Henry Ward Beecher was America's most prominent 19th century liberal preacher and a major spokesperson for New England Transcendentalism. His philosophy integrated four fundamental themes: the creation of a moral code based on the internalization of values and peer group pressures, the establishment of the reform ideal of the impartial nonpartisan…

Investigates the influence of two types of basic speech courses on behavior change. (MH)

This study assesses the effect of speech-anxious subjects acting as behavior therapists for other speech-anxious subjects. Subjects were divided into helper, helpee, latent helper, and waiting list control groups. Both helpers and helpees significantly reduced speech anxiety. The helpers showed more absolute improvement than the other groups.…

Using rhetorical and historical approaches, this paper examines speech excerpts of four speakers active during the civil rights movement in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The paper's first section discusses Malcolm X and a speech delivered two months before his assassination; the second section studies James Allen speaking on…

Speech writing can be an excellent vehicle for helping students develop writing skills. The course described in this paper blends rhetorical principles and practices from public speaking, speech composition, persuasion and public relations with "real world applications." Students work on developing purposeful communication, a consistent…

Forensic coaches can follow certain strategies to best instruct new recruits. The novice should be encouraged: (1) to check the particular rules for each tournament; (2) to stick with traditional oratory forms--innovation can come later; (3) to watch "60 Minutes" or the evening news--excellent sources of timely topics; (4) to avoid…

The first stage of a three-stage speech placement test that can be used by individual campuses of the University of Wisconsin is discussed in this paper. The following applications of this speech theory test are described first: to exempt students from the basic communication course, to place students in an appropriate communication course, or to…

Existing theories of value debating (resolutions dealing with values rather than policy) may be more effectively applied and developed when viewed as stock issues paradigms for debating values in competitive situations. Issues are vital to an advocate's cause because they are essential to the meaning of a proposition and can also provide an…

A study investigated the time honored notion that students who successfully complete a basic course in public speaking will experience less anxiety about speech situations, and will have significantly different emotional reactions to potential public speaking situations. Scales to measure communication apprehension, speech anxiety, and pleasure,…

An important influence on a presidential candidate's debating style, the "incumbency factor," has been largely ignored by researchers. An analysis of the argumentative style of incumbents, based on the 1976 and 1980 presidential debates, has isolated three distinguishing characteristics: (1) presidential incumbents tend to avoid extended…

The key element to the survival of speech communication and its status in academe is the basic course, which tells the academic community what speech communication is and what it can produce in terms of observable student behavior. This basic course, upon which many communication departments depend, must produce students who are obviously trained…

Lecturing is essentially a form of public communication. Hence public speaking literature can be used to learn more about how to improve lecturing skills. The following objectives can help the lecturer be effective: (1) exercising/gaining control of the class; (2) highlighting major ideas; (3) setting the stage for forthcoming activities; (4)…

Based on his own experiences with public speaking courses, the instructor of a speech communication course for adults brings students to the task of speaking in front of the room gradually to reduce speech anxiety or communication apprehension. During successive class sessions, students speak sitting in their seats, standing beside their seats,…

Ethical communication scholars frequently find national popular rhetoric unethical. Some proposed ethical guidelines for the public presentation of ideas call for such elements as habits of search, justice, preference for public versus private motives, respect for dissent, airing of all relevant arguments, and persuasion without coercion or…

Since the advent of cable television in the early seventies, the success of television evangelists including Oral Roberts, Jim Bakker, Robert Schuller, and Jimmy Swaggart has grown, both in terms of finances and in conversion of souls. Although many television preachers use similar strategies for getting donations, their backgrounds and messages…