Speech introduces students to the principles and practices of effective public speaking, from audience analysis and topic selection to organization, research, and delivery. Emphasizing both ethics and inclusivity, the text helps learners develop confidence and professionalism in a variety of speaking contexts. Students practice informative, persuasive, and special occasion speeches while refining skills in critical listening, evidence-based argumentation, and extemporaneous delivery. With a balance of theory and applied techniques, this resource prepares students to communicate effectively in academic, professional, and civic settings.

Competency 1: Analyze Audiences

Learning Objectives:

Analyze audience for presentation
Identify audience demographics
Identify situational characteristics
Identify psychological characteristics
Use analysis to guide speech
Adapt content topic based on analysis

Competency 2: Apply Ethical Practices in Public Speaking

Learning Objectives:

Orally cite credible sources document sources using specified format
Use inclusive verbal delivery
Use inclusive non-verbal delivery
Use ethical speech strategies
Differentiate among fact, inference, and opinion

Competency 3: Incorporate Supporting Materials

Learning Objectives:

Use relevant presentation aids
Apply information literacy strategies
Identify types of supporting materials
Use multiple types of supporting materials to support ideas
Synthesize materials to support the speech's purpose

Competency 4: Organize Speech

Learning Objectives:

Use the audience analysis to prepare an outline
Develop a preparation outline
Identify speech purpose in the outline
Apply organizational patterns relevant to speech's purpose
Develop introduction
Develop body
Use transitions
Develop conclusion
Document sources, as required

Competency 5: Employ Speech Delivery Skills

Learning Objectives:

Use presentation aids
Use non-verbal delivery techniques
Use vocal delivery techniques
Adhere to speech time-limits
Use audience-appropriate language
Use situation-appropriate language
Deliver speech from speaking outline
Use extemporaneous techniques

Competency 6: Evaluate Speeches

Learning Objectives:

Apply critical listening skills
Employ pre-determined criteria to evaluate speeches
Formulate suggestions for improvement
Identify speaker's strengths

Competency 7: Present an Informative Speech

Learning Objectives:

Present to an audience
Use informative content
Integrate audience analysis into speech
Adapt content delivery based on audience
Use a speaking outline
Cite sources orally
Adhere to specified timeframe

Competency 8: Present a Persuasive Speech

Learning Objectives:

Integrate logical reasoning into arguments
Present to an audience
Use persuasive content
Integrate audience analysis into speech
Adapt content delivery based on audience
Use a speaking outline
Cite sources orally
Adhere to specified timeframe

Competency 9: Present an Occasion Speech

Learning Objectives:

Present to an audience
Identify audience
Adapt content delivery based on audience
Use a speaking outline
Adhere to ethical speech standards
Adhere to specified timeframe
Adapt content of speech language to occasion

This video walks you through our online textbook hosted on the Pressbooks website and not this website. To access this book online, click below.

View Online Textbook

visibility

This textbook is part of the WisTech Open collection and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

You are free to:
– Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
– Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially

Under the following terms:
– Attribution — You must give appropriate credit to WisTech Open, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests WisTech Open endorses you or your use.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Funded by State of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Technical College System funding for Open Educational Resources

WisTech Open, including the Open RN and Bright Beginnings series, does not provide ancillary or instructor materials. You can instead create free, customized supplementary resources—slides, quizzes, worksheets, study guides, and more - on demand, through our generative AI platform, WisTech Fusion: https://www.wistechopen.org/wistech-fusion. Fusion only uses content from WisTech Open, Open RN, and Bright Beginnings resources.

To help keep print textbook costs low for our students, please consider using the electronic version, or purchasing a personal print copy, rather than requesting a publisher/desktop version from our printing partner. Orders can be placed through Kendall Hunt: https://he.kendallhunt.com/catalog.