Speaking with a Purpose: A Practical Guide to Oral Advocacy

This text is a good one for basic speech students. It amplifies the rhetorical canons and is straight-forward and clear.

I used this book in class and I was totally satisfied with how well I did. I think it covered the material in a really understandable way. If your class is using this book - be happy!

I agree with the book description above that this is the best of the short books available on the subject.It's very thorough for a book this size, and would be good for anyone doing any kind of public speaking, whether in church, in business, in college organizations, before the press, in politics and government, or even in high school debate teams or speech classes.There are chapters on Audience Analysis; Supporting Your Ideas; Stage Fright; Impromptu Speeches; Nonverbal Communication; Persuasion; Deductive and Inductive Reasoning, and even one on The Job Interview! There is a lot here in one neat little package!