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The Art of Public Speaking
The Art of Public Speaking
388 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 28, 2008
138 people are currently reading
1601 people want to read
About the author
Stephen E. Lucas
89 books14 followersStephen E. Lucas is Professor of Communication Arts and Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has taught since 1972.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
July 14, 2016
The title should really be "The amateur book of high school classroom presentations"... If you're an experienced businessperson, please don't waste your time!
The only reason why I'm criticizing the book is because the title is completely misleading... In no way, shape or form is this remotely close to deserving its score when benchmarking to many other public speaking/ presentation books like:
- The art of public speaking (original Carnegie's version)
- Presentation zen
- How to deliver a Ted talk & how to deliver a great Ted talk
- Resonate
- Made to stick
Even "confessions of a public speaker" was better despite being more entertainment then practical tips.
To avoid at all costs unless you're a complete beginner!
The only reason why I'm criticizing the book is because the title is completely misleading... In no way, shape or form is this remotely close to deserving its score when benchmarking to many other public speaking/ presentation books like:
- The art of public speaking (original Carnegie's version)
- Presentation zen
- How to deliver a Ted talk & how to deliver a great Ted talk
- Resonate
- Made to stick
Even "confessions of a public speaker" was better despite being more entertainment then practical tips.
To avoid at all costs unless you're a complete beginner!
June 2, 2013
I used Lucas' The Art of Public Speaking (11th Edition with Connect) for my Speech Communication class at Baruch College. While I wound up being very impressed with the textbook, I felt that it had a number of significant shortcomings and wound up preferring Engleberg and Daly's Presentations in Everyday Life, which I used in a Public Speaking course at Wagner College.
First, the strengths. Lucas's book is the most recognizable textbook in the field for some good reasons. Lucas provides a very clear guide to public speaking, giving concrete examples of how to approach different types of speeches and how to craft and prepare for them. The text is clearly stated, updated to refer to current events and issues, and beautifully illustrated. For those reasons, I think the book is valuable.
But the biggest negative element is its price point. Retailing at over $100, the book is simply not affordable for many students at public universities, and asking them to buy it is not ethical, especially when there are so many competing options which are all cheaper--some at half the price or less. The "Connect" multimedia CD is useful but probably part of the high price point, and ultimately I don't think the CD is necessary at all for students to learn effectively from the book. A further negative element, in my mind, is that Lucas's text is singlemindedly focused on public speaking classes. I think it would be valuable to broaden the gaze of this book to discuss how the skills taught in the book can be applied to many other situations outside of the classroom and in daily life.
First, the strengths. Lucas's book is the most recognizable textbook in the field for some good reasons. Lucas provides a very clear guide to public speaking, giving concrete examples of how to approach different types of speeches and how to craft and prepare for them. The text is clearly stated, updated to refer to current events and issues, and beautifully illustrated. For those reasons, I think the book is valuable.
But the biggest negative element is its price point. Retailing at over $100, the book is simply not affordable for many students at public universities, and asking them to buy it is not ethical, especially when there are so many competing options which are all cheaper--some at half the price or less. The "Connect" multimedia CD is useful but probably part of the high price point, and ultimately I don't think the CD is necessary at all for students to learn effectively from the book. A further negative element, in my mind, is that Lucas's text is singlemindedly focused on public speaking classes. I think it would be valuable to broaden the gaze of this book to discuss how the skills taught in the book can be applied to many other situations outside of the classroom and in daily life.
Read
July 16, 2018My Public Speaking textbook. Very simple and straightforward, but still glad to be done with it. :)
July 30, 2017
For a textbook this is pretty good
December 4, 2025
Had to read it for speech. It is helpful. But super boring.
lol I actually did not read it. I skimmed it
lol I actually did not read it. I skimmed it
July 4, 2012
I recommend this book to whoever wants to learn public speaking. It talks about the most fundamental aspects of public speaking, including ethics, purpose, organization, vocal variety, body language, audience analysis, and etc.
It does not talk about "dry theory" material. Each definition is followed by several vivid examples. It also has very thought provoking exercises after each chapter. Moreover, it provides several sample speeches in the multimedia that comes with the book. Last but not least, readers can go to the website for the book and go through more exercises there.
I find the principles in the book very simple but effective!
It does not talk about "dry theory" material. Each definition is followed by several vivid examples. It also has very thought provoking exercises after each chapter. Moreover, it provides several sample speeches in the multimedia that comes with the book. Last but not least, readers can go to the website for the book and go through more exercises there.
I find the principles in the book very simple but effective!
August 9, 2013
This book presents public speaking in an interesting writing style. The discussions in the book are topical and the example speeches do a good job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of amateur public speakers in a class. I thought it did a great job of pointing out things to think about when making a speech that you may not automatically think about. I learned lessons that I will be able to use in argument and public speaking for a long time.
July 10, 2014
This truly was an educational tool to teach people the ends and outs of the difficult task of speaking in public.
January 31, 2019
এই বইটা টেক্সট বুক- আর টেক্সট বুকের সবচেয়ে ভাল দিক হচ্ছে সর্বজনীন। অর্থাৎ, একদম বিগিনার লেভেলের জন্য আমি এই বইটা সাজেস্ট করব।
নতুন পাব্লিক স্পিকারদের জন্য প্রথম বই হিসেবে রিকমেন্ডেড। 👍
নতুন পাব্লিক স্পিকারদের জন্য প্রথম বই হিসেবে রিকমেন্ডেড। 👍
Read
July 16, 2019Well, I got a 91.82% in the class...
January 27, 2015
11th edition
p 5
Public speaking is a vital means of civic engagement. It is a way to express your ideas and to have an impact on issues that matter in society. As a form of empowerment, it can--and often does--make a difference in things people care about very much. The key phrase here is "make a difference." This is what most of us want to do in life--to make a difference, to change the world in some small way. Public speaking offers you an opportunity to make a difference in something you care very much about.
p 34
contrary to what some people claim, avoiding racist, sexist, and other kinds of abusive language is not simply a matter of political correctness. Such language is ethically suspect because it devalues and stereotypes ... helps reinforce attitudes that encourage prejudice, hate crimes, and civil rights violations. (Steven Heyman, "free Speech and Human Dignity" New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008)
p 35
"Being ethical means behaving ethically all the time--not only when it's convenient."--Kenneth Blanchard & Norman Vincent Peale, "The Power of Ethical Management" NY: Ballantine Books, 1988 p 62
p 81
(great free-association examples)
p 125
"this" + "that" -> limits Google search to both
p 143
Dr. Mario Molina won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on the formation and decomposition of the ozone layer.
p 146
Personalize your ideas: People are interested in people; add human interest. The abstract becomes more meaningful when applied to a person. e.g., Let me tell you about Arturo. Arturo is four years old. He has big brown eyes and a mop of black hair and an empty belly. In all his four years on earth, Arturo has never once enjoyed three square meals in a single day.
p 175
utilize hypnosis to help break addiction or help students improve their academic performance
p 185
overture--an orchestral introduction that captures the audience's attention and gives them a preview
p 197
musical crescendo
p 228
good novelists create word pictures that let you "see" the haunted house, or "hear" the birds chirping on a warm spring morning, or "taste" the hot enchiladas at a Mexican restaurant.
p 233
for comedic effect reverse two situations (appropriateness to situation)
p 248
Greek historian Herodotus, "People trust their ears less than their eyes." When speaker's body language is inconsistent with his or her words, listeners often believe the body language rather than the words. (Mark Knapp & Judith Hall "Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction 7th ed, Boston: Wadsworth, 2010 p 12-15)
p 252
Concentrate on gaining control of the ides; don't try to learn the speech word for word.
p 269
research showing that extraneous images distract listeners and reduce comprehension of the speaker's point (Richard Mayer & Cheryl Johnson "Revising the Redundancy Principle in Multimedia Learning" Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 2008 p 380-386
p 271
When you finish, place the object or picture back out of sight
p 300
By age 20, the average American has been exposed to one million television commercials--an average of 150 every day.
p 301
It's not possible to bring about a truly beneficial result by using unethical methods--King
p 310
Seek action from your audience whenever possible. The listener in not making much of a commitment by thinking, "Sure, I agree with you." Within two days they will forget entirely--and about agreeing. Action however reinforces belief. If you can persuade them to make some kind of action--even if it's no more than signing a petition, putting a bumper sticker on a car, or attending a meeting--yo
u've gained a more serious commitment. Once one acts on behalf of your position, they're more likely to remain committed to it. (Richard Perloff "The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the 21st Century 4th ed. 2010 p 259-261
p 328
Most of us have no idea what it means to be poor and hungry. But before returning to school last year, I spent three years working at local assistance centers. I can't tell you everything I have seen. But on the basis of what I can tell you, I hope you will agree with me that government help for the poor and needy must be maintained.
p 334
[play within a play] And what does this story prove? No matter how strong your evidence, you will not be persuasive unless listeners grasp your reasoning.
p 344 http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sbenus/Te...
Nathan was only five years old when the fever struck him. At first, no one knew whatwas wrong. No one knew that parasites inside his body had infected his red blood cells.No one knew those cells were clumping together, choking the flow of blood through hisbody and damaging his vital organs. No one knew his kidneys would soon fail and seizures would begin. No one knew he would wind up in a coma.
The parasites in Nathan's body came from a mosquito bite, a bite that gave him malaria. And Nathan is not alone. The World Health Organization tells us the horrible truth:In Africa, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds.
words
-----
poignance - piercing quality
germane - relevant to a subject under consideration
cadence 1. a modulation or inflection of the voice. "the measured cadences that he employed in the Senate" synonyms: intonation, modulation, lilt, accent, inflection; More a modulation in reading aloud as implied by the structure and ordering of words and phrases in written text. "the dry cadences of the essay" a fall in pitch of the voice at the end of a phrase or sentence. rhythm. "the thumping cadence of the engines" 2. MUSIC a sequence of notes or chords comprising the close of a musical phrase. "the final cadences of the Prelude"
inoculate - treat with a vaccine to produce immunity
symposium - several people present on different aspects
ethnocentrism - believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important
residual message - what you want them to remember after they forgotten everything else
Monroe's motivated sequence - attention, need, satisfaction, visualization & action (p 315)
question of -fact -value -policy
false cause = causation without correlation
internal previews & internal summaries
implied leader || emergent leader
appeal to novelty vs appeal to tradition
Qs
--
How can a speaker motivate listeners to act?
How do you react?
p 5
Public speaking is a vital means of civic engagement. It is a way to express your ideas and to have an impact on issues that matter in society. As a form of empowerment, it can--and often does--make a difference in things people care about very much. The key phrase here is "make a difference." This is what most of us want to do in life--to make a difference, to change the world in some small way. Public speaking offers you an opportunity to make a difference in something you care very much about.
p 34
contrary to what some people claim, avoiding racist, sexist, and other kinds of abusive language is not simply a matter of political correctness. Such language is ethically suspect because it devalues and stereotypes ... helps reinforce attitudes that encourage prejudice, hate crimes, and civil rights violations. (Steven Heyman, "free Speech and Human Dignity" New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008)
p 35
"Being ethical means behaving ethically all the time--not only when it's convenient."--Kenneth Blanchard & Norman Vincent Peale, "The Power of Ethical Management" NY: Ballantine Books, 1988 p 62
p 81
(great free-association examples)
p 125
"this" + "that" -> limits Google search to both
p 143
Dr. Mario Molina won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on the formation and decomposition of the ozone layer.
p 146
Personalize your ideas: People are interested in people; add human interest. The abstract becomes more meaningful when applied to a person. e.g., Let me tell you about Arturo. Arturo is four years old. He has big brown eyes and a mop of black hair and an empty belly. In all his four years on earth, Arturo has never once enjoyed three square meals in a single day.
p 175
utilize hypnosis to help break addiction or help students improve their academic performance
p 185
overture--an orchestral introduction that captures the audience's attention and gives them a preview
p 197
musical crescendo
p 228
good novelists create word pictures that let you "see" the haunted house, or "hear" the birds chirping on a warm spring morning, or "taste" the hot enchiladas at a Mexican restaurant.
p 233
for comedic effect reverse two situations (appropriateness to situation)
p 248
Greek historian Herodotus, "People trust their ears less than their eyes." When speaker's body language is inconsistent with his or her words, listeners often believe the body language rather than the words. (Mark Knapp & Judith Hall "Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction 7th ed, Boston: Wadsworth, 2010 p 12-15)
p 252
Concentrate on gaining control of the ides; don't try to learn the speech word for word.
p 269
research showing that extraneous images distract listeners and reduce comprehension of the speaker's point (Richard Mayer & Cheryl Johnson "Revising the Redundancy Principle in Multimedia Learning" Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 2008 p 380-386
p 271
When you finish, place the object or picture back out of sight
p 300
By age 20, the average American has been exposed to one million television commercials--an average of 150 every day.
p 301
It's not possible to bring about a truly beneficial result by using unethical methods--King
p 310
Seek action from your audience whenever possible. The listener in not making much of a commitment by thinking, "Sure, I agree with you." Within two days they will forget entirely--and about agreeing. Action however reinforces belief. If you can persuade them to make some kind of action--even if it's no more than signing a petition, putting a bumper sticker on a car, or attending a meeting--yo
u've gained a more serious commitment. Once one acts on behalf of your position, they're more likely to remain committed to it. (Richard Perloff "The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the 21st Century 4th ed. 2010 p 259-261
p 328
Most of us have no idea what it means to be poor and hungry. But before returning to school last year, I spent three years working at local assistance centers. I can't tell you everything I have seen. But on the basis of what I can tell you, I hope you will agree with me that government help for the poor and needy must be maintained.
p 334
[play within a play] And what does this story prove? No matter how strong your evidence, you will not be persuasive unless listeners grasp your reasoning.
p 344 http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sbenus/Te...
Nathan was only five years old when the fever struck him. At first, no one knew whatwas wrong. No one knew that parasites inside his body had infected his red blood cells.No one knew those cells were clumping together, choking the flow of blood through hisbody and damaging his vital organs. No one knew his kidneys would soon fail and seizures would begin. No one knew he would wind up in a coma.
The parasites in Nathan's body came from a mosquito bite, a bite that gave him malaria. And Nathan is not alone. The World Health Organization tells us the horrible truth:In Africa, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds.
words
-----
poignance - piercing quality
germane - relevant to a subject under consideration
cadence 1. a modulation or inflection of the voice. "the measured cadences that he employed in the Senate" synonyms: intonation, modulation, lilt, accent, inflection; More a modulation in reading aloud as implied by the structure and ordering of words and phrases in written text. "the dry cadences of the essay" a fall in pitch of the voice at the end of a phrase or sentence. rhythm. "the thumping cadence of the engines" 2. MUSIC a sequence of notes or chords comprising the close of a musical phrase. "the final cadences of the Prelude"
inoculate - treat with a vaccine to produce immunity
symposium - several people present on different aspects
ethnocentrism - believe that one's ethnic or cultural group is centrally important
residual message - what you want them to remember after they forgotten everything else
Monroe's motivated sequence - attention, need, satisfaction, visualization & action (p 315)
question of -fact -value -policy
false cause = causation without correlation
internal previews & internal summaries
implied leader || emergent leader
appeal to novelty vs appeal to tradition
Qs
--
How can a speaker motivate listeners to act?
How do you react?
June 30, 2022
29 June 2022
3 stars!
Okay, okay. I didn't actually finish this, but it was a book for school. Doesn't that count?
There really is no good reason as to why I rated this; I just felt like it. Also, this book is just blah, so I just gave it a neutral 3 stars.
That's it.
If, however, you are looking for a text to help you improve your public speaking skill, then I recommend trying this! :)
3 stars!
~~~~~
Want more bookish stuff?
・ Comment below to discuss this book more. I'd love to hear what you think!
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Happy Reading!
3 stars!
Okay, okay. I didn't actually finish this, but it was a book for school. Doesn't that count?
There really is no good reason as to why I rated this; I just felt like it. Also, this book is just blah, so I just gave it a neutral 3 stars.
That's it.
If, however, you are looking for a text to help you improve your public speaking skill, then I recommend trying this! :)
3 stars!
~~~~~
Want more bookish stuff?
・ Comment below to discuss this book more. I'd love to hear what you think!
・ Send me a private message on Goodreads to discuss this book and other books!
・ Join Book Nerds Unite to get involved in all things bookish with fellow book nerds!
・ Like this review, and follow me for more book reviews.
・ Subscribe to my blog, Adventures with Asia Minor! https://www.adventureswithasiaminor.com/
Happy Reading!
June 14, 2023
The best book to learn public speaking, this book I have read during two semesters of my university, is the best book and material that can teach from how to identify our audience to the preparation of a presentation in public, either for a specific topic thus avoiding complex issues such as religion, sexuality or political ideology. This book contains material to search the internet sites and examples to explain how to improve a structure of a speech.
In addition, important steps before and after an interview are also taken into account. Finally, it is considered what is the correct position of a speech on a web platform or virtual classes.
Personally, I have developed this book over the course of the semesters and I want to say that it is an excellent book to increase confidence, security and better prepare our speeches to an audience.
In addition, important steps before and after an interview are also taken into account. Finally, it is considered what is the correct position of a speech on a web platform or virtual classes.
Personally, I have developed this book over the course of the semesters and I want to say that it is an excellent book to increase confidence, security and better prepare our speeches to an audience.
April 28, 2021
This book was required reading for one of my core classes. Overall I think that it’s good for its intended purpose. As a preacher of the gospel who engages in public speaking every week of my life, I want to be as polished as possible. However, we always need to be careful not to depend on the methods more than the message. Preachers need to be as well rounded and gracious as possible, but at the end of the day our goal should be to please the audience of One ☝️
October 25, 2021
Awful. Page after page of empty filler. Vocabulary words defined using the words being defined. Endless insipid study questions that neither challenge nor promote critical thinking. This book single handedly made me question the value of a college education. Like someone transcribed every TED talk into one IQ point leaching compendium.
July 26, 2023
Read this for my public speaking course, and I have to say, I learned so much! Things I didn’t learn about in my first public speaking course that I’m able to improve on. The text is easy with lots of examples to drive home the point clearly. Though I hate public speaking, this book helped put my worries at ease.
February 28, 2018
I've been reading this textbook all semester for Public Speaking Class. Might as well get Goodreads credit for it, right? Three stars because it isn't as boring as I anticipated and it's organized in an easy to read way.
March 5, 2022
Too many pages, super repetitive and frustrating to get through. I feel like I’m reading over the same pages in different wording. But it has useful information, just not my type of book. I only bought it off of Amazon kindle for college. Nothing special to me.
March 7, 2023
It is one of the better college text book I have read. But it is a college text book. It contains a lot of useful information, but the read is at times dry. However, I think the information in this book outweighs the times it gets a little dry.
July 4, 2025
Def would not assign this to college students but will use some examples/sections from it. Also extremely weird choice to end with a chapter on working in small groups—seemed totally divorced from the rest of the content and purpose
May 10, 2017
Helped me allot learning to face my fear of public speaking.
June 10, 2017
Great primer. Not a lot of depth. New editions got rid of the short video clips breaking speeches doe into their components which was the best part.
June 22, 2017
Listening is an active process. It's a skill as much as delivering a speech. To improve your listening skills is to improve your concentration and comprehension power.
January 2, 2018
Assigned for a class. A good exploration of public speaking skills. Mostly basic knowledge so not for someone with a foundational understanding of the craft.
June 16, 2018
textbook for a course...
August 19, 2018
I read the sixth edition- what the library had - it was very informative, easy to read and helpful. I am interested in getting the latest version too.
May 21, 2020
Meh. Most of the points were pretty obvious to me.
Read
February 25, 2021I don’t want to give a rating to a textbook. Lol
August 20, 2021
Learned a lot and the teacher in my class was awesome. I'm definitely doing well in public speaking because of this book!
April 27, 2023
It’s a decent public speaking book. However, for college level it seems shallow. This is a great public speaking book for high school students.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews