The author discusses working with speakers from business and industry to present career information at the secondary level. Advice for speakers is presented, as well as tips for program coordinators. (CH)

Offers suggestions for effective public speaking, designed to help career planning and placement directors make presentations to their management or to student groups. Discusses four levels of communication (intellectual, emotional, visual, and physical), the selection of a format, and four basic speaking styles (memorized, written, outline, and…

Analyzes manuscripts that have studied the treatment of communication apprehension. Concludes that all forms of treatment (cognitive modification, systematic desensitization, and skills training) were effective in reducing public speaking anxiety and that the type of self-report scale did not affect the observed effect size. (MS)

Zenker offers 10 tips for keeping TV-era audiences interested in presentations. Chapman gives advice for trainers on coaching outside speakers for effective training presentations. (SK)

Determines whether visualization can enhance students' public speaking performance and reduce speech anxiety. Finds that standard visualization and performance visualization reduce negative thinking, state communication anxiety (CA), and trait CA. Finds that performance visualization results in fewer disfluencies, less rigidity, and less…

To take fear out of public speaking, superintendents and other school executives are advised to have something interesting to say, set aside time to practice, use eye contact to advantage, pay attention to body language, be wary of using humor or gimmicks, lean toward relatively short presentations, keep abreast of current events, realize people…

States that the American Debate Association is committed to rulemaking as a mechanism to control the excesses which have contributed to the decline of policy debate. Explains the advantages of a rule-based approach. Outlines and justifies current rules. (PRA)

Notes that the contemporary aversion to or disinterest in orality, performance, and delivery in the study of rhetoric and public address ignores the centrality of these elements in the history and prehistory of the discipline. Considers how this oversight is particularly puzzling when considering scholarly examination of the origins and early…

Communication Across the Curriculum (CXC) has been gaining theoretical sophistication in recent years, slowly moving beyond an exclusively skills orientation. Proponents of Communication In the Disciplines (CID) focus on teaching students specific disciplinary communication conventions as productive of knowledge and identity. I claim in this essay…

Public speaking will continue to be an unsettling experience for some students, including those with disabilities. Experts have suggested several reasons for fearing public speaking; adequate preparation and practice can alleviate most of them. Using the PAVES (Posture, Attitude, Voice, Eye Contact, Smile) strategy described in this article can…

Debate is not only manageable in the classroom, it is also an effective and enjoyable learning activity. Debate in the content area classroom serves a dual purpose: students are exposed to a process that facilitates critical thinking and analytical skills, and debate serves as a device for authenticating and deepening subject area knowledge.…

This work presents a self-help, Internet-based telepsychology program for the treatment of public speaking fears. The system is comprised of 3 parts: The "assessment protocol" gives the patient information about his or her problem (i.e., amount of interference it creates in his or her life, severity, degree of fear and avoidance). The…

The presentation strategies used in debates are as often a factor in the outcome as the content. Rudeness and humor are important considerations in examining the effect of various delivery styles at either the National Debate Tournament (NDT) or the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) debate. J. H. Howe has elaborated on some of the…

Plato attacked the sophists' claim that they taught "virtue," and he believed that rhetoric, which they taught, was not an "art." If the notions of virtue and art are brought together and integrated to constitute an antithesis, the sophistic position becomes more intelligible and defensible. The Greek term "arete,"…

Policy debate as an activity should be maintained but must be invigorated. Some reasons to save policy debate are (1) the benefit to large numbers of students who might otherwise fail to debate given the increased difficulty associated with learning how to play the game; (2) the shrinking size of policy tournaments, which makes it easier for…