Stand up, Speak out - The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking

Reviewed by Morgan Hess, Instructor of Record, University of Maryland on 2/1/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4

The text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately, some with more originality than others. The ethics approach is interesting, and provides for many discussion starting points. The practical how-tos (speaking anxiety, visual aids, etc.) are less exciting, but sufficient overall.

There is not an effective index and/or glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I didn't see any bias or errors. Lots of citations for curious or unconvinced students.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book basically perpetuates the known facts and information regarding public speaking. It's not particularly culturally relevant, so take that as you will. The information is straight forward and user friendly.

Clarity rating: 5

SO clear! any undergraduate can easily read and understand it. The examples are especially clear.

Consistency rating: 5

The progression of ideas make sense, moving from a general conceptual framework in the early chapters to more specific applications later on. Terms were consistently defined and used.

Modularity rating: 5

Divided easing into assigned readings.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

As mentioned above, the structure was logical. I won't have to mis up chapters on my syllabus, which is nice.

Interface rating: 5

Simple, colorful, easy to see.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I didn't notice anything!

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

It's not insensitive or unethical (haha!) in any way. It's not particularly "culturally relevant" in the examples it uses, but If this question is asking about its accessibility its perfectly adequate.

Comments

I like it! Puts a different spin on public speaking for an intro class, and definitely worth pulling from.