Preface

Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach brings a fresh, new, even revolutionary approach to the basic course in public speaking. For decades, public speaking has traditionally been taught using a deductive approach. All the parts of a finished public speech are explained and then students are expected from their first attempt to compose and deliver a full speech.

But in this book, you’ll find an innovative inductive approach. Students learn and practice each part of a public speech—introduction, conclusion, main points, transitions, and so on—one at a time as they gradually build, skill by skill, up to a full speech.

This solves the problem of speech anxiety by breaking down the work into manageable small chunks. Students start by delivering short segments of a minute or two each, following models they’re provided, and thus experience initial success. And by practicing one speech segment or skill at a time, students better retain the instruction.

This process is aided by grading rubrics incorporated into Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach that function as easy-to-use checklists. Students know exactly what’s expected and instructors have a baseline for quick scoring and feedback.

While there are numerous introductory public speaking textbooks on the market, the traditional deductive teaching method has changed little. For that reason, public speaking instruction is primed for a new approach—one geared to today’s “digital native” students who are  often accustomed to short bites and uncomfortable with exposure in face-to-face settings.

The book’s inductive teaching method lends itself equally to student success at four-year institutions, community colleges, and even high school settings where students are taking speech courses for college credit. Consider the following:

In piloting the inductive method for the public speaking course, I surveyed my students about their experiences and received rave reviews:

These responses demonstrate how students readily pick up on and value the inductive approach’s method of breaking down speeches into manageable chunks, allowing students to learn each speech part separately with the aid of models and rubrics, and then gradually building up to full speeches.

In most public speaking courses, a full speech is students’ first prepared assignment. And most textbooks begin with a chapter on “Your First Speech” that asks students to prepare a full speech right away. These textbooks also put the “abstract” parts of a speech—audience analysis, topic selection, research, thesis, organization of points—before the “mechanics” of actual speaking. This method forces beginning students (who are often non-majors) to think abstractly about public speaking from the start, when they have limited interest and readiness to do so.

By contrast, Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach provides a fresh approach to sequencing. Students begin with the more easily grasped “mechanics” of short speech segments. They learn one part (introduction, conclusion, main points, etc.) of a speech at a time, and they build confidence. Along the way, they gain familiarity with model practices before tackling “abstract” tasks.

The book is laid out so that each successive speech assignment gradually adds more skills for students to master. In essence, Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach inverts the sequencing so that the hands-on tasks of actual speaking come first and the abstract concepts are gradually added later, rather than vice versa.

Yet Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach is still based on the classic fundamental concepts of public speaking. The material itself is comparable to what you already teach—the fundamentals you know are all there—but concepts are resequenced for higher impact with today’s students. Thus, the book is eminently and easily usable by instructors.

The format of Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach incorporates model introductions and model conclusions, model outlines, models for other speech components, and worksheets for class exercises. Also, three master rubrics—for the written outline, speech content, and speech delivery—appear throughout the book as a constant baseline to guide students’ step-by-step progress through the checklists provided in the rubrics.

In summary, Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach brings a fresh approach to the course in public speaking. Other textbooks use the traditional deductive approach, in which students are expected to deliver full speeches from the start. However, Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach breaks down the speech into its component parts and has students learn them one at a time as they gradually build toward preparing and delivering a full speech.

In this way, by breaking down the work into manageable small chunks, speech anxiety is reduced and skills learned are better retained. Concrete tasks precede abstract concepts. Grading rubrics serve as easy-to-use checklists, and students know exactly what’s expected and instructors have a baseline for quick scoring and feedback.

As an instructor, you’re passionate about public speaking and excited to share that passion with your students. You know that the ability to speak and communicate well will greatly enhance their careers and enrich their personal lives. Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach removes barriers to sharing your passion with your students and sets your students up for success!