IN YOUR OWN VOICE:
A MANUAL FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS

by DAVID A. ALLEN
2nd edition, August 1989, 70 pages, $10.95 
ISBN 978-0-89641-185-2

 

Learning to be a good speaker can be rightly perceived as a complex process. In order to engage successfully in that learning, it helps, especially in the beginning, to keep things simple. It helps to see public speaking as a skill like many other skills that humans master. Beginning public speakers will need more advice and instruction than this book provides as they continue mastery of skills, but the directness and brevity of this book will provide a start like no other. Accomplished public speakers have experienced this book as a series of helpful reminders and a source of occasional discoveries. In Your Own Voice is written in a style intended to be attractive to the reader examining age-old subjects in a new and personal light relying on basic good sense to understand these subjects rather than established dogma. All illustrations in the book are photographs with captions taken from the text. These are intended to add humor and thus make it more fun to read. "This is a great little book!"

Contents

Chapter 1: STAGE FRIGHT: YOU CAN HANDLE IT
What you should know about stage fright
What you can do about it
Summary

Chapter 2: CHOOSING A GOOD SUBJECT: DO SOME CAREFUL THINKING
What to look for a subject
How to give it shape
Summary

Chapter 3: THE SPEECH ITSELF: BE CLEAR, BE INTERESTING — THAT'S ALL
How to begin
What you need in the body of your speech
How to end
Summary

Chapter 4: AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS: AN EASY AND ATTRACTIVE ADDITION
Why they are good for your audience
Why they are good for you
What cautions to take
Summary

Chapter 5: THE IMAGE YOU PROJECT: LIKE YOUR AUDIENCE AND BE YOURSELF
How to perceive your audience
How to be yourself
A few minor points you shouldn't overlook
Summary

Chapter 6: PERSUASION: IT CAN BE DONE
Why we feel adverse to it
How to persuade effectively
Summary

Chapter 7: CONCLUSION

About the Author

David A. Allen is Professor of English at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. Dave received his B.A. from Hiram College, his M.A. from the University of Michigan, and his Ph.D. from the University of Denver.