Canadian Public Speaking

By Melanie Novis

Appropriate for public speaking courses offered at both the university and college level. Canadian Public Speaking is designed to help you master the skill of speaking in public in a way that is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0130358304
• ISBN13: 9780130358301
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Pearson Education Canada
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Effective, Engaging Public Speaking: An Acquired Skill

Melanie Novis believes that public speaking is an acquired skill. In her highly appealing Canadian Public Speaking, she explores the nature of public oratory in Canada, providing practical, how-to techniques for achieving self-confidence and communicating effectively. Although written for Canadian college and university students, this book will serve anyone seeking to become a good public speaker and provide a valuable reference for veteran speakers. In clear, direct prose, Novis discusses audience analysis, structure and types of speeches, visual aids, and voice development. She provides readily-applicable advice on managing a question and answer period, helps her reader prepare for job and research interviews, and paves the way for us to rise to the challenge of the special occasion speech or group presentation. Acknowledging the importance of hearing in the communication process, she includes a chapter on developing listening skills. Although her method is straight-forward, Novis requires hard work and commitment on the part of her students, emphasizing throughout the book the importance of preparation and practise. Help in this regard is abundantly provided in the form of exercises, worksheets, and checklists. Excerpts from effective speeches and quotations from such diverse sources as Aristotle and Louis Armstrong enliven the book, as do Novis' interviews of celebrated Canadian speakers. Among these are criminal lawyer Edward Greenspan, athlete Silken Laumann, labour leader Buzz Hargrove, and Canadian Opera Company Director Richard Bradshaw. Varied though the interviews may be, they provide similar advice to the novice speaker: be yourself, be attentive to your audience, and be prepared! The book is impeccably referenced and value is added through suggestions for further reading and Web links at the end of each chapter. It concludes with six sample speeches from luminaries such as Winston Churchill. Is the book lacking in any way? I would welcome a more detailed discussion of special occasion speeches with specific examples of toasts, wedding and anniversary addresses, etc. and more about presenting bad news. An analysis of the unique qualities and history of Canadian public oratory would also be of interest. I recognize, however, that these topics are far too broad for inclusion here, but hope that Novis might turn to them in future books. Canadian Public Speaking is a well-researched, well-presented, practical guide that deserves a place on the bookshelf of both the novice and the seasoned speaker.