Icebreaker: A Manual for Public Speaking, Seventh Edition

The latest edition of Icebreaker a practical, hands-on guide to public speaking for those with little or no experience demonstrates a sequence of nine steps in the speech process: select a general topic, focus your topic, consider your specific purpose, organize your speech, research your topic, create presentation aids, create speech notes, practice, and deliver your speech.

A distinctive series of opening questions reflectively introduce a particular public speaking/oral communication element. From the start, the questions cue readers to focus on key concepts and to watch for answers that lie ahead. "Strengthen Your Skills" exercises help readers practice essential components of public speaking. Discussion questions prompt readers to consider practical and personal applications as well as to gauge comprehension. Icebreaker provides a valuable framework for future speakers to become confident and competent.

Also by Tracey L. Smith and Mary Tague-Busler, The Key To Survival: Interpersonal Communication, Fourth Edition (ISBN 9781577667544). Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Foss-Foss, Inviting Transformation: Presentational Speaking for a Changing World, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577667216) and Young-Travis, Oral Communication: Skills, Choices, and Consequences, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577667452).