers, moving from a general conceptual framework in the early chapters to more specific applications and “nuts and bolts” of speech preparation in the later chapters.

Modularityrating: 5

Chapter headings are clear, and so are subheadings. Most of the sections of this text can be used as standalone readings. The sequence of topics in the text, while logical, needn’t be followed. The sections are self-explanatory enough that it should be easy for an instructor to re-order the topics as needed. Students who have a particular need to know should be able to zero in on a topic of interest without reading everything that came before it. This text, without a doubt, will work in a modular fashion if that is needed.

While the authors do make use of cross references to other sections of the text, these are primarily provided to make it easy to check back and forth using the hyperlinks which are included. Most readers will appreciate this feature.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The first five chapters address general principles of public speaking such as the overall speech process, ethics, audience analysis, and managing anxiety. Later chapters take these principles and apply them more specifically, zeroing in on how to identify an appropriate topic, how to develop an audience-appropriate focus (specific purpose), how to conduct research, etc. These later chapters furnish excellent examples from student speeches—of purpose and thesis statements, introductions, bodies, conclusions, etc. Many hyperlinks to videos and audios are also furnished for further illustration.

Interfacerating: 4

This was an easy-to-use online text. Finding terms using the search tool was a breeze; the sidebar table of contents, found on each page, is very helpful. Most—though not all—of the hyperlinks work. Illustrations are attractive and appropriate, though not particularly imaginative (many appear to be public domain clip art).

One minor font issue concerns key words which are highlighted in blue—the same as hyperlinks. Another minor issue involves the subheadings. There are subheadings and there are what could be called “sub-sub-headings” where a large topic is broken into subtopics which occasionally are broken down still further. Because all the subheadings use the same font and point size, this can lead to confusion over what topic is being addressed, slowing down comprehension.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I found only two typos and one missing word. The grammar is not a problem in this text.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

At no time does this text use any language that I would question. Numerous examples are given featuring different races, religions, ethnicities, etc. The authors’ discussion of audience analysis, in particular, is a good lesson on the diversity found in the typical college classroom—even one where most of the students appear to be from a similar ethnic or racial background. As they state in section 5.2: “Not all cultural membership is visibly obvious. For example, people in German American and Italian American families have widely different sets of values and practices, yet others may not be able to differentiate members of these groups. Differences are what make each group interesting and are important sources of knowledge, perspectives, and creativity.”

The authors include some excellent discussion questions at the end of each section, as well as chapter activities and short assessments. These should provide excellent opportunities for partner, small group, and whole class investigations and discussions. Also provided are frequent checklists to help students assess their own progress.

One section I was particularly glad to see—section 6.3—is called “Drawing a Blank.” It does an excellent job of addressing one of the big issues that many inexperienced speakers face—the feeling that they have nothing of interest to talk about. This section offers numerous helpful strategies for getting these students on the right track.

Reviewed by Gregory Epps, Associate Clinical Professor, West Virginia University on 12/5/16

The book covered all of the areas associated with the subject matter. This was a major strength of the book. I did not see a glossary. read more

Reviewed by Gregory Epps, Associate Clinical Professor, West Virginia University on 12/5/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The book covered all of the areas associated with the subject matter. This was a major strength of the book. I did not see a glossary.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

I don't think that the book was biased as was accurate. I think other professional speakers may differ on a few points.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The book basically perpetuates the known facts and information regarding public speaking. The information is straight forward and user friendly.

Clarityrating: 5

This book is very clear. It presents information, provides practical examples, and provides good reviews. The writing is easy to follow.

Consistencyrating: 4

For the most part the is consistent with the information it provides. There was, what I consider, some differentiation regarding the topic of memorizing speeches.

Modularityrating: 5

This book did an excellent job dividing topics into sections and sub sections. It was divided appropriately and systematically.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The flow of the book and the structure are very good. The organization likely works well with students, however some of the information seemed to fall later in the book than I would have anticipated.

Interfacerating: 5

There were no significant interface issues. The images and other displays were simplistic and colorful.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 3

I noticed no grammatical errors. However, I did find it interesting that there was not a space between paragraphs. I also noticed a few other spacing issues.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

There were no issues with cultural relevance. All examples were appropriate an non offensive.

This was a very comprehensive book that covered all of the necessary components of public speaking. There were ample opportunities for review and reinforcement.

The book was somewhat long and I wonder how it was used along with classroom teaching and if everything gets covered thoroughly.

Reviewed by Patria Lawton, Instructor, Inver Hills Community College on 12/5/16

This text is a comprehensive guide to the many aspects of public speaking. So often to save money for the students, Instructors have relied on a pocket guide style of public speaking book. This is a nice option if you want to include the thorough... read more

Reviewed by Patria Lawton, Instructor, Inver Hills Community College on 12/5/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This text is a comprehensive guide to the many aspects of public speaking. So often to save money for the students, Instructors have relied on a pocket guide style of public speaking book. This is a nice option if you want to include the thorough information found in the first 140 pages of the book, which is centered on more general communication theories and principles that aren’t exclusive to Public Speaking, but rather the communication discipline as a whole.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

Information presented in the book is accurate for the most part. A more accurate section on outlining should be included with full sentence, properly formatted sample outlines. This is an area where beginning students typically struggle and seeing the formatting be incomplete on the included outlines in this text is a cause for concern as students will often simply “copy” what they see in the text.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Public speaking principles haven’t changed much over the years, so the longevity of the information is solid. That being said, some of the examples are already showing their age – the text included references from 2006, 2010, etc. - that doesn’t seem like that long ago for some of us, but I would prefer to see examples, especially in an online text, that are less than 10 years old. I would imagine that it will take some work to make sure the links are all up-to-date throughout the text because they are so numerous.

Clarityrating: 5

Concepts were clearly defined using clear examples for the reader. The text was easily digestible for a student in a 100 level speech course.

Consistencyrating: 5

The layout of the book was extremely consistent. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and ends with review activities. The sections were arranged in a logical order.

Modularityrating: 4

The clear division of the chapters makes it easy for the reader to know where concepts begin and end. It is set up in a way that allows instructors to pick and choose the content in a different order than it is presented. It is also organized in a way that would work if an instructor wanted to work through the material in a sequential order.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

A table of contents would provide a roadmap for the reader, which is extremely helpful in a text that is 600+ pages. The parallelism in the chapters is beneficial for the reader as they know when each chapter starts and stops, as well as being able to view outcomes and practice those outcomes at the end of each chapter.

Interfacerating: 4

Most of the text was nicely presented. The lack of a reference section as well as the lack of a clickable table of contents in the PDF version made it difficult to navigate – that may have simply been a feature of the PDF version.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

There are multiple instances of spacing issues throughout the text. There were also issues in which excerpts from speeches weren’t separated appropriately from the larger text. There are a few places where outlines are referenced, but formatted completely incorrectly (such as the “outline” on page 617).

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

The text has a section devoted to considering the audience’s diversity which discusses respecting diversity and avoiding stereotypes in your speeches in the ethical speaking section. I thought the speeches referenced by the text were culturally relevant and diverse.

This book would be a great substitute to a traditional public speaking textbook. Although many instructors tend to use the pocket style guides to teach public speaking to keep costs down, those often aren't extensive enough. The few things that are irksome about this book, such as a lack of clickable navigation on the PDF version and the failure to incude any reasonable outline examples can easily be remedied with supplemental material.

Reviewed by David Edwards, Instructor, South Central College, Faribault campus on 8/21/16

All the topics one would expect in a public speaking course are included. They reflect the standard topics found in almost all mainstream public speaking textbooks. There are no topics missing. read more

Reviewed by David Edwards, Instructor, South Central College, Faribault campus on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

All the topics one would expect in a public speaking course are included. They reflect the standard topics found in almost all mainstream public speaking textbooks. There are no topics missing.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

No inaccuracies found in book, although a couple of the links did not work. No bias found, and it appears the authors are careful to work diversity into the book, both in the names, examples, and samples included.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Book is very up-to-date, which means it would likely need to be updated just as frequently as a printed version for several reasons. Many of the examples and samples provided are current topics or well-known people. In a few years, those will be out-of-date and will need to be updated. One suggestion is to use the word "summary" instead of "key takeaways" at the end of each section/chapter. "Key takeaways" is really a current buzzword in the business world, which will likely not be known by students and won't be used after the "freshness of the term" has worn off.

Clarityrating: 5

Book is written using simple, down-to-earth, language. It is very conversational and easy to understand. Public speaking is not an overly-difficult subject to understand, so this really reflects the simplicity of the subject matter.

Consistencyrating: 5

Book is consistent in terms of terminology and framework (which I am assuming refers to the "look" or layout of the book). Each chapter begins with objectives and ends with a summary and some sample exercises/questions. When chapters have subdivisions, those subdivisions also are consistently laid out.

Modularityrating: 3

Text is divided into appropriate chapters and sub-divisions of chapters. However, the book is simply way too long (622 pages!!!) and each page is quite difficult to read due to the fact that each paragraph is NOT separated by a space. This gives each page the appearance of one gigantic paragraph. This makes it a daunting task to read through a page, much less a full chapter (which is very long). This is the reason I wouldn't use this text in my course, although I might use parts of some chapters as supplements to what I currently use.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

While all of the chapters seem appropriate, I'd suggest moving a couple of them. First, chapter 4 and chapter 14 should be switched with each other. Chapter 4 deals with delivery and needs to be discussed before the construction of a speech, not after. Second, chapter 15 should come right after chapter 8. Chapter 15 deals with visual aids, which should be discussed at the end of the support chapter (since visual aids are a form of support). While it's true that an instructor can order the chapters in any way he/she wants, I think these two changes will be the most logical order.

Interfacerating: 3

Didn't see any interface issues or navigation problems except for a few links that didn't work. To be honest, there were not very many pictures, graphics, or features. Tables were frequently used, perhaps too much as it doesn't look much different than the rest of the block paragraphs of text. Perhaps, more visual variety needed in book.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

Grammar is fine, but an important note about mechanics is mentioned above and will be repeated here. The book is simply way too long (622 pages!!!) and each page is quite difficult to read due to the fact that each paragraph is NOT separated by a space. This gives each page the appearance of one gigantic paragraph. This makes it a daunting task to read through a page, much less a full chapter (which is very long). This is the reason I wouldn't use this text in my course, although I might use parts of some chapters as supplements to what I currently use.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

Like all current textbooks, it appears that the authors have made a concerted effort to use names, examples, and samples that reflect various cultures. Sometimes, it seems forced.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Reviewed by Leslie Harris, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on 8/21/16

This is a good basic public speaking textbook. It covers the main topics that one would expect in a public speaking textbook and includes plenty of practical advice. The sections on ethics and organization are particularly helpful, and the writing... read more

Reviewed by Leslie Harris, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 2 see less

This is a good basic public speaking textbook. It covers the main topics that one would expect in a public speaking textbook and includes plenty of practical advice. The sections on ethics and organization are particularly helpful, and the writing is generally light and engaging.

Depending on how an instructor is using the book, a potential weakness is a lack of rhetorical theory. My preference would be that the authors use rhetorical theory to explain why students may be making particular choices in their speeches. The audience, argument, and persuasive sections are particularly weak in this respect. For example, I would have liked to see not only an understanding of the audience and its demographics, but also a consideration of ways in which an audience can be constructed by the speaker. Important elements of persuasion such as framing and identification are absent. The authors do list figures of speech, but there is little consideration of what those figures do or how they may work in public speaking.

A more serious issue is the lack of table of contents, index, glossary, foot/endnotes, and bibliography. The lack of an index, table of contents, and glossary can make it difficult for students to use the book. The absence of notes and bibliography is particularly problematic when we are attempting to teach students to responsibly cite sources. There are markers of notes in the text of the book, but I have been unable to locate any actual notes to correspond to those markers at the end of the pages, chapters, or the book as a whole. My best guess is that the notes were lost in formatting, or perhaps the problem is unique to the pdf version that I read. Nonetheless, these elements need to be present in every version of the book.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

I don't see any major problems with accuracy. However, the absence of a bibliography and/or notes is a problem.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Some of the examples could use updating, but I don't see any major issues. There are many web links in the text. I did not check if all of those links are still active, but instructors will need to check the links if they are expecting students use them.

Clarityrating: 4

The writing is generally clear and accessible. The learning objectives are clearly stated, and there are good summaries at the end of each section. Some of the checklists also seem very helpful. Clarity could be improved by pulling out definitions into a separate box or glossary. Some of the spacing and formatting issues may also introduce confusion.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book is generally consistent. I didn't see any major shifts in terminology or anything else that would make me concerned about consistency.

Modularityrating: 4

The chapters and subsections are generally clear, and there is an appropriate amount of self referencing. A clear and detailed table of contents would make it easier to assign specific sections and navigate.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The organization of the chapters are clear and similar to other public speaking textbooks. However, Chapter 19 was strange. It seemed like a general summary of the overall book, and at at least one place the book called the chapter an appendix. The chapter seemed disconnected and didn't seem to add much to the overall text.

Interfacerating: 2

The book was, at times, difficult to read, and the formatting seemed sloppy. There are no spaces or indents between paragraphs. Throughout the text there are additional spaces or missing spaces between words (such as "anidiom" instead of "an idiom"). Some of the figures are missing (such as 17.1 in my pdf version), and some tables are formatted in a potentially confusing way. The font occasionally changes. There is no easy way to navigate between chapters and because there isn't a table of contents with page numbers, the reader has to scroll through the book to find a particular section or chapter. However, there are not indicators, like chapter titles, at the top of pages to aid navigation. There are also places where sample speeches are not distinguished from the text, so it can be difficult to see where the text ends and the sample speech begins.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not see any serious grammar issues.

Cultural Relevancerating: 3

There is nothing clearly insensitive or offensive in the book, but there also was not a comprehensive treatment of culture. Culture and related issues of power are important to public speaking, and I was disappointed to see only a cursory treatment of these issues.

This book includes practical advice and contains much of what an instructor would expect in a public speaking textbook. I could see the book functioning as a good supplement to a public speaking course. The interface/formatting issues are a problem. Perhaps there are different versions of the book, but all versions need to have notes and bibliography. I am also disappointed by the absence of rhetorical theory. It's impossible to include the content that will satisfy every instructor. However, most public speaking textbooks include at least some rhetorical theory, which I see as important to (1) explaining why we are asking students to make specific decisions and (2) creating a framework for more advanced communication courses.

Reviewed by Katie Trombley, Instructor, M State Community and Technical College on 8/21/16

This textbook was one of the most comprehensive public speaking textbooks I have viewed. However, I found it to be lacking in critical thinking skills, such as identifying fallacies. There was no index, glossary, bibliography, or bold keywords... read more

Reviewed by Katie Trombley, Instructor, M State Community and Technical College on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

This textbook was one of the most comprehensive public speaking textbooks I have viewed. However, I found it to be lacking in critical thinking skills, such as identifying fallacies. There was no index, glossary, bibliography, or bold keywords throughout text.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

The majority of the content is accurate. I would like to see "noise" added to The Transactional Model of Communication. The speech outline did not follow the pattern of outlining I use with students. It started with Roman Numerals and then numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. rather than capital letters. A space is needed between “should” and “do” on page 519. The table of contents needs to be updated to include Chapter 19 – Your First Speech.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The overall material is not likely to change in the next few years. MLA and APA guidelines were up-to-date. The biggest drawback in this category is a lot of research cited was over 10 years old.

Clarityrating: 5

The authors used a friendly style in their writing that I think would keep students’ attention.

Consistencyrating: 5

The theme of ethics was seen throughout the book. It was not in every chapter, but some material relates to ethical issues better than other material.

Modularityrating: 5

I would have no trouble teaching chapters or sections of chapters out of order from the way they appear in the textbook. There was an appropriate amount of subheadings.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The topics are presented logically. I did not like how the thesis statement was with the introducing a speech chapter. I like to teach thesis statement with the specific purpose.

Interfacerating: 3

Very poor. There was very little use of color, pictures, and other graphics.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

This textbook did an excellent job of appealing to college students’ interests such as O, The Oprah Magazine, Ted Talks, and popular television shows. It lacked material on international culture.

There were useful checklists/questions for students, such as the “Public Speaking Ethics” checklist and “Who is an Expert” questions. The text also included learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, summaries throughout each chapter, and assessment questions at the end of each chapter. There were numerous websites to provide students with extra resources on a wide variety of topics.

Reviewed by Kathleen German, Full Professor, Miami University -- Oxford, Ohio on 8/21/16

Stand up, Speak--The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking is a relatively comprehensive textbook, although it’s longer than many commercial textbooks which accounts for some of its breadth of coverage. It is highly suitable for an introductory... read more

Reviewed by Kathleen German, Full Professor, Miami University -- Oxford, Ohio on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 3 see less

Stand up, Speak--The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking is a relatively comprehensive textbook, although it’s longer than many commercial textbooks which accounts for some of its breadth of coverage. It is highly suitable for an introductory course in public speaking that is taught from a communication theory/sciences perspective. It combines the best features of an introductory workbook such as interactive checklists and extended examples with strong features of a textbook. Among the most thorough treatments in this textbook are the ethics features (Chapter 2) which are woven throughout the book and concrete suggestions for the implementation of ethical choices in speaking. The weakest topics which might be supplemented, depending on the course emphasis, are:

* The several stress management techniques (Chapter 3), such as systematic desensitization and cognitive restructure, which are described but not in enough detail to offer viable alternatives to students. In addition, such techniques are not usually undertaken without professional guidance.
* Students are not provided with practical, immediate suggestions for anxiety reduction.
* Argumentation, its development and critique, is also very rudimentary.
* Persuasion is introduced but not well developed.
* Critical analysis of argumentation and persuasion are also very limited with no mention of fallacious reasoning etc.

Content Accuracyrating: 3

There is strong treatment of contemporary behavioral theories such as cognitive dissonance, consistency theory, elaboration likelihood model, etc., but very limited recognition of rhetorical theory. If you are looking for a textbook that is well grounded in rhetorical principles, this is not it. In some cases, new language such as “temporal dimension” (p. 13) could be recognized as the traditional rhetorical “kairos” although there is no clear link. In at least one instance (p. 73), the interpretation of Aristotelian categories of speaking as three types of listeners is misleading, or at best, confusing. The historical claim that citizenship was determined by property ownership and that all property owners were prosperous is not credible (p. 73).

The use of interpersonal research and models as they are adapted to public speaking is useful. Some of this informs the development of purposes for public speaking, models of dialogic communication and principles of critical listening (p. 91). Description of various types of “noise” in listening is particularly good (p. 80) and well rooted in strong research in interpersonal communication and listening.

Why is there no permission included for Monroe’s Motivated Sequence (pp. 572+)? To my knowledge this is copyrighted information and the authors are incorrect when they write that it is included in most textbooks. It is featured only in the Monroe, Ehninger, et al. textbooks because it was developed by Alan Monroe as part of his original army officer’s training manual. Permission must be obtained from Routlege to use this model.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

There are many examples, especially in the last 2/3s of the textbook. These examples are derived from contemporary issues and many of these issues such as the military “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on sexual orientation will eventually become dated. Other examples and check sheets that ask students to review their hobbies, favorite books, classes, etc. for speech topic ideas etc. will remain viable for much longer. As always with examples from contemporary political and business speaking (Obama’s speech citations, for example) will become quickly dated. Within another 4-8 years, the typical college student will not likely remember events/leaders from their elementary and middle school years.

Clarityrating: 4

This textbook has an average concept load of approximately 4-6 ideas/chapter. There are many lists which appear to expand the load, but these are usually just checklists of options such as types of introductions or conclusions rather than new ideas. Often, practices such as informative speaking or types of transition are illustrated in multiple ways which is especially effective for students.

The reading level for the textbook is quite low. Most high school and college level students will have very little difficulty with it–sentences are relatively short, vocabulary is not challenging, and sentence structure is straightforward.

One difficulty in the textbook is that new vocabulary/concepts are not consistently defined clearly or in the context of the discussion. For example, “transactional” and “interactional” are used interchangeably at one point although they were established as separate concepts. The problem is further complicated as “dialogic” is introduced into the discussion. At other times, however, such as in the discussion of primary and secondary research (p. 190), the definitions are outstanding.

Consistencyrating: 5

This textbook is both consistent with most other commercial textbooks on the market and internally consistent in its approach to teaching public speaking. The topics replicate topics covered in most other public speaking textbooks except perhaps if you are looking for more fully developed treatment of argumentation or persuasion or you want to present outlining or demonstration speaking to students.

Modularityrating: 5

Instructors and students will find this textbook very easy to use as distinct units or as it is presented from beginning to end. It appears to be very easy to rearrange the chapters without confusing students. In fact, I would personally use several of the later chapters much earlier in the semester and perhaps not use the extensive, although excellent, discussion of special occasion speaking at all. This textbook seems designed for such rearrangement.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The template for each chapter is consistent throughout the textbook. There are clearly delineated learning objectives, take-aways, and assessment questions for each chapter. Headings for chapters and subheadings are clear and easy to navigate. Overall, the chronology of the chapters follows the development of most public speaking courses from “why should we learn public speaking” to the steps for your first speech, to more advanced forms of speaking such as informative, persuasive, and special occasion speaking. Most commercial textbooks follow a similar formula.

Several minor problems interrupt the flow of an otherwise well-organized textbook. For example, the list of librarians and the etiquette for interacting with them is both odd and strangely placed at the beginning of the research chapter (p. 185). I’m also wondering why “Speech Preparation Time” is included in the midst of a discussion of research (p. 197) and why the statistics oriented website information is included in Chapter 8 on argumentation rather than in the previous chapter on supporting material.

Interfacerating: 5

Students are invited to interact with the textbook through checklists and student-friendly examples. These are well integrated into the development of stages of speech development. Infrequent diagrams and models provide additional support for concept development. Occasionally, summaries describing how lists of topics such as temporal, spatial etc. elements (Chapter 1) relate to the transaction diagram might be helpful for students who will have difficulty making these connections on their own.

The small units with key objectives listed after each one is probably helpful for students.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Occasionally words are run together such as “inlistening” (p. 73) or “shoulddo” (p. 523) although this may be the result of formatting issues while downloading.

Minor stylistic problems occur occasionally such as “hearer, that”–“hearer who” is more grammatically correct. Most of my students probably wouldn’t notice.

Cultural Relevancerating: 3

Many public speaking textbooks achieve the appearance of inclusion through illustrations that feature various ethnic groups, individuals using wheelchairs etc. This textbook does not have that luxury because there are no photographs other than the cover image. There is an attempt to create the facade of inclusion through the use of names such as “Jose,” “Pablo,” “Ursula,” “Fatima,” “Yukhi,” and “Juanita.” This is rather superficial. There are several examples that also use Native American culture and others. This helps recognize the potential diversity of readers and audiences. However, the most genuine attempt to stress inclusiveness occurs in the discussion of language and audience analysis. This is quite good.

This is a solid, low-level textbook that would be appropriate for either advanced high school students or entry-level college students. It represents a communication theory/sciences perspective and, although there are a few references to Aristotle, it does not represent a rhetorical approach to teaching public speaking.

Reviewed by Rosemarie Tillman, Instructor, Lane Community College on 8/21/16

I love how thoroughly this textbook covers thesis statements. I think the Chapter Exercises and Key Takeaways are especially useful for this element of a speech's introduction. I find students are often stymied by the differences between thesis... read more

Reviewed by Rosemarie Tillman, Instructor, Lane Community College on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 3 see less

I love how thoroughly this textbook covers thesis statements. I think the Chapter Exercises and Key Takeaways are especially useful for this element of a speech's introduction. I find students are often stymied by the differences between thesis statements and specific purposes, and consequently develop one or the other, but never develop very strong statements. I think it might be more comprehensive to directly deal with the five elements of orienting material rather than simply referring to five or six things that should happen within the introduction.

I did not see either an index or a glossary. Both of these features would be a benefit to this book. Many students rely heavily upon these features with the traditional textbook, most notably when they have not set aside time to complete the assigned readings. I think students' reading habits will transfer to open textbooks, and without an index or glossary, many students will be frustrated and deem the open textbook less helpful, even less user friendly.

Content Accuracyrating: 3

There is no index or bibliography, so there is no way to determine research accuracy other than your personal knowledge base. Students do not usually have a very extensive knowledge base. Students might also think because the text does not offer a reference list or bibliography that they do not have to offer one with their work products.

Also the chapter on Outlining does not accurately cover outlining principles. The three major sections (introduction, body, conclusion) are not covered with the four levels (Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals, lowercase letters) working within. Neither does the significance of indentations to the flow and consistency of information that constitutes the message seem to be apparent.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

I believe the content of the text is up-to-date and will remain so for a while. The fundamentals of public speaking do not readily change. Perhaps rearrangement of chapter order to that more similar to the speech making process might increase relevance. Clarifications of formatting might make technological updates easier to implement, thereby increasing longevity.

Clarityrating: 5

The text is understandably written. There is no restricted code that is not defined or explained. All explanations provide clarification suitable for the typical undergraduate.

Consistencyrating: 3

The text does not consistently use APA's style format. When explaining oral as well as written documentation of sources for student use there seems to be adherence to APA's 6th edition. However the authors' citation of sources does not consistently or correctly offer direct in-text quotations. The citations offered in text are more appropriate for bibliographies and reference pages than chapter content. The in-text citations also misuse punctuation and provide some information that does not belong and leaves out other information that does belong. Additionally some citations provide redundant information.

Then there is inconsistency with labeling. For example, Elspeth Tilley's Ethics Pyramid is also labeled and occasionally referred to as the Ethical Pyramid.

Modularityrating: 5

I found the modularity effective. It seems as though customization would be effortless, particularly with the subheadings provided for each chapter. Plus if I decided to reincorporate some reading I did not assign, it appears as though that would be a naturally easy adaptation.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

For the most part the layout of the text follows the speech making process. It is an easily understandable guide to being effective throughout the process. If the desire is to have the text's information flow as logically as the speech making process does rearranging the chapters so that Outlining follows Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic, and Creating the Body of a Speech follows Supporting Ideas and Building Arguments would set up a structure that is more similar to effective design, research, development, and practice of a speech.

Interfacerating: 5

Navigation is straightforward. Navigation could be more fluid with the addition of a glossary, index, and bibliography. It is refreshing that the embedded Internet links actually work and without additional navigation at a site. You are taken directly to the video, web page, blog entry, etc. referenced without needing to figure out how to access the referred resource.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 3

More proofreading is needed. There are spacing, typographical, outlining, and grammatical errors. There needs to be some revising and editing in the formatting of the examples, citations, and outlines. Additional proofreading could easily eliminate aspects that instructors will see as distractions and clarify aspects that students may find confusing.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

I think this text is culturally relevant in ways that matter to both students and instructors. Students like examples that connect to their personal lives, media, current events, and entertainment. Offering links to celebrities, politicians, professional athletes, and other news makers engaging in public speaking episodes helps students see how the skills and strategies they are learning are relevant and useful. For instructors I believe the chapter on The Importance of Language will be appreciated. It can be challenging to assist students in using and acknowledging the impact of inclusive language. Instructors' use of this chapter can meaningfully encourage students to say what they mean in ways that engage audience members and have listeners feel included in the message.

This is a solid textbook. My current institution has just implemented a prescribed traditional textbook for all of its public speaking courses. In our next review of the public speaking course, if the few issues I noted are remedied, I plan on recommending this open textbook for adoption.

Reviewed by Paul Vinelli, Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

As I was reading through the text, I considered whether it effectively complemented my lesson plans - and altogether, I feel it succeeded. The book goes into great depth in each of its major chapters, and offers students tips on how to tackle... read more

Reviewed by Paul Vinelli, Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

As I was reading through the text, I considered whether it effectively complemented my lesson plans - and altogether, I feel it succeeded. The book goes into great depth in each of its major chapters, and offers students tips on how to tackle particular challenges. I can use the text as a general framework for introducing content and terminology, but ultimately the in-class exercises I’ve developed over time will be necessary to move students towards next steps.

The PDF version lacks a glossary and easily navigable Table of Contents, which is to its detriment. I’d encourage students to use the GitHub site if possible - though introducing the navigation aspects might take up valuable class time.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Altogether, I found the content to be straightforward and sensitive to a range of audiences. The authors are extremely thorough in their use of citations in the online version, but unfortunately some of these do not translate directly into the PDF. I find that they are consistently strong in attributions, offer objective examples, outline strong ethical behaviors and pose interesting questions for the reader.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Most of the text will be useful for the long-run. For instance, tips on how to grapple with anxiety or brainstorm original topics are fairly timeless. However, the authors will have to regularly add modern examples of political speech (e.g. updating for who’s in office) and cultural touchstones. The writers must be vigilant in maintaining active links - I found several “dead URLs” throughout the text, most of which direct to individually-maintained academic websites. It’s critical to keep these fresh to maintain the text’s credibility in the eyes of students and faculty.

Clarityrating: 4

The text is written in a clear and accessible style for students. At times, the authors overelaborate on certain points, but on the overall they do a nice job explaining topics. I feel the “Key Takeaways” are strong and straightforward - my opinion is that they could be used as models to retroactively edit several chapters in the interest of brevity.

Consistencyrating: 4

The authors methodically define terms and explain concepts. In addition, they regularly signal what’s coming next, and do a nice job walking students through the transition from ideation to execution. The text has an even-keeled, encouraging and conversational tone, which helps keep the reader consistently engaged.

Modularityrating: 4

The authors do a nice job utilizing headings, subheadings and chapter designations. This was far more evident in the “online” version, where I was able to quickly jump within chapters via the Table of Contents and “Next Section” buttons. As per other textbooks I’ve used in the past, I will choose to present topics in an order I find most meaningful to my classroom. This book is organized in a way that makes this possible.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The book is capably modeled to tackle many of the fundamental topics in public speaking. I had little trouble following the authors’ arguments and ideas, and they effectively preview and review. I would prefer to see the outlining chapter introduced earlier, as this is a fundamental skill that we practice before thinking about major speech construction (often through reverse outlining). I believe that thinking broadly about speech framework before content creation is key - but that’s a personal teaching preference.

Interfacerating: 3

Because the text is 622 pages, I found the PDF version to be difficult to navigate on a personal computer - especially if I wanted to backtrack to a particular section. Nevertheless, the type is sufficiently large, and I can assign students chapters accordingly. Unfortunately, I cannot readily convert this to a printed text for students who prefer their readings in book form.

I believe the “online” version is far more usable. I could readily jump throughout the table of contents, and the authors did a nice job adding intra-text links. However, the plain text occasionally has formatting issues with citations. I’d suggest making the two versions consistent.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not find any significant grammatical errors in the book. There were some formatting issues with spacing, but I did not find these to be too distracting.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

Given that the subject is Public Speaking, I feel the authors do a solid job clinically distinguishing between inclusionary and exclusionary language. However, I’d like to see more culturally engaging examples. For example, the “Presentation Aids” chapter could have used visuals representing arts and humanities in addition to the primarily scientific examples. I feel the authors could have included more examples of speech along the lines of Paulette Kelly’s “I Got Flowers Today” (page 367). It would be wonderful to use a compelling poem to demonstrate an assortment of rhetorical devices… One section I found off-putting was the example of the “entertainment speech” in Chapter 6. The speech uses an obscene acronym to create a “fictional university” that is insulting to residents of Harlem - an inappropriate and decidedly unamusing attempt at a joke. I believe the authors should choose a different speech and delete this one from the text.

I appreciate how the authors emphasized how to work with and correspond with librarians in the chapter on research. I often encourage students to begin building relationships with librarians - whether in person or virtually. It’s clear that they’ve done their due diligence in surveying experts, and I plan to reinforce this message of engagement.

While I found the research section to be authoritative, at times it turned into a bit of an information dump. It’s wonderful to see plenty of resources listed, but mentioning 9 different databases in one paragraph can be a bit excessive. Odds are my students don’t need a list of 11 major publishers in the Communication field.

However, I will say that I welcome the authors’ inclusion of full tables of citations in both MLA and APA style. I often send my students to Purdue’s “The OWL” website, and these tables serve as a strong counterpart.

Altogether, I can see myself using this book in the classroom. I was glad to see references to thinkers like Bakhtin, but I would also like to see greater attention paid to rhetorical theory. I feel that Richard Toye’s “Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction” would be a good complement to this textbook for an additional scholarly perspective.

Reviewed by Suzanne Burdick, Community College Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

This text was very comprehensive. read more

Reviewed by Suzanne Burdick, Community College Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This text was very comprehensive.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

This textbook was mostly accurate, except that it did not practice what it preached by being overly wordy, rather than concise, which was ironic since brevity is a foundational trait of effective public speaking.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The book was relevant to today's students.

Clarityrating: 2

The wordiness and unnecessary length of the text detracted from its clarity.

Consistencyrating: 4

The text was internally consistent.

Modularityrating: 1

Again, this text was unnecessarily long and cumbersome to use.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 1

See above.

Interfacerating: 3

No comment.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Fine.

Cultural Relevancerating: 3

Fine.

Reviewed by Karen Krumrey-Fulks, Lead Faculty, Lane Community College on 1/7/16

This textbook is backed with current research and great examples making it an interesting and informative read. It reaches out to students by providing relevant stories and illustrations along with bibliographic footnotes. Unfortunately, those... read more

Reviewed by Karen Krumrey-Fulks, Lead Faculty, Lane Community College on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

This textbook is backed with current research and great examples making it an interesting and informative read. It reaches out to students by providing relevant stories and illustrations along with bibliographic footnotes. Unfortunately, those footnotes lead to nothing. There is no bibliography or index or glossary of any sort. There is nothing at the end of the chapter, nor at the end of the book to indicate reference sources. Student who want to learn more, or to check their secondary references (as encouraged in Chapter 7 on researching the topic) are out of luck. And for those interested in chapter topics, there is no table of contents list either.

Students looking for bold-faced vocabulary words will have to highlight them on their own. The words DO exist, and are very easily understood, but the book doesn't provide that common study help that many students rely on. What is helpful though, is that each chapter section does provide a learning objectives box,and key takeaways box plus useful exercises and/or self-quizzes to test knowledge. There are also additional links to resources on the web that I am sure students and instructors will find very helpful.

In the bigger picture, this textbook might not have all of the stylistic conventions that students and instructors have learned to appreciate in a textbook, but the content covers all that I would require in a public speaking textbook and more. I was pleasantly surprised at the scope and the depth of this book. Content-wise it can stand up to anything that's out there.

Content Accuracyrating: 3

The research for the book appears to be accurate, but without the bibliography it's hard to judge with certainty. In my reading there wasn't any information that drew red flags for being incorrect or biased. What did stand out was the lack of proof-reading. There were numerous places where words ran together without spacing. In the outline section, which is typically the most difficult thing for my students to learn, the formatting was horrendous. Yes, it is often difficult to get computers to format outlines correctly because of auto-correct, but students rely HEAVILY on the text when creating their own outlines, and what is shown is NOT what I want any student emulating! There needs to be some serious work done in the formatting of this chapter for the examples to be acceptable. Proofreading could move what is a good book to a desirable book.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

Public speaking is not a subject that changes quickly as the generations go by. Much of what does change is stylistic or technological in nature and we just adapt the basics to the changes. It's not likely that this text will become obsolete in a short period of time. The text and chapter arrangement is relatively timeless. Even the examples that are used are explained in such a way that they will be relevant for the decade to come.

A great way to ensure relevance and longevity would be to improve the readability. If students are reading the text electronically, paragraphs need to be indented or delineated clearly. Having everything flush left, makes for a confusing read at best. When looking at screen after screen of dense wording becomes difficult for the eyes and will discourage students from spending much time with the chapters. Indenting paragraphs, creative use of "white" space, and illustrations will lengthen the amount of time a student spends with the content. As it says in chapter 15 (Presentation Aids: Design and Usage), "presenting [is] much more than just a collection of words and ideas." (pg. 473)

Clarityrating: 5

I found the prose of the book to be very readable and interesting. There were many vocabulary terms that were defined in such a way that I often appreciated the clarity of the definition. The examples were clear, current, and relevant. Much of the book was easy to relate to and invited the reader into the topic.

The only aspect of the book that wasn't clear was why chapter 19 (Your First Speech) exists. It's in a different typeface, and seems to be an afterthought, or maybe a conclusion to the book, because it summarizes much of what the previous chapters covered. I suspect that a simple checklist in an appendix would be a good substitution.

Consistencyrating: 5

Moving from chapter to chapter, or even section to section within a chapter, was smooth and easy to follow. There were not any consistency issues that caused any problems for me. The authors referred back to specific sections at times to keep the topic relevant, and when checked, the references all were correct. The web links all worked as well.

Modularityrating: 5

In general, the modularity was effective. As I was reading, it was easy to figure out which sections or which chapters could be eliminated for my student needs without losing the integrity of the book. I liked the ways that the subheadings were labeled with numerals so that a continuity was established making it easier to realign as needed. The outline chapter uses some lengthy examples that could possibly be shortened, but overall, the modularity is stellar.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The organization of the chapters (excluding 19) makes sense and is fairly typical of most public speaking books. It's logical and follows a linear fashion from the rational of public speaking to the completion of the speech. I appreciated the review of the fundamentals of the communication process and listening at the beginning to the discussion of language choice and delivery near the end.

The structure and flow of the book could be improved for readers by proofreading and stylistic devices. Students need a bibliography and index. Bold vocabulary terms help student know what's important. Indented or other stylistic devices to delineate paragraphs. Use of white space and/or illustrations to break up the huge blocks of words.

Just as giving a speech is not just about the message, an effective book is not just getting the words on the page.

Interfacerating: 4

In general, the navigation throughout the book is easy. With the exception of the lack of a table of context, index, and bibliography, it is fairly easy to navigate throughout the book. The links to the web are easy to follow and working.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

There were a few grammatical errors and run-on words. A good proofreader can fix these problems easily.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the written of this book. As I was reading though it, I was always thinking of ways to make it work for our public speaking classes. There are some things that I would change, and I certainly would do some proofreading and stylistic revisions, but this is a solid book that is engagingly written. I believe that with a little tweaking here and there--plus an instructors "unique" classroom presence--students would find this book appealing and useful.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the written of this book. As I was reading though it, I was always thinking of ways to make it work for our public speaking classes. There are some things that I would change, and I certainly would do some proofreading and stylistic revisions, but this is a solid book that is engagingly written. I believe that with a little tweaking here and there--plus an instructors "unique" classroom presence--students would find this book appealing and useful.

Reviewed by Richard Schutta, Adjunct Professor, University of Wisconsin- Stout on 1/7/16

This is by the best text book on public speaking that I have seen recently in terms of the overall content. What I would like to see is a better glossary of key terms. Yet, what makes this a great text is the break down of key takeaways and more... read more

Reviewed by Richard Schutta, Adjunct Professor, University of Wisconsin- Stout on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This is by the best text book on public speaking that I have seen recently in terms of the overall content. What I would like to see is a better glossary of key terms. Yet, what makes this a great text is the break down of key takeaways and more importantly the end of section exercises that I find lacking in other public speaking texts.

The thoroughness of the text is what really has captured me. The text doesn't skim over key concepts, but instead really provides a detailed explanation with numerous references to scholarly supporting material for students. The use of in-text sources provides a great illustration of the comprehensiveness of the text. This book really does a great job in touching on concepts like attention span or stages of listening that I have not seen in other public speaking books or developed out like this text.

Content Accuracyrating: 3

I would have liked to see a reference or works cited page included. In this age of information I strongly encourage my students to cite all their sources. I think it should be important for a text book, especially open textbooks to include a reference page. In addition, this would help the students understand how to prepare a reference page. More importantly, also if a student wanted to look at another (s)more in-depth they would have a detailed list to refer to.

Otherwise, overall the information is accurate and students will get a wealth of information on public speaking from this text.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

This book is update. In a topic like public speaking, the key concepts and methods do not change all that often, or at all. I like the various references to more current speeches (Obama) with more classic speeches (MLK's "I Have a Dream"). Often texts will update and remove "older" references, this text has found the perfect balance.

Clarityrating: 5

I loved that this text took the terminology of public speaking and made it understandable and easy to read at the same time. I actually found reading this text incredibly enjoyable. There isn't an overload of technical terminology without an easy to understand description to follow. Students will find this text more enjoyable to read than the "guidebooks" that are on the market.

Consistencyrating: 5

Everything in the text flows consistently from section to section and chapter to chapter. Concepts clearly build off each other. The writing is consistent as are the use of examples and sources throughout.

Modularityrating: 5

I really liked the book is divided. When I teach my courses, I don't start at page one and work all the way through, I like to jump around, so the way this text is divided is perfect! More

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

I thought the text was consistent in organization with other texts. However, I would maybe put speaker apprehension before the chapter on ethics. Ethics is certainly important, most students coming into a public speaking class are going to be nervous and really dreading it, so I think focusing on speaking apprehension in the first or second chapter makes the most sense. This way too, the ethics chapter can lead off developing speeches.

I would also suggest a table of content be included in the PDF version that way a student can quickly find the start of a chapter or section and go directly to it.

Interfacerating: 5

I found no issues with the interface. Everything appeared properly and even printed clean if a student needed to print a page or pages. All the images were clean without issue.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I found a few places where spaces were missed between, but nothing else of major significance.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The text does a good job of incorporating cultural relevance into the content (e.g. Chapter 5) and provides clear examples of some words to use or not use.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to my university and others teaching public speaking. It is by far the most comprehensive book that I personally have seen. It is easy to read, students will not get bored reading this text and it provides great examples and resources for the students and any instructor.

I would only suggest inclusion of a reference page, a glossary, and a table of contents.

Reviewed by Shannon Crawford Barniskis, Instructor, Doctoral Candidate, Consultant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on 1/7/16

The book is quite comprehensive, and covers similar materials to other public speaking texts. Where it stands out is in its excellent and clear advice for the students. The advice on dealing with nervousness, analyzing one’s audience and adapting... read more

Reviewed by Shannon Crawford Barniskis, Instructor, Doctoral Candidate, Consultant, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The book is quite comprehensive, and covers similar materials to other public speaking texts. Where it stands out is in its excellent and clear advice for the students. The advice on dealing with nervousness, analyzing one’s audience and adapting the speech to them, selecting and narrowing a topic, research, building arguments, creating speeches that unroll in effective stages, building credibility, persuasion, and the physical presentation of a speech was all quite strong.

The information about different listening styles will be useful for people throughout their lives, not simply in the context of public speaking, but it will definitely help those who wonder if their audience is paying attention.
The book even includes information on citation styles and research tools. It addresses a very wide variety of speaking circumstances, including key notes and toasts. I would have loved to see a specific section aimed at presenting a poster—there is little available on this topic and posters are being used more in university and academic settings. This is a type of public presentation that is challenging but rewarding if done well, since it is so interactive. When done poorly, it is a waste of everyone’s time.

Some of the less effective information centered on specific presentation aids such as slideshows—students would be better served to integrate this text with other texts for this topic, such as Duarte’s Slideology.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

The book is largely accurate and unbiased. There is one area in which the content is uneven, however. The ethics discussion is sometimes thin to the point of being misleading.

For example, he book says, “One option for assessing intent is to talk with others about how ethical they think a behavior is; if you get a variety of answers, it might be a sign that the behavior is not ethical and should be avoided” (p. 19), are highly problematic from an ethical theory perspective. Issues that have a variety of ethical answers should not be avoided, but engaged with thoughtfully and using ethical frameworks to analyze. And polling one’s acquaintances about a behavior doesn’t determine its ethical basis, merely your acquaintances perspectives/cultural ideologies. Statements like this made me question this book’s aim to teach “ethical” public speaking. In addition, the discussion about means-ends is so oversimplified as to be deceptive.

However, the thorough look at the National Communication Association Credo for Ethical Communication redeemed this section. While the authors’ discussion of ethical theory is problematic, the information they give regarding information honesty, acceptance of diverse perspectives, and other parts of this credo, is sound.
The checklist of ethical considerations the authors provide is particularly useful. The end-of-chapter ethical questions are interesting, and provide scenarios that offer good fodder for ethical conversations.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The book is relevant, and uses up-to-date terminology and examples, most of which will not swiftly become dated. Some references, such as to the TV show "The Office" will become dated.

Clarityrating: 5

Clear writing, easy to understand. The book is often funny. The examples are clear and demonstrate the points the authors intended.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book is consistent, clear, authoritative, and well-researched and supported. It builds in a logical fashion, so that by the end of the book, the students will have a clear understanding of what it takes to be a good public speaker.

Modularityrating: 5

The text is easily teachable, with clearly demarcated sections that can be used separately or cumulatively. Good use of learning objectives to highlight key ideas, “key takeaways” do a wonderful job of synthesizing the information.

The exercises occasionally look like busy work, but many are quite helpful. They would be particularly useful in a class focused entirely on speaking. In a class that merely incorporates speaking as part of the learning competencies, the exercises are less important than the excellent advice on speaking. However, the book offers such a clear and compelling of the process of argumentation that I could see it being used in a writing course, or in the context of many other courses that ask students to create arguments in papers, speeches, posters, or other presentations.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The topics in the text are organized well. There are some topics I would not expect to see highlighted in a text of this nature, such as "librarians are your friends" and information on how to research a topic. These topics are so welcome and helpful that these parts of the text could be assigned in a wide variety of classes that require a research project. This really made the book stand out for me.

Interfacerating: 3

The book's formatting and interface are largely clear and easy to use and understand. I do find the lack of indents or spaces separating paragraphs or blockquotes, and the many other spacing errors distracting. Formatting issues signal laziness to me. I read the pdf, which should not have exhibited such formatting errors in the way a converted ebook format could.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I didn't see any grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The books is culturally relevant in that is makes students aware of sensitive topics, ways to present them, and it challenges assumption about cultural superiority. More importantly, the book teaches sensitivity by explaining how and why students should listen ethically and be open minded. It presents audience analysis less as profiling than as ensuring the speaker is meeting the audience on respectful and sincere terms.

I teach applied public speaking in an Information Technology Ethics class, and I was intrigued by the promise of “ethics” in the title. It seemed a perfect confluence of topics to assign as a guide for my students as they prepared their speeches. While public speaking is not the main focus of this class, it is a critical skill to be learned by all of my students. Students will be wrestling with challenging ethical issues in their careers, and often have to persuade or inform their colleagues about ethical problems. I will be assigning parts of this book for future sections of this ethics class. One of the competencies for this class involves being able to communicate ethics issues clearly and convincingly. To that end, I want to ensure my students understand their ethical duty in the midst of that communication process: they must acknowledge any of their biases when possible, and seek to present as many sides of the issue as possible. The books does a particularly good job of describing exactly this process.

I have been a consultant for 14 years, and have read and used a variety of public speaking texts in my work. This book is relevant to real-world public speaking needs, while also being useful in a classroom setting.

The book provides a solid theoretical basis for the public speaking, from Shannon & Weaver’s signal/noise information theory to Bakhtin. Da Vito’s theoretical framework is a great basis for speakers to consider. Good historical grounding as well—the book notes ancient Greek and Latin speech types, for example. Later in the book, the authors usefully talk about cognitive dissonance theory and other theory that makes it difficult to persuade listeners to one’s perspective.

HIGHLIGHTS: ethical checklists, research tips, active listening and assessments of the audience.

Reviewed by Stacie Williams, Instructor, Portland Community College on 1/7/16

This text stands up very well against many popular public speaking textbooks from large publishing houses that I've used. There are well written chapters for all of the concepts covered in a 100/200 level public speaking course. In terms of... read more

Reviewed by Stacie Williams, Instructor, Portland Community College on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

This text stands up very well against many popular public speaking textbooks from large publishing houses that I've used. There are well written chapters for all of the concepts covered in a 100/200 level public speaking course. In terms of content, I only have three problems. First, there is no table of contents or index. Second, there is no glossary for students to reference. And lastly, the chapter on persuasive speaking (chapter 17) is lacking some essential information about argumentation. Namely steps to constructing an argument, identifying logical fallacies, and ethos, pathos, logos appeals. I would add to the persuasion chapter before teaching from this text. In terms of content, the persuasive speaking chapter is the weakest point of this text.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The information presented in the text seems very timely. The first chapter includes information about speaking in the 21st century via media like vlogs and TEDTalks.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Theories and concepts presented in the text are very foundational to public speaking. The examples presented of these concepts and theories were timely/contemporary and are integrated in a way that would make them easy to update in the future.

Clarityrating: 5

Appropriate language for the level of the audience is used. The chapters were easy to read and used discipline specific language when necessary.

Consistencyrating: 5

The format of each chapter is consistent and sets a tone of predictability in layout/design.

Modularityrating: 5

Some of the earlier chapters contain larger blocks of text that could benefit from being broken up. Starting in chapter 6 the examples are more clearly identified/highlighted through paragraph dates and indents. The chapters would be easy to assign in any order, or having the numbering changed to reflect the order in which readings would be assigned. The only caution is chapters are renumbered is that within the text of come chapters there are references to find more details in other chapters. Those references have the chapters numbered, so do a word find on the document to consistently replace all chapter number references.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

The text was relatively easy to navigate. If each chapter had a listing of the subsections that would be easier for students to navigate.

Interfacerating: 4

Each chapter is broken into smaller sections. From a layout standpoint it would be nice to have a listing of all chapter subsection numbers and names to follow. It would act as a preview of what's to come in the chapter. Some of the exercises at the end of the chapters have some display problems (pdf version). There are multiple choice questions in the exercise section that are not numbered, or the response options are not presented in a consistent manner. Something that could be easily fixed in the MS Word version.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

There did not appear to be any grammatical errors in the text. There were some font inconsistencies.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

The section on language use did a nice job of addressing cultural relevance and sensitivity to diversity. The audience analysis chapter is inline with other industry textbooks, though I think there is room to more fully address cultural relevance and diversity. The psychographic section of the textbook could explore this topic more fully.

This textbook isn't "perfect", but I've never taught from one that provided all of the information I wanted my students to learn. What I like about this text is that it's inline with many other industry textbooks and it provides me the opportunity to customize the text by adding or removing content. I believe that it provides a great framework for instructors to build their course upon. The lack of materials like a glossary, index, or even a test bank might be a problem for a new instructor. But, if you've taught public speaking for even a year you should be able to use this text without making significant changes to your curriculum.

Reviewed by Kathryn Black Lance, Instructor, Central Lakes Community and Technical College on 1/7/16

The textbook covers all of the necessary topics included in your typical Public Speaking Introductory course to include audience analysis, ethics, listening, organization, outlining, research, language, and topic selection. It has specific... read more

Reviewed by Kathryn Black Lance, Instructor, Central Lakes Community and Technical College on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The textbook covers all of the necessary topics included in your typical Public Speaking Introductory course to include audience analysis, ethics, listening, organization, outlining, research, language, and topic selection. It has specific chapters devoted solely to informative, persuasive, and entertaining speeches. It also had specific chapters devoted just to the Introduction and Conclusion which provided nice emphasis on the bookends of a strong speech. The only topic that was not covered in this text that is covered in my current text is Group speaking. I don't see this as a deal breaker with selecting this text, it just means that additional content would need to be added if an instructor wanted that component included. Most topics were adequately or thoroughly covered. The text needs a Table of Contents and / or an index as a part of the document.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

Most information seems very accurate, unbiased, and free of factual errors. Credibility could be added to the textbook by adding background information on the authors and comprehensive reference information at the end of the textbook.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The content of Public Speaking is rather timeless, but finding examples that multiple generations are familiar with is the challenge. This is a strength of the text. It includes up to date references to include TED Talks, YouTube, and statistical predictions for 2020. It also includes live links to relevant speeches in each of the Entertainment speech (Ch 18) categories such as Tiger Wood's apology speech, Colbert's Roast of George W. Bush, and a Speech of Presentation gone wrong with Taylor Swift and Kanye West. Most of the references used throughout are still household names, but should be replaced as similar examples occur in the future. Replacing these events would be rather simple.

Clarityrating: 4

The text is very clear and easy to understand. It uses a reading level and vocabulary that will be appropriate for your typical beginning speech course at community and technical colleges as well as four year Universities. All jargon was appropriately explained or illustrated with timely examples or illustrations. I would like to see clearer and more complete illustrations of the Models of Communication. I prefer the traditional Transactional Model of Communication where it also includes Context, Noise, Channels, Message and illustrates the back and forth motion.

Consistencyrating: 3

The overall feel, reading level, and conversational style of the text seemed to be consistent throughout. Visually, there seemed to be some inconsistency. My training on textbook selection encouraged us to look for a nice balance of words, pictures, and white space. I would have liked to see more illustrations in the book. There also seemed to be little white space in the text and inconsistent spacing. There was a lack of spacing between paragraphs throughout most of the book except in Chapters 6 and 7 (spacing was better in these chapters). White space offers students a psychological break and indicates a change in topics. I am not sure if it is an interface issue, but I saw this as inconsistent. I also would like to see key terms in bold or italics. I only noticed this occuring in Chapter 5 (Italics). I would like to see this occur throughout the text.

Modularityrating: 4

This text can easily be divided and assigned out of order or in sections. As mentioned earlier, a Table of Contents and an Index would improve the modularity of the book so students are able to find the various topics of study.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

Topics are presented in a relatively logical flow. It seems that authors always struggle where to place the chapters on the specific types of speeches. It seems awkward to wait until the end, but yet there does not seem to be a natural place to insert them without breaking up the foundational skills of speech writing. These authors placed them at the end which is similar to the book I use now. I think it works, but does require that I assign a later chapter earlier in the semester in order to spread the speeches out throughout the semester. I am not sure if there is a way around that. One thing that I recommend is using varying Font size and indentation to add clarity to the organization of the individual sections (Ex. on page 92 the heading above says "6 Ways to Improve Your Critical Listening" and the subsections listing these six things use the same font, font size, and indentation so there is no differentiation between the heading and the smaller sections. Another example is on page 116.)

Interfacerating: 4

Most of the interface is very good. The charts and assessments are fantastic. The only interface that was off was found in several chapter assessments. It would have numbering for the first question (1.) and then the second question would be indented with no numbering. The only other question was whether the squished text was a spacing issue or an interface issue.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I did not notice any glaring grammatical issues other than the errors mentioned with the end of the chapter assessments. There were a few instances where a sentence seemed rather long, but for the most part, it was very strong grammatically.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The textbook does a good job of addressing the different facets of inclusive language, ethnic identity, and audience analysis. I was surprised that socioeconomic status was not included in one of the discussed categories in audience analysis (it is listed at the beginning but not expanded on). The textbook incorporates a good variety of ethnicities in it's examples and illustrations. I found the incorporation of the term Chronocentrism very good. It demonstrates strong cultural competence on the part of the authors. It is hard to find that term incorporated in an intercultural text much less a Public Speaking book.

Unless another text would sweep me off my feet, I am very interested in adopting this text for my course. While there are imperfections, the strengths of the book and the cost savings far outweigh the areas for improvement. The strengths that I see that have not been mentioned yet include: 1. a fantastic chapter on Ethics that incorporates the NCA Code of Ethics and strongly addresses plagiarism, 2. an important discussion on Powerless vs. powerful speech, 3. practical questionnaires and checklists that help students understand things like Who is an expert?, Is a source biased?, attributes of a strong Thesis, and the components of Monroe's Motivated Sequence., 4. Valuable links and resources (see chapters 6, 7, & 8 especially). 5. Links to actual speeches that can be used for analysis. 6. A list of objectives at the beginning of each chapter and take-aways and assessments at the end of each chapter. The only other thing that would sweeten this deal is if there was a test bank for this text. I look forward to implementing this zero cost, relevant, and engaging text into my public speaking classroom.

Reviewed by Kari Frisch, Instructor, Central Lakes College on 1/7/16

The textbook actually covered more than what I was anticipating. I falsely thought it was going to be more of a handbook or guide, something I'd use supplementaly. The actual pdf version does not start with a chapter page of contents, nor does it... read more

Reviewed by Kari Frisch, Instructor, Central Lakes College on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The textbook actually covered more than what I was anticipating. I falsely thought it was going to be more of a handbook or guide, something I'd use supplementaly. The actual pdf version does not start with a chapter page of contents, nor does it end with a glossary. I think the page of contents would be useful as it would help outline the content as well as help students navigate to topics more easily.

Content Accuracyrating: 4

Each textbook takes a slightly different approach to communication topics. This is no exception but is more comprehensive than I anticipated. For the most part the content seems accurate and error-free. There are some numbering errors (in end-of-chapter assessments) and the occasional word misspelled (more of a spacing issue as in on page 168 "afinding"). It seemed to address some issues with cultural sensitivity (e.g. ethical language choices that include member identification/labels) and exercises that state unbiased examples like "one audience will consist of business men and women...".

Relevance/Longevityrating: 3

Some of the content and statistics are dated. Even in the book's description there is evidence that updating might need to be done very soon: "Currently, the amount of information available to people doubles every 18 months and is expected to double weekly by 2015." This is then later contradicted in chapter one, "Researcher Norman W. Edmund estimates that by 2020 the amount of knowledge in the world will double every seventy- three days". One study referenced was from 1975--maybe there is a more current study that could be used instead?

There were other references to pop culture, some newer than others, which could also help engage students but at the same time risk it being dated (Stephen Colbert Report, House). However, at other points they are referenced more statistically so perhaps it gives it a little more longevity. The latest date reference is 2011 so that's already setting it up to be a bit outdated already. There are also several links and that can be dangerous for a live site as those are beyond the authors’ scope to keep active. I noticed several broken links already (mostly with the document links).

Clarityrating: 4

I think the language used in this textbook is very accessible. This is one of the strengths of this particular resource. There's not very many graphics but the text is clear. It is something that college students should be able to read easily.

Consistencyrating: 4

The framework for the resource seemed to be consistent for the most part with learning objectives identified in the sub-headings and the key takeaways listed at the end. Exercises seemed to end each sub-unit and an end-of-chapter exercise (assessment) ended each chapter. So yes, I think there was consistency in the framework.

One thought that came to me after going through the rest of these questions is the fact that the text did not highlight any terms like some textbooks do. This is sometimes a nice visual for students.

Modularityrating: 4

There are 19 chapters, not 18 as stated in the description. Most chapters seem to have logical groupings. They are usually broken down into sub-headings which break up the reading into more manageable chunks. Note: Chapter 19 is not a typical chapter, it is more of a summary. The authors at one point refer to it as an appendix.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 3

It was helpful that the text laid out the learning objectives at the start of each sub-unit heading. That helped set the framework for what followed. Likewise, the "key takeaways" at the end of units were also helpful.

The "end-of-chapter assessments" were a bit confusing and messy, especially the first time it was encountered as the heading was "chapter exercises" and it directly followed the same colored highlighted section titled "exercises". Perhaps if this had been highlighted in a different color it would have helped. There were numbering and spacing issues as well. There was only one number in the text and there were two answers in the following answer key. So that wasn't very clear either.

I also thought chapter 19, was a bit confusing with the chapter written as an introduction, "In this appendix, we have introduced you to the basics of effective public speaking...All the concepts discussed in this appendix will be more fully discussed in the other chapters in this book."

As mentioned, I would have liked to a content guide included in the online resource itself. I think this helps students see the overall outline of the resource as well as helps them navigate to specific content more quickly through the use of page number references.

Also, having just studied some ADA best practices, I wonder about the left-justifications of the margins without spacing between paragraphs. That makes the screen very text heavy on the left side without any breaks. The line spacing however does seem wide enough to meet recommendations, but I just wonder if the left alignment would be distracting to some learners. There’s also not a lot of breaks for supplemental graphics which could also appeal to your visual learners.

There's also the issue that this font is not ADA compliant. Sans-serif fonts are less distracting for those with visual impairments. The headings appear to be in a different font as they are sans serif along with the text in those highlighted areas such as the "key takeaways" and exercises, but "sidebars" (like NCA Credo on page 24) were back to a serif font. So there seems to be some inconsistency there with ADA best practices.

Interfacerating: 2

In the beginning the links I tried seemed to work, however, when attempting to get back to the text, the reader is sent to page one, which could be a hard adjustment for students as they then have to scroll back to find where they were at in the chapter. Closing the window closes out the whole resource (linked site and textbook pdf). So perhaps as instructors it might be helpful to suggest students copy links into a new browser window to avoid these frustrations as I don't know if anything else can be done by the publishers that would be similar to what many of us can do in an LMS or learning management system (e.g. having links open automatically in a new window). Again, I wonder about the ability of screen readers to navigate the URLS (descriptive caption verses full link address) and the need to scroll back to last spot in text.

Later I found links that were not active and would bring up error messages. For example, I could not access 4/5 templates provided in table 7.3. The issue seemed to occur more often with accessing documents versus live websites but instructors do just need to be aware of this, and try all active links you want to use if choosing this OER.

There are also times when spacing is used before subheadings and other times it does not appear to be used which can make reading more difficult. (Page 8, 13, 21, 30, 37 etc.)

As mentioned before there are numeration issues with the end-of-chapter assessments. There are also issues with spacing/indentation in those areas as well, at least when viewed on a mac. Only the first question is numbered and the spacing for answer options aren't in alignment so that's distracting. This occurs also in other parts of the text with chapter sub-units (e.g. page 198 where the only sub-point that has an indentation is "a".)

It was also very confusing in chapter 6 knowing where the written speech example started and stopped. There was no differentiation in the text, font, spacing, colored highlighting (i.e. text box), or alignment which indicating it was the referenced speech. I found that extremely confusing, especially when asked to go back and compare one speech to the other.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

I did not find significant issues here.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

The unit on audience analysis touches on cultural variables but could have gone into a little more depth. This would be an area I think that would need some supplemental material. For example, "group membership" did not go much further than academic major. However, I also appreciated that gender and race weren't discussed in stereotypical terms in this unit. Again, I think this is where instructors would need to add some additional discussion/resources. The text also discusses insensitive humor, which is also an important topic.

The textbook bills itself as one combining "practicality and ethics". I was anticipating that it would be more of a handbook or supplemental resource and it was much more textbook-like, if I may, than I anticipated. It covers more than the basics. There weren't many self-assessments, what was included was practical. For example, I appreciated the public speaking ethics checklist on pages 37-38. There are also some suggested exercises that could be used as good assignments or just for student reference.

I also liked that some of the exercises directly related to issues relevant to campuses. For example, the exercise on page 41 asks students to find their campus code on free speech. Keeping students engaged to their content and their context is important to me.

I do have some reservations about using this textbook from an ADA standpoint. Besides the font, links, and spacing issues mentioned already, some tables are sub-divided (as in table 9.2) which is not best practice as I understand it and can be confusing when used with a screen reader. So those ADA issues concern me. But I do have to say that doing this review changed my opinion of whether or not this OER could replace a current textbook. To be honest I thought this would be something I'd consider more as a supplemental resource. However, now, if the ADA issues were resolved I would consider using it in place of a current hardcopy textbook and add some additional resources in as supplemental to accompany this particular resource instead of vice-versa.

Reviewed by Jonna Ziniel, Department Chair, Valley City State University on 1/7/16

The text covers all major components of public speaking in general. However, there are some major components missing that you will most likely need to supplement. There is not a section on group presentations, group dynamics, or leadership. If you... read more

Reviewed by Jonna Ziniel, Department Chair, Valley City State University on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 3 see less

The text covers all major components of public speaking in general. However, there are some major components missing that you will most likely need to supplement. There is not a section on group presentations, group dynamics, or leadership. If you tend to cover communication theories in class, such as broad areas of communication, there is not a clear section for that either. It DOES cover the different models of communication, so there is some theoretical discussion in the book, but it does seem to be lacking. This is easily supplemented, but if you choose to use this book, you should plan to supplement in those key areas.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The book is clear and easy to read. It is student- friendly and has a minimal number of errors.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

the book contains the standard approach to public speaking, and covers relevant topics. I think there could be some updates that include giving speeches digitally, but otherwise it does seem like a book that can last for many years without many updates.

Clarityrating: 5

The writing style is very accessible to students and easy to follow. The language used is vivid and descriptive.

Consistencyrating: 5

The book uses the correct terminology and is consistent in the terms it chooses to use.

Modularityrating: 3

I wish the book had chapter headings on the top of each page for ease in finding each chapter. It is difficult to find a certain chapter while scrolling through the entire book, so it could be much more user friendly. The units and subunits themselves were clear and easy to understand, but the use of those units and subunits were at times difficult to follow.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The flow is fantastic and easy to follow. Students will enjoy how each chapter builds upon the previous chapter, and the class is able to move in a logical fashion by following the chapters of the book.

Interfacerating: 3

Navigation for the text could be much better. It is not easy to navigate through the text, and having an interactive menu would be extremely helpful.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The grammar used in the book is good. There are few spelling and grammatical errors. The key terms you would present to a public speaking class are present.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

I wish the book would speak more to diversity and public speaking. It does cover SOME aspects, but this area could have been much richer and more well-defined.

This is a fantastic supplement to the classroom, and easy to use whether you are brand new to teaching the class or a seasoned professional.

Reviewed by Jeremy Estrella, Dept. Chair/ Instructor, Portland Community College on 1/7/16

The book covered many of the essential elements of a public speaking textbook. It has a thorough overview of ethics and public speaking, communication apprehension, organizing/outlining, informative speaking, visuals aids, persuasive speaking and... read more

Reviewed by Jeremy Estrella, Dept. Chair/ Instructor, Portland Community College on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 3 see less

The book covered many of the essential elements of a public speaking textbook. It has a thorough overview of ethics and public speaking, communication apprehension, organizing/outlining, informative speaking, visuals aids, persuasive speaking and the relavnce/importance of public speaking throughout. One foundational aspect of public speaking was missing in this book. In my review I noticed that there was little reference to the classical roots of public speaking, rhetoric and the canons of rhetoric. There was some mention of ethos, pathos and logos but these were minimal. Also the section on credibility was limited. I found the chapter on researching to be on the long side. I understand this is an important part of a speech however most public speaking classes have some sort of writing prerequisite which covers rearching themes. The part on attention getters could include more strategies.

Content Accuracyrating: 3

There are many mentions of relevant communication theories which many books don't cover. The myths about communication apprehension I found to be accurate and overall the book covers many of the things I cover in my classes. I found the ethics pyramid to be a nice touch. The part on researching accurately explained how there is much more than just google as well as some of the limitations of such searches. The coverage of communication beyond public speaking was great too. Since there was little to no mention about rhetoric, I find that as a big inaccuracy since rhetoric is the foundation to this area of study.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

The coverage on visual aids was very up-to-date as well as examples throughout. Some of the examples could be seen as too current and may be obsolete in a few years but periodic updating should allievate any of these concerns. I like the coverage on technological difficulties because that would always be relevant.

Clarityrating: 5

This book was very easy to follow and understand. Any jargon from the discipline was explained and didn't assume the student would know. Some typos here and there. I like the inclusion of theories especially theories of persuasion (ELM).

Consistencyrating: 3

Yes, but from a very communication science basis. I would have liked to see more from rhetoric.

Modularityrating: 3

Yes, but I would have to reorganize it according to how I present the information in my class.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 3

I liked how the content of a speech came before delivery but when it got to organization it was disorganized. The sections on organization seemed disorganized and jumped around a lot and could come across as confusing. I would like to see more coherence to the sections on organization. I might have to switch things around if I were to use this book. The part about Informative Speeches could have been presented earlier.

Interfacerating: 3

I don't know if there is another was to view the book other than pdf but I had trouble accessing the tables/figures. Also, there is no index nor table of contents in the pdf version. I know you have to access the TOC through another site but all versions of the text should have this.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Some typos. No grammatical errors noticed.

Cultural Relevancerating: 3

It came across to me as mostly culturally void. Most of the text read as if there was no reference to culture. There were a few examples here and there but I would have liked to see more. Some books I've reviewed have chapters dedicated to culture and how to reach your diverse audience members. It would be fine to mention cultural specifics from diverse backgrounds.

Overall, I liked this book and see myself as potentially adopting it. I liked how it had an extensive coverage of the basics of public speaking and relates many themes/ concepts back to the foundational ideas (i.e., audience analysis). There is also coverage of many things I don't see in many public speaking texts such as, dialogic theory, NCA Credo for Ethical Communication, free speech, myth about communication apprehension, oral and written style of communication, listening, tips on using notecards, using animals as visual aids (I've been asked this), public speaking pyramid and communication theories. There was, however, little to no mention about rhetoric nor credibility (I would have to supplement this information). I liked how the author included personal examples (nervousness about giving a speech). Conclusion, I would consider using this text if a few tweaks were made.

Reviewed by Sarah Zwick-Tapley, Adjunct Instructor, Colorado State University on 1/7/16

This book is an excellent introduction to public speaking. I especially appreciate that ethics is covered in addition to standard public speaking information. This book does not however have a table of contents, index, glossary or "search"... read more

Reviewed by Sarah Zwick-Tapley, Adjunct Instructor, Colorado State University on 1/7/16

Comprehensivenessrating: 2 see less

This book is an excellent introduction to public speaking. I especially appreciate that ethics is covered in addition to standard public speaking information. This book does not however have a table of contents, index, glossary or "search" feature. As a result, it is very difficult to locate specific topics quickly.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

All of the information and examples given are, to the best of my knowledge, accurate.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 4

With one exception, the book is up-to-date and should be relevant for the next ten years. There is one reference to The Colbert Report. Since the publication of this book, that television show has gone off the air.

Clarityrating: 5

This textbook is extremely easy to read. Jargon is immediately defined. High school and college students would not have any problems in understanding the text.

Consistencyrating: 5

The terminology and framework are consistent throughout the book.

Modularityrating: 5

All chapters are broken down into easily divisible subsections. It would be very easy to change the order of some chapters without creating confusion among the students.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The topics in this textbook are arranged in a very clear and logical order.

Interfacerating: 2

My main complaint of this textbook is its lack of a table of contents, index, glossary and "search" feature. It would be very difficult for students to quickly find specific information.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

I found no grammatical errors. I did, however, find a number of spacing typos (pgs. 7, 73, 76, 108, 113, 359 and 600). I am not sure if this is a result of an error on my personal computer or an error on the part of the authors.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

This textbook does an excellent job of reflecting diversity in our society. The examples used include different backgrounds, genders, races and ages. Inclusivity is one of the topics covered in this book.

It is a shame that this book has no table of contents, index, glossary or "search" feature. Otherwise, it is a very accessible, comprehensive and well-organized text.

Reviewed by Mike Baxter-Kauf, Lecturer, University of Minnesota on 6/10/15

The text does a nice job covering the mechanics of constructing a speech and has a very thorough explanation of the goals, ethics and other "preliminary questions" that go into the process. The section on speech delivery (contained entirely in one... read more

Reviewed by Mike Baxter-Kauf, Lecturer, University of Minnesota on 6/10/15

Comprehensivenessrating: 4 see less

The text does a nice job covering the mechanics of constructing a speech and has a very thorough explanation of the goals, ethics and other "preliminary questions" that go into the process. The section on speech delivery (contained entirely in one chapter of just under 40 pages) is somewhat small in comparison to the rest of the text. There are three types of specific speeches covered (speaking to persuade, inform or entertain) and while each is dealt with in a good amount of detail, some may want more of these "specific speeches" included.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

Of course, the questions here are going to be less about the literal accuracy of facts/figures and more about the way the text aligns with one's own opinions of what constitutes a valid and well composed speech. Overall, I think the text is unlikely to substantially contradict anyone's instructional claims. Take, as an example, the section on "the purposes of speaking." While there may be more detail in terms of breaking down the purposes than any given instructor would mention in class, the overall questions of purpose (why do we speak?) and the importance of purpose (both in terms of audience relationship and the analysis of a given speaker) are both general and still very useful. I did not feel any particular bias (besides one to the importance and relevance of speech making, which I would expect from any such textbook) while reading the book.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

There is nothing that will make the text become obsolete or useless at any point in the immediate future. Examples are relatively timeless and will be easily updatable with little need to change much of the underlying text. Many examples are related to the regular occurrences of college life (class, roommates, homework, social events) and others to political questions unlikely to disappear in the near future (health care, immigration, popular trust/distrust of politicians). The book does an excellent job maintaining a balance of "up to date" and "will soon be out of date."

Clarityrating: 4

Even very late in the text, there is very little jargon that would interfere with a student's ability to read and understand. This is especially useful since so many courses would likely not use the text from beginning to end directly, but likely jump around or include sections on informative or persuasive speaking when those first come up in class (even though they are at the end of the text). The writing style is very clear, if anything, it could be criticized for remaining too simplistic with a very basic but certainly very clear sentence structure. Since public speaking courses are often introductory level for beginning undergraduates, this is not much of a problem. There is a clear difference between the way most of the speeches are written (with more advanced and intricate prose) and the way the instruction itself appears (basic and straightforward). That could be considered good or bad, I found it mostly neutral.

Consistencyrating: 5

I did not find any instances within the text where there was inconsistency in the terminology or framework of the text. The tone is continually instructive, it retains a solid dialogic and pedagogical relationship with the reader.

Modularityrating: 5

The large-scale chapters are well divided and easy to use. While the chapters build well on one another, I think there would be little to no confusion caused by jumping around the book. There are smaller chapter divisions (which are somewhat hard to find without a more explicit table of context or index) but which could probably be used in much the same way if someone cared to define reading assignments that precisely.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

It is hard to determine where chapters about specific speeches should fall within an overall text. The authors of this book have chosen to place them at the end, which may make sense, but probably makes it difficult to assign the book in order, since likely some of these speeches need to come earlier on. The progression of the chapters makes logical sense beyond that, moving from the pre-requisites of speaking, to the process of topic selection, audience analysis, speech construction and delivery. Some increased discussion of ways the text could be used may be helpful to guide instructors and make their adoption of the book for their course more seamless.

Interfacerating: 3

There are no substantial issues that make anything unusable or unreadable. I was not distracted. The text, however, does not feel like a traditionally published text book, it feels notably lacking in images, color and typesetting. These are minor issues for me, in comparison to its usability, intelligence and cost, but should be noted. I cannot imagine it confusing the reader, but it may engage them less if they are students not used to the extreme "textually-centric" notion of the book.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

Any grammatical issues were extremely minor. I did not notice anything routine or systematic. At no point did the grammar interfere with my ability to understand the meaning of the text.

Cultural Relevancerating: 4

I did not find any actively offensive issues in the book. There seemed to be little discussion of questions including gender, race, class, sex, ability in a way that could be productive. The text seems to take a traditionally "neutral" stance by not addressing these issues and trying not to alienate any readers of the "public speaking advice." The book does make good decisions regarding the use of inclusive language and the examples do seem to use individuals with traditionally gender-diverse names. The examples of famous speeches do include non-white speakers, but again, often speaking on relatively innocuous questions. It is not retrogressive, it is not revolutionary.

Reviewed by David Askay, Assistant Professor, California Polytechnic State University on 7/15/14

The textbook provides a comprehensive discussion of topics related to public speaking, including focused chapters on commonly assigned informative, persuasive, and entertaining speeches. Content is consistent with other textbooks with chapters... read more

Reviewed by David Askay, Assistant Professor, California Polytechnic State University on 7/15/14

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

The textbook provides a comprehensive discussion of topics related to public speaking, including focused chapters on commonly assigned informative, persuasive, and entertaining speeches. Content is consistent with other textbooks with chapters devoted to ethics, listening, research, outlining, organizing, and language. One topic that is not included is discussion of small group communication. While many public speaking courses do not cover this material, those teaching a hybrid class will need to find supplementary material. That said, a hybrid class may benefit greatly from using this textbook to cover public speaking, while turning to other resources for other topics (e.g., interpersonal, organizational, small group communication, etc.). Lacking from the text is a index, which may limit the ability of students to efficiently look up and review certain topics. While adding an index would be beneficial, it is worth noting that the entire textbook is searchable.

Content Accuracyrating: 2

The textbook provides an accurate introduction to public speaking. I did note that while sources are clearly cited in-text, a comprehensive bibliography is not provided at the end. This could be useful not only for providing examples of citations for students, but also for aiding them in finding referenced material.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

Public speaking has been largely taught with the same concepts for thousands of years. While there tends not to be huge revisions or additions to public speaking, the greater challenge that many instructors find it reaching the contemporary audience. This text includes references to timely and engaging examples (e.g., Avenue Q, TED Talks, Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture"), to which students in my classes have responded favorably. Also included are hyperlinks to online references that students may find useful for developing their speeches and finding examples.

Clarityrating: 4

The writing of the textbook comes across as clear and straightforward, even humorous at times. Chapters begin with learning objectives. Jargon is well described, but not appearing in the text are the familiar bold definitions that many students may be accustomed to. Contemporary examples are often referenced when introducing new terms, which helps to situate the knowledge. Each chapter also concludes with key takeaways, exercises, and assessments to aid students in testing their understanding.

Consistencyrating: 5

Chapters are presented in a logical order that builds on previous chapters.

Modularityrating: 3

Each chapter is divided into effectively smaller sections, which allows for tailoring of reading assignments. Paragraphs, headings and subheadings are used extensively and effectively. When self-references to the text are made, a hyperlink is provided to guide students to this area. While each chapter is divided into topics, there is no of table of contents at the beginning. Additionally, there is no list of sub-sections within each chapter. This may impede the ability to both students and instructors to quickly find and assign relevant sections of the book. Stronger chapter outlining, table of contents, and page numbers would be a welcome addition to this text.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 4

Topics are presenting in a logical order that builds on each other. Chapters begin with learning objectives and introduce the need to understand the material. Subheadings help to guide the reader through topics and make clear visible delineations of the content. As mentioned before, a more detailed table of contents for the book and each chapter would aid in the organization.

Interfacerating: 2

The interface of the textbook is readable, but the lack of a professional typeset is evident. At times, font sizes and types are inconsistent and spacing between sections could be enhanced. The formatting of tables are barebones, sometimes extending beyond single page. The spacing of table headings likewise extend beyond a single line. Paragraphs tend not to be indented and spacing between paragraphs is small, leading to a squished appearance. This can be distracting and sometimes difficult to read. While the content is good, the design does leave something to be desired.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 5

The textbook comes across as straightforward and contains only occasional typos or grammatical errors

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

The textbook explicitly covers cultural dimensions of public speaking and audience analysis. Examples are inclusive of various political orientations, races, cultures, and ethnicities, although

Reviewed by Michelle Lutz, Adjunct English and Communication Professor, University of Northwestern - St. Paul on 7/15/14

This wonderful book goes well beyond any communication text I have read or used as a professor. In addition to covering the basics, it includes well-developed insights, ideas, and examples for how to create and deliver ethical and quality speeches... read more

Reviewed by Michelle Lutz, Adjunct English and Communication Professor, University of Northwestern - St. Paul on 7/15/14

Comprehensivenessrating: 5 see less

This wonderful book goes well beyond any communication text I have read or used as a professor. In addition to covering the basics, it includes well-developed insights, ideas, and examples for how to create and deliver ethical and quality speeches in a meaningful format. There are 18 chapters that deal with everything from "The Importance of Listening" to "Supporting Ideas and Building Arguments" to "Concluding with Power" and so much more. Learning objective sections are included at the beginning of each chapter, and each chapter ends with "Key Take Aways" sections that summarize the main points just covered. These are key features that students will greatly appreciate as they process through the content. Numerous online sources are referenced and made available with just a click of a link. Additionally, each chapter includes optional exercises, end of chapter assessments, and answer keys. This is a very comprehensive text that includes a broad spectrum of speech topics.

Content Accuracyrating: 5

The content is current and accurate. Moreover, the text actually taught the importance of using up-to-date and credible sources when researching and preparing for a speech. For example, I appreciated the teaching on the "Ethical Pyramid" (end, mean and intent) which was thoroughly explained in a way that showed the value and importance of being truly honest with both content and delivery. I appreciated the precision that was used throughout the text--such as including key questions for helping students to find a topic and steps for how to find current academic data. I also found the high quality techniques for how to avoid plagiarism and properly cite sources, and the multiple approaches for writing an ethical speech from beginning to end to be valuable.

Relevance/Longevityrating: 5

The text covers tried and true speech techniques and approaches, but it is not dry, and the authors' insights and analogies are refreshing. I appreciated how they covered areas that are frequently skimmed over in other textbooks. For example, they discussed dimensions where your communication takes places such as temporal, physical and social-psychological dimensions. On p. 15 they say, "You have to know the types of people in your audience and how they react to a wide range of messages." I found the points made in this section exceptionally relevant for students who often miss their audience. I also really liked the section on communication apprehension (stage fright), and how they intelligently explained away the myths of those who suffer from speech anxiety and then offered helpful tips for how to overcome it. Stage fright is something many students struggle with, and this section is just one great example of how this text has enormous validity and permanency. As time goes on, this text will inevitably need up-date various websites, but other than that, I don't see any changes that will be needed for quite a while.

Clarityrating: 5

This text is clearly written with solid illustrations and examples. I believe students will find it much more engaging than the average textbook because the analogies are interesting - not bland like other textbooks I've reviewed. The authors defer (and rightly so) to the NCA Credo on Ethical Communication for guiding the study of communication and ethical principles. This further assists in creating a clear foundation that will help show students how honesty can be integrated into the research, writing, and giving of their speeches.

Consistencyrating: 5

The lay-out and structure of the text is consistent and perfect for classroom use. I plan to incorporate some of the exercises and end of chapter assessments into my future class discussions. I also appreciate the fact that throughout the text, they refer to ideas that will be explored in future chapters such as "We will discuss these fallacies in more detail in Chapter 8 - 'Supporting Ideas and Building Arguments'." This was helpful because if you wanted to skip ahead and read more about fallacies (or whatever topic was being discussed), you knew right where to find it.

Modularityrating: 5

The design of the text clearly shows the beginning and end of each chapter. It is easily dividable, and you can pick and choose which chapters or sections to use or not to use. I like that it is broken down into four broader categories: why public speaking is relevant, how to mentally and physically prepare for giving a speech, how to design and structure a speech, and how to present a quality speech in an ethical fashion.

Organization/Structure/Flowrating: 5

The text is arranged in a consistent and highly organized way that helps the reader stay interested and yet focused on the objectives and topics at hand. Each chapter flows nicely from one topic to the next and ends with a summary and some valuable exercises before moving onto the next.

Interfacerating: 5

I did not experience any interface issues, and nor did I notice anything that might be confusing to students. The images and graphs were colorful and visually appealing. The font styles and sizes used worked well, and there was not anything that distracted me from the text.

Grammatical Errorsrating: 4

I did find a few places where a comma should have been used and where words were squished together and a space was necessary (perhaps this is an interface issue - not sure). However, overall, the text is well written both style-wise and mechanically.

Cultural Relevancerating: 5

I did not find the text to be insensitive or culturally offensive in any way. In fact there is an entire section devoted to using inclusive language, and they discuss the National Council of Teachers of guidelines for using gender-fair language that not only helps one convey what he/she means but helps audience members feel included in the speech giver's message. I also appreciated that in the final chapter, they have links to youtube clips of famous people giving speeches for various occasions. By clicking on the link, students can see a roast of President George W. Bush done by Stephen Colbert, a eulogy for the late Rosa Parks by Barack Obama, and Derek Jeter's farewell to Yankee Stadium to name a few. Students know these famous people and appreciate the opportunity to see them give speeches because they are part of their current culture.

I highly recommend this text, and I plan to use it in a debate class that I teach. I like that it covers the basics (but in a refreshing way) and yet so much more. The material is current, intelligent, and well-researched, and it includes an abundance of sources, exercises to use in class and a great deal of helpful and insightful advice on how to approach researching, writing, and giving an ethically sound speech.

Which of the following is true about ethical leaders?

Which of the following statement is true about an ethical leader in a corporate environment?

Which of the following is the most accurate definition of leadership according to our text?

Which of the following statements about what makes a successful leader is true?