Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy

Reviewed by Tia Nichole McMillen, Adjunct Faculty, Tidewater Community College on 12/14/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text is highly comprehensive, covering all key areas relevant to public speaking with a focus on advocacy. Divided into four well-defined parts—Advocacy and Audiences, Arguments and Information, Aesthetics and Delivery, and Approaches—it provides clear learning objectives for each chapter. Major aspects like audience analysis, argument construction, delivery methods, and specific types of speeches (informative, persuasive, ceremonial, and online) are addressed thoroughly. The inclusion of a glossary and references by chapter further enhances its utility. Ideas are also illustrated with additional exercises and real-world case studies, reinforcing learning.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate and rooted in sound principles of public speaking, rhetoric, and advocacy. Citations of academic theories (e.g., Maslow’s Hierarchy, communication ethics) lend credibility to the text. Examples like Brené Brown's TED Talk and recent policy discussions (e.g., Maine’s Indigenous mascot ban) show the text is factually sound. The mention of up-to-date cultural debates ensures the material remains relevant and reflective of contemporary communication contexts.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is up-to-date and carefully avoids content that would quickly become obsolete. The author integrates contemporary examples, such as digital public speaking and discussions on cultural representation, which reflect ongoing societal trends. Updates to future editions should be easy to implement, as the structure allows for seamless substitution of newer examples or case studies.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in clear, accessible prose and is suitable for a range of learners. Complex concepts like communication ethics, audience analysis, and argumentation are explained in straightforward terms, with definitions, summaries, and relatable examples. The use of learning objectives, key takeaways, and structured paragraphs helps ensure clarity. Technical jargon is introduced with adequate context, minimizing confusion for readers new to the subject.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in its tone, structure, and approach. Each chapter begins with learning objectives, includes relevant examples and definitions, and concludes with actionable takeaways. Terminology, formatting, and instructional style remain uniform throughout the book, providing a cohesive learning experience.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is highly modular and can be broken into smaller sections for teaching or individual study. Each chapter functions as a standalone unit, allowing instructors to assign readings in flexible sequences. Subheadings, lists, and tables within chapters help avoid overwhelming blocks of text. This modularity makes it easy to adapt the text to various course structures.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is well-organized. Its logical progression—from understanding advocacy and audience to crafting arguments and mastering delivery—ensures that concepts build on one another. The layout of parts and chapters makes it easy for learners to follow the flow of ideas. However, some chapters (e.g., Chapter 1: Public Speaking as Advocacy) cover a large amount of information that might benefit from additional sub-sections or summaries.

Interface rating: 5

The text is free from significant interface issues. Navigation is smooth, and the layout is clean with readable fonts and clear headings. Images, charts, and media attributions are appropriately placed and undistorted. The images included in the text are functional but not particularly engaging or visually striking.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is grammatically sound, with no noticeable errors. Sentences are well-constructed, and punctuation is used effectively to support clarity and flow.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally inclusive and sensitive. It emphasizes ethical communication and cautions against stereotypes, ethnocentrism, and totalizing narratives. Examples are drawn from diverse contexts, including discussions on gender identity, race, and cultural representation. The inclusion of Indigenous concerns and topics related to equity and diversity ensures that the text remains socially conscious.

Comments

I am currently using Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy in my master's level Writing for Public Diplomacy course, and it has been a tremendous success. The students have responded enthusiastically to the text’s contemporary approach to public speaking, particularly its focus on advocacy and ethical communication, which aligns perfectly with the goals of the course. The accessible writing style and thoughtful examples have empowered students to think critically about their own voices as advocates while also sharpening their presentation skills. Based on this positive experience, I look forward to adopting this text in my next Public Speaking course at TCC, where I am confident it will provide similar value by helping students develop meaningful and impactful communication strategies.

Reviewed by Brian Healy, Lecturer, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 1/16/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This Open Educational Text directly connects Public Speaking and communication theory in practically applicable skill sets, highlighting the potential for personal and civic advocacy. The diverse and inclusive perspectives and examples allow the students to practice critical reflexivity while creating meaningful and well-constructed presentations covering all forms of public engagement.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This text presents material without error. The theories and concepts deployed throughout the text reflect the current perspectives in Communication Studies.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content of this text is up-to-date. It presents a diverse and inclusive look at how Public Speaking is changing with our society's technological advances and social gains. In an ever-evolving and shifting world, "Speak Out, Call In" is creating space for students to understand how to become advocates for current issues facing them.

Clarity rating: 5

The text does a fine job contextualizing the terms and concepts deployed throughout and makes them accessible to the student through clearly illustrated examples and easily interpretable definitions. The glossary at the end of the text is an excellent resource for students.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

This text is easily divisible. Each section can be broken down into shorter lessons, and the text can easily be rearranged or modified for multiple classroom applications or disciplines outside of Communication Studies.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This text's clear organizational pattern mimics the ways students can perform Public Speaking preparation to create a speech. Each skill builds upon the previous in meaningful and productive ways.

Interface rating: 5

The interface of this text is straightforward and accessible in multiple formats.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This text is error-free when it comes to grammar.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This text presents multiple cultural perspectives and shows the power of Public Speaking as a space for social change and personal agency. The examples throughout give diverse representations that challenge students to engage in critically reflexive ways when thinking about, creating, or performing Public Speaking.

Comments

I cannot say enough about this text's potential to provide students with the means for personal and social agency. I thoroughly recommend using this textbook across disciplines to facilitate presentations for all levels of students.

Reviewed by James Proszek, Visiting Instructor of Rhetoric, Wabash College on 6/20/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text appropriately engages both communication theory and public speaking training by pairing technical skills (i.e. researching & constructing arguments, building an outline, using visual aids) with principles of advocacy that inform why and how a student would/should engage with their audience(s). The author's decision to cover advocacy and audiences at the beginning of the chapter is a welcome change from other Public Speaking textbooks and each chapter builds upon previous chapters to provide a well-rounded introduction to Public Speaking.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content in the book is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. It is easy to point students to the References by Chapter and Glossary sections at the end of the book for research and reviewing for exams.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

I appreciate how the author incorporates contemporary examples from speakers and situations that would be familiar to an 18-24-age demographic (traditional college students) The lessons and/or ideas imbedded in these examples are presented openly such that they will not become outdated because the student is supplying some of the information from their own experiences.

Clarity rating: 5

The author uses an engaging narrative style and positive tone when presenting new concepts, making the information in each chapter accessible to students and helpful for reducing public speaking anxiety. Terminology is clear and easy to understand with multiple examples in each chapter to illustrate the content.

Consistency rating: 5

The book has a consistent framework and the terminology used in each chapter is scaffolded in such a way that students will be able to incorporate and apply content from a previous chapter to what they are learning in successive weeks and lessons.

Modularity rating: 5

The author does a good job of dividing the information into appropriate headings and sub-headings such that the student can easily take notes on the material. Each chapter begins with a set of learning objectives that are very useful in developing lesson plans and assessments. The author also makes use of text boxes to offer important notes to students without disrupting or crowding the main information in each chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Each chapter in the book is well-organized internally and, as a whole, the book does an excellent job at organizing the concepts. As noted above, the decision to put advocacy and audiences in the first two chapters is an innovative way to organize a Public Speaking textbook. The one drawback, in terms of organization, is the Conclusion section of each chapter, which is too short to adequately review the material covered throughout the chapter. One suggestion I have for the author is to return to the learning objectives that were established at the beginning of the chapter and find some way to encourage students to (re)engage with those objectives.

Interface rating: 5

Accessing the textbook online (or in PDF form) is easy and convenient. At times, an image will displace the text onto a separate line, breaking up the paragraph. However, this is a minor issue and both text and images are easy to read and do not have serious display issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The author does a good job of making this textbook inclusive by highlighting a variety of races, ethnicities, cultural locations, backgrounds, and experiences with particular attention to how advocacy can and should work to address systemic racism and inequality. I commend the author for demonstrating that Public Speaking is not an activity that occurs in a vacuum. This textbook encourages students to understand how culture plays a crucial role in informing how and why we speak.

Comments

The textbook does an excellent job of providing inclusive, accessible, and engaging content to students. The author's commitment to examining intercultural communication and advocacy through Public Speaking is compelling, as is their ability to blend communication theory and public speaking training in a student-centered writing style. I highly encourage other instructors who are looking to teach Public Speaking from an everyday, critical-cultural approach to read this book!

Reviewed by Lana McDonnell, Professor, Dodge City Community College on 1/10/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book does a nice job of covering all of the material needed in a basic Public Speaking Course. I like that it follows a traditional trajectory and adds the focus of advocacy from the very beginning. It includes traditional expectations for Public Speaking along with updated demands like public speaking online. I found the writing to be accessible and clear.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book does a solid job of covering the needed materials in Public Speaking. I especially liked how each chapter flowed easily from one to the next and built in complexity. By the time students get to Persuasive Speaking they are ready to go. I also liked that the book is clearly planted in communication studies with a strong focus on a rhetorical tradition with some fun up to date examples. Even the Toulmin Model is covered in an accessible way.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book does a nice job covering expected content in a Public Speaking course and has updated examples to connect with students. It also provides good tools for students to improve their research skills, understand advocacy (which keeps public speaking relevant), ways to become a stronger speaker, and a focus on ethics that makes the discussion about plagiarism even more clear for students by providing real life examples.

Clarity rating: 5

The writing of this text is excellent for first and second year college students. The writing is accessible and friendly in tone. All terms that are used are defined clearly and excellent examples are provided to reinforce the content. Many Public Speaking text books are over written and crammed with too much information. This text gives a solid foundation that is appropriate for most Public Speaking courses and is not overwritten.

Consistency rating: 5

The organization, tone, and content development of this book is well thought out for each chapter and overall for the text itself. Each chapter has clear terminology and content expected for a Public Speaking Course and provides meaningful examples which make the new terms more concrete and easier to understand.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter would be an excellent module and would work well to integrate into an online Learning Management System. The order of the chapters seems well thought out as well. I would probably not change the order of the chapters, because some crucial ideas are covered early, but they could be rearranged and still make sense if desired. I sometimes have to change the order of a text because speaker apprehension is covered too late for me. This test covers speaker apprehension early, but I have supplements I would still add to that section. I do think this book provides a nice foundation for modules and still allows for instructors to add personalized content if desired without overwhelming students.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I plan on using this book in the order it is written. I really like the flow of each chapter and how the complexity increases as the semester progresses. Each chapter is set up clearly with an overview, covers the content, and provides a nice wrap up. The overall structure of the text is strong as well.

Interface rating: 5

The book works well. I read the e-version. The links to external content worked well and for the most part it looked fine.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No noticeable spelling or grammar issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The focus on multiple voices is very important in this text. I liked the examples of real life speech topics we encounter in the classroom and sometimes may struggle with why a particular topic might not be the best. The authors do a nice job of setting up topics that look good on the face of it, but when thinking it though a bit more might not work. For instance topics that exclude members of the audience or could create another harm Getting students think about impact and shifting perspective is great!

Comments

This book does a nice job of covering required content in a Public Speaking and adds some fresh examples and modern challenges to the discussion. I have been looking for a new text and am very enthusiastic about this one!

Reviewed by Kara Dillard, Assistant Professor, James Madison University on 8/16/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

"Speak Out, Call In" is a textbook aimed at students taking a basic public speaking or introduction to communication course. The text is very comprehensive – outlining what communication and public speaking is, including the notion of advocacy, the basics of formulating arguments, research, speaking to inform and persuade, and concepts of speech structure, presentation aids, and outlining. Some of the more unique chapters – like the one on aesthetics and art of public speaking – enhance the text’s unique ideas and arguments about the importance of learning public speaking. All of the basics needed for students to learn the basics of public speech and public speaking are in this text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The examples, definitions, frameworks, and key ideas used in Speak Out, Call In are current, accurate, and free of bias. All of the basic public speaking and fundamentals of human communication concepts are accurately defined and presented in the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

What makes the content of any public speaking textbook (ir)relevant are its examples and illustrations of speeches. Much of the specific examples in Speak Out, Call In are interpersonal examples that will be relevant for years to come. They are written without slang, and in a way that students this year and five years or more will recognize the context and intent of the example.

Clarity rating: 5

The textbook is written in clear prose and would be easy (but not too easy) for a first or second year undergraduate to read and understand. One of the most exciting thing about this text and what distinguishes it from even the non-OER texts, is that descriptions of key concepts that can be tricky to teach new students are easy to understand. The section in chapter 1 on how communication is constitutive, contextual, and culturally based is a good example of the clarity of concepts presented in the text.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in the way it describes communication and public speaking. Terminology and frameworks are woven throughout the chapters frequently. The chapter objectives and chapter conclusions do a nice job highlighting pieces from previous chapters to be expanded on.

Modularity rating: 4

Speak Out, Call In is sectioned into four parts (advocacy and audience, arguments and info, delivery, and speech specific chapters). The chapters are straightforward and a instructor could pick and choose chapters to teach from without losing major ideas.

The chapters themselves are well segmented with clear section headings and sub section headings. It’s easy to note where new material/concepts begin. Perhaps the font could be larger, but that’s a small nitpick.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The textbook flows from a introduction to public speaking and advocacy, to how to build arguments via research, to how to effectively deliver a speech, and then to the specifics of different speech types. This is the flow of most popular public speaking texts and it works for this text, too. Inside the four modules, the chapters build nicely upon each other which is helpful for students learning the material.

Interface rating: 4

The interface is fine. There are no weird formatting problems with text, images, or graphs. There are some images, graphics, and tables that help highlight or convey key ideas, but the text could use more of these. And I wish OER public speaking texts could embed speech texts or videos of speeches in chapters so students aren’t just accessing a “free” text but a free text that is interactive. As I was reading this text, I kept thinking I wanted more options for engaging with the material in text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors that I immediately noticed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. Examples of interpersonal communication come from a variety of different speakers and cultural contexts. Examples of speeches, arguments, evidence, and ideas are culturally appropriate.

Comments

This is one of the better OER texts for public speaking that I've read. While I wish there were more images, speeches, speech texts, and graphics/tables to make the writing itself come to life, I think I'm being overly ambitious for an OER. One of the things I enjoy most and that I will be taking into my own classroom are some of Mapes' descriptions of public speaking as advocacy. I think this concept is powerful and something that students will gravitate to.

Reviewed by Julie Walker, Assistant Professor, Assistant Director of Forensics, Southwest Minnesota State University on 2/5/21, updated 6/1/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book covers all of the basic public speaking needs. What I really appreciate is the way the book clearly situates public speaking within contexts.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book has no inaccuracies I could detect.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Especially in the often charged spaces where we learn and teach, the need for empathetic listening and advocacy is vital.

Clarity rating: 5

The examples complement rather than overwhelm the text.

Consistency rating: 5

The book uses consistent structure throughout chapters to decrease anxiety due to uncertainty from students.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is PERFECT for the online space. No more than a few scrolls per section, yet the sections contain all necessary information. Excellent economy of words.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book's organization pattern is highly appropriate. However, even if the book does not progress through the chapters in the way expected, the wonderful think about an ebook is the professor can just assign the chapters in a different order based on their progression through the class. :)

Interface rating: 5

Clean, easy to access.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No errors

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Fantastic attention to cultural differences that both the speaker AND the listeners need to work to bridge.

Comments

I can't wait to adopt this text. I am thrilled that this is available!