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The Public Speaking Playbook
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The Public Speaking Playbook

Third Edition
December 2019 | 560 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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The Public Speaking Playbook shows students how to prepare, practice, and present their public speeches with the highest level of confidence. With a focus on actively building skills, Teri Kwal Gamble and Michael W. Gamble coach students in the fundamentals of the public speaking process, using engaging learning modules that allow students to practice—and improve—their public speaking. The streamlined Third Edition of this best-selling text succinctly highlights the most important content and essential skills, and includes new annotated speeches to promote a deeper understanding of effective speech building. The text’s inclusive and unique playbook analogy encourages students to think critically about what it means to “play fair” in public speaking, with a focus on diversity, ethics, and civic engagement. 

INSTRUCTORS: The Public Speaking Playbook is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package! Contact your rep to request a demo.
  • Public Speaking PLUS
    Public Speaking PLUS integrates this text's content with premium videos, a video library, a speech-outlining tool, and GoReact’s speech-capturing software into one seamless digital solution (Digital Option ISBN: 978-1-5443-3240-6). Learn more.
  • SAGE Coursepacks
    SAGE Coursepacks makes it easy to import our quality content into your school’s learning management system (LMS). Learn more.  
  • SAGE Edge
    This open-access site offers students an impressive array of learning tools and resources. Learn more. 

Share with your students: 10 Tips for Overcoming Speech Anxiety

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
I. GET READY TO SPEAK
 
1. Building Confidence and Your First Speech
Section 1.1 Identify Speechmaking’s Benefits

 
Section 1.2 Discuss the Context of Public Speaking

 
Section 1.3 Assess and Build Your Speechmaking Confidence

 
Section 1.4 Approach Giving a Speech Systematically

 
 
2. Public Speaking in a Global World: Inclusion, Ethics, and Critical Thinking
Section 2.1 Respect Different Cultures

 
Section 2.2 Speak Ethically

 
Section 2.3 Think Critically

 
 
II. LISTEN AND LOOK
 
3. Listening Critically
Section 3.1 The Six Stages of Listening

 
Section 3.2 Listening and Cultural Differences

 
Section 3.3 The Benefits of Critical Listening

 
Section 3.4 The Four Types of Listening

 
Section 3.5 Listening Styles

 
Section 3.6 Improving Listening Behaviors

 
 
4. Analyzing and Adapting to the Audience
Section 4.1 Reach Out to Your Audience

 
Section 4.2 Answer Preliminary Questions

 
Section 4.3 Compose a Demographic Snapshot

 
Section 4.4 Compose a Psychographic Snapshot

 
Section 4.5 Consider the Speaking Situation

 
Section 4.6 Get Information About Your Audience

 
 
III. TOPIC AND RESEARCH
 
5. Selecting a Topic and Purpose
Section 5.1 Formulate a Topic

 
Section 5.2 Formulate General and Specific Purposes

 
Section 5.3 Formulate the Thesis Statement or Central Idea

 
 
6. Finding and Evaluating Research
Section 6.1 Use Primary Research

 
Section 6.2 Gather Secondary Research

 
Section 6.3 Why to Critically Assess Research

 
Section 6.4 Keep a Research Record

 
 
7. Integrating Support
Section 7.1 Use Examples

 
Section 7.2 Use Explanations and Descriptions

 
Section 7.3 Use Definitions

 
Section 7.4 Use Analogies

 
Section 7.5 Use Statistics

 
Section 7.6 Use Testimony

 
Section 7.7 Citing Sources in Your Speech

 
 
IV. ORGANIZE AND OUTLINE
 
8. Organizing the Main Points of Your Speech
Section 8.1 Understand Speech Patterns: Organization

 
Section 8.2 Use Linear Organizational Formats to Arrange a Speech’s Main Points

 
Section 8.3 Use Less Direct Configural Formats

 
 
9. Outlining Your Speech
Section 9.1 Create an Outline That Works for You

 
Section 9.2 Facilitate Speech Flow

 
Section 9.3 Practice Speaking with Your Outline

 
 
V. PRESENT YOUR SPEECH
 
10. Beginning and Ending Your Speech
Section 10.1 Capture Attention

 
Section 10.2 Build Credibility

 
Section 10.3 Preview the Big Ideas

 
Section 10.4 End Strong

 
Section 10.5 Avoid Common Pitfalls

 
 
11. Wording the Speech
Section 11.1 Understand How Words Work

 
Section 11.2 Use Words to Connect

 
Section 11.3 Consider Your Audience

 
Section 11.4 Be Strategic

 
Section 11.5 Use Oral Style

 
 
12. Delivery Modes and Practice
Section 12.1 Choose a Delivery Mode

 
Section 12.2 Prepare and Practice

 
Section 12.3 Avoid Common Delivery Bloopers

 
 
13. Delivering Your Speech: Nonverbal Messages Matter
Section 13.1 Nonverbal Messages: Beyond the Speaker’s Words

 
Section 13.2 Take Control of How You Sound

 
Section 13.3 Properly Use Pitch, Volume, Rate, Articulation, and Pronunciation

 
Section 13.4 Be Aware of Accents, Dialects, and Regionalisms

 
Section 13.5 Make the Most of the Setting

 
Section 13.6 Coordinate Your Body Language and Spoken Words

 
 
14. Using Presentation Aids
Section 14.1 Use Presentation Aids Strategically

 
Section 14.2 The Right and Wrong Ways to Work with Presentation Aids

 
Section 14.3 Select the Best Aids

 
Section 14.4 Be Familiar with Presentation Software

 
Section 14.5 Get the Most from Your Presentation Aids

 
 
VI. SPEAK TO INFORM
 
15. Speak to Inform
Section 15.1 Speeches About Objects and Ideas or Theories

 
Section 15.2 Speeches About Events and People

 
Section 15.3 Speeches About Processes, Procedures, and Demonstrations

 
Section 15.4 Achieving Informative Speaking Goals

 
 
VII. SPEAK TO PERSUADE
 
16. Prepare to Persuade
Section 16.1 We All Practice Persuasion

 
Section 16.2 Goals and Purposes of Persuasive Speech

 
Section 16.3 Categorize Propositions and Use Different Persuasive Approaches to Organize the Persuasive Speech.

 
Section 16.4 Understand and Use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

 
 
17. Methods of Persuasion
Section 17.1 Varying Viewpoints and Your Target Audience

 
Section 17.2 Build Ethos or Persuasive Credibility

 
Section 17.3 Use Logos or Sound Evidence and Reasoning

 
Section 17.4 Arouse Pathos or Emotion

 
Section 17.5 Use Three Tenets of Persuasion

 
Section 17.6 Practice Ethical Persuasion: Avoid Fallacies and Slip-ups

 
 
VIII. SPECIALIZED SPEAKING CONTEXTS
 
18. Planning and Presenting in Small Groups
Section 18.1 Groups at Work

 
Section 18.2 Solving Problems Together

 
Section18.3 Presenting the Group’s Work

 
Section 18.4 Assessing the Group’s Performance

 
 
19. Special Occasion Speeches
Section 19.1 Goals and Functions of Special Occasion Speeches

 
Section 19.2 Types of Ceremonial Speeches

 
Section 19.3 The Speech of Introduction

 
Section 19.4 The Speech of Presentation

 
Section 19.5 The Speech of Acceptance

 
Section 19.6 The Commencement Address

 
Section 19.7 The Keynote Address

 
Section 19.8 The Toast

 
Section 19.9 The Speech of Tribute

 
Section 19.10 The Eulogy

 
Section 19.11 The After-Dinner Speech

 
 
20. Business and Professional Speaking
Section 20.1 First, Get the Job: How to Handle a Job Interview

 
Section 20.2 Speaking in a Meeting

 
Section 20.3 Pitching an Idea

 
Section 20.4 Delivering a Briefing or Report

 
Section 20.5 Conducting a Training Session

 
 
21. Storytelling
Section 21.1 Discover Your Inner Storyteller

 
Section 21.2 Use Language to Connect

 
 
22. Speaking Across College Courses
Section 22.1 Presenting Across College Courses

 
Section 22.2 Educational Contexts for Speaking Assignments

 
 
23. Presenting Online
Section 23.1 The Technological Difference

 
Section 23.2 Formats for Online Presentations

 
Section 23.3 Online Presentation Platforms: Screens and Sound

 
 
24. Answering Questions
Section 24.1 The Timing of the Q&A Session

 
Section 24.2 Managing the Q&A

 
 
Glossary
 
Notes
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
INSTRUCTORS: SAGE Coursepacks and SAGE Edge online resources are included FREE with this text. For a brief demo, contact your sales representative today. 
 
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*For use in: Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace by Desire2Learn (D2L), and Moodle

Don’t use an LMS platform? No problem, you can still access many of the online resources for your text via SAGE Edge.

With SAGE Coursepacks, you get: 

  • quality textbook content delivered directly into your LMS; 
  • an intuitive, simple format that makes it easy to integrate the material into your course with minimal effort;
  • assessment tools that foster review, practice, and critical thinking, including:
    • diagnostic chapter quizzes that identify opportunities for improvement, track student progress, and ensure mastery of key learning objectives;
  • test banks built on Bloom’s Taxonomy that provide a diverse range of test items with ExamView test generation;
  • activity and quiz options that allow you to choose only the assignments and tests you want;
  • instructions on how to use and integrate the comprehensive assessments and resources provided;
  • video resources that bring concepts to life, are tied to learning objectives and make learning easier;
  • chapter-specific discussion questions to help launch engaging classroom interaction while reinforcing important content;
  • editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides that offer flexibility when creating multimedia lectures so you don’t have to start from scratch;
  • sample course syllabi with suggested models for structuring your course that give you options to customize your course to your exact needs;
  • lecture notes that summarize key concepts on a chapter-by-chapter basis to help you with preparation for lectures and class discussions;
  • integrated links to Public Speaking PLUS that make it easy for students to maximize their study time with this “anywhere, anytime” mobile-friendly version of the text. It also offers access to more digital tools and resources, including SAGE premium video and all tables and figures from the textbook.
Student Study Site
SAGE edge for students enhances learning, it’s easy to use, and offers:
  • an open-access site that makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime;
  • eFlashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts;
  • eQuizzes that allow students to practice and assess how much they’ve learned and where they need to focus their attention;
  • learning objectives that reinforce the most important material; and
  • video and multimedia links that facilitate student use of Internet resources and further exploration of topics.

"The Public Speaking Playbook is a very relevant public speaking textbook for the 21st-century learner. It’s a text that students will be able to learn from because they will be able to relate to many of the examples that are used." 

Jennifer Bieselin
State College of Florida

"This text is very innovative and describes what is usually regular content in a new and invigorating way. All of the material that other public speaking textbooks are lacking, this one has! It is great to finally read a textbook where all text and supplemental instruction is in one place."

Kiera J. Wade
The University of Texas at Tyler

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