The Challenge of Effective Speaking - Softcover

Rudolph F. Verderber

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0534084788 ISBN 13: 9780534084783

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1987

Synopsis

CHALLENGE OF EFFECTIVE SPEAKING, 9th Edition, continues to be the most practical and teachable book on the market. The organization of the text has been revised to improve clarity and comprehensiveness. CHALLENGE is organized in five major parts: Orientation, Fundamental Principles, Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, and Adapting to Other Occasions and Formats. Part I provides an overview of the speech process (with specific coverage on ethics, anxiety, and listening), providing all the essentials students need to deliver and listen to their first speeches. Part II is a seven-chapter unit structured around the seven steps of an effective speech plan. Part III, IV, and V build on the foundation of skills by focusing on increasingly complex and specific speaking skills and strategies.

About this title

About the Author:

Rudolph F. Verderber, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Communication Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati and former National Speaker's Association Professor of the Year is one of the all-time best-selling communication studies authors. The strength of his basic texts lies in his ability to explain and exemplify concepts, theories, and skills to introductory level students. His Cengage texts-COMMUNICATE, THE CHALLENGE OF EFFECTIVE SPEAKING, COMM, and SPEAK-have a reputation for being student favorites due to their accessible presentation of theory and skills.

Review:

"The Challenge of Effective Speaking offers students a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the art of public speaking. Instructors will find the text a very comfortable fit for their needs in working with beginning public speakers. The Verderber text is a standard in the field that continues to improve with every new edition."

"This text has the 'voice and style' of a mentor. Consequently, beginning public speaking students should find this text both accessible and useful. For example, in the author's chapter about research, I enjoyed how he encouraged readers to get 'their hands dirty' by thumbing through volumes at the library. In the author's chapter about constructing arguments, I liked the use of everyday examples... I can hear myself giving suggestions like these to one of my students during a tutoring session in my office."

"This text is skills specific. It helps the students understand a concept and then put it to practical use. The clear explanations and the practical application exercises allow the student to work on specific areas of the speech building process. "Understanding by doing" seems to be the key to the text. It is the one aspect of the text that separates it from all others. Students will understand their reading and be able to personally participate in the concepts presented. The author and the publishers of this text have the student at heart and the instructor in mind. It makes learning and teaching a lot easier than any other text around."

About this edition

• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0534084788
• ISBN 13: 9780534084783
• Binding: Paperback