No teaching method is more widely used and yet more strongly criticized than the lecture. Yet, an examination of more than 40 basic public speaking textbooks reveals that lecturing is seldom mentioned. There are, perhaps, several reasons for this omission. For example, authors of textbooks might feel that (1) material on lecturing duplicates their…

College students in nine intact beginning speech classes served as subjects for a study testing the effects of humor on student recall of lecture information. The 156 subjects were exposed to one of three versions of an audiotaped lecture. One version amplified eight points in the subject matter with humorous material; and a third version (the…

Examines four methods of instruction to teach public speaking students how to use visual aids effectively in their speeches: oral lectures, written handouts, demonstration lectures, and multi-media demonstration lectures. Found that demonstration lectures are the most effective method of instruction and written handouts the least effective. (PD)