Suggestions and recommendations for directors include ways to effectively manage conflict among employees; avoid "thinking traps"; disagree with the boss; and handle bold or aggressive employees. Tips on training and speechmaking and advice about raising program rates are also presented. (Author/BB)

Indicates that corporate speechwriters actively seek to identify possible speech issues for their organizations' spokespersons, often helping to build clients' speech agendas. Suggests that the "Strategic Issues Management" (SIM) model can be useful to practitioners and students of policy speechwriting/spokesmanship by providing the…

Uses recent work in literary criticism to examine the structure of religious discourse. Suggests religious discourse is the use of a certain rhetorical style that conforms to certain rules of underlying structure, but which communicates only to the extent that this structure is appropriate for the application in question. (MS)

Indicates that situational factors such as perceived novelty, subordinate status, conspicuousness, dissimilarity and prior history correlate significantly with public speaking anxiety. Presents a causal model based on a confluence of previous research and the results of the present study. Includes classroom implications.(NH)

Reviews John P. Ryan's contributions to the speech communication profession. Discusses the following aspects of his method of public speaking, notable for its imaginative planning: (1) his insistence upon preparation, good thinking, good speech content; (2) his attention to delivery; repetition, organization, mnemonic words; and (3) his abundance…

Examines presidential primary debates from four perspectives: history, politics, public interest, and television. Argues that, to fulfill their potential for informed public discussion, debate sponsors must refine and adapt their formats to the television medium while still serving the interests of the public and the candidates. (JD)

Describes a course developed by a speech instructor and instructional librarian at Spoon River College, Illinois, to foster the students' ability to orally present information in a coherent and understandable fashion and their ability to access information effectively. (CBC)

Results indicated that at the outset of a semester public speaking course, the PRCA-24 and the general anxiety measure predicted the anxiety experienced by college students with equal power, but by the end of the semester the PRCA-24 was clearly superior in predicting self-reported anxiety. (PD)

Results suggest that, without competing motivational forces, students high in communication apprehension (CA) spend less time talking than do students in low CA. (PD)

Tested variables that affect how students rate speeches delivered by their classmates. Found, for example, that students who rate the speeches before giving their own are more positively lenient than they are when rating those speeches given after they deliver their own speeches. (PD)

Replicates and extends a previous survey (EJ 283 746) on ethics in forensic activities. Concludes that forensic educators and participants share a basic concern for ethics in speech contest events. (PD)

An assignment focuses on introducing students to the complexities involved in rendering a decision concerning the First Amendment to the Constitution. During the first week of classes, students are asked to read the introductory sections to the topic-specific chapters in "Freedom of Speech in the Marketplace of Ideas" by Fraleigh and…

This manual, appropriate for grades 3-12, is designed to help teachers and other educators who lack experience in public speaking to integrate speech into their students' curriculum. The manual offers teachers the opportunity to learn a simple program for teaching speech in the classroom. It teaches basic public speaking skills, highlighting the…

The organization/outlining unit in the basic Public Speaking course can be made more interesting by using a color-coded instructional method that captivates students, facilitates understanding, and provides the opportunity for interesting reinforcement activities. The two part lesson includes a mini-lecture with a color-coded outline and a two…

Adding two more rounds to six-round debate tournaments does not significantly affect the selection of winners of such contests. (CH)