The Successful Speaker's Guide: Assess Your Strengths, Find Your Tools, and Enhance Your Confidence compiles original material and reading selections that help readers assess their own strengths and weaknesses as speakers, and uses specific tools to prepare the perfect speech for any occasion. Filled with expert guidance for speaking successfully in class, or in professional or social settings, the text focuses on practical tips and real-world applications. Rooted in the belief that good communication skills are the secret to advancing in a career, working well in a team, negotiating, relating to customers, and building great relationships with colleagues, the fifteen chapters discuss every aspect of public speaking from tips for speech preparation to the psychology of audiences. The book also includes information on choosing a speech topic and determining the speech's purpose, using visual and sensory aids, overcoming speaker's anxiety, and incorporating research into a speech. The Successful Speaker's Guide enables student-readers to decide what tools are available to support successful speaking and how they want to make use of these tools in ways that are comfortable and appropriate for the situation. It is an ideal text for public speaking or introductory communication courses.

Speaking for Success: Readings and Resources is a collection of essential articles on the art of public speaking. With over a dozen new readings, this edition challenges students to change the way they prepare for presentations and improve their public speaking skills. It equips students to stand in front of an audience and make an impact, both in the classroom and in the workplace. This collection explores the tools and techniques that powerful speakers use to captivate their listeners. Unlike textbooks on communication theory, this volume explains what to do and how to do it. It also covers topics that often are overlooked, including first impressions, leadership styles, and public narratives. In many ways, these topics are just as important, if not more important, than the techniques themselves. After all, powerful public speaking is not simply about delivering an effective message; it is also about exercising leadership. Speaking for Success is an ideal standalone text or supplemental reader for public speaking courses. It not only teaches students how to develop a compelling presentation, but also gives them the knowledge and tools to speak with confidence.