Public Speaking (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Public Speaking<br><br>For some time the amount of public speaking offered by colleges and universities has been increasing, and at the same time both the skill of teaching and our knowledge of the field have likewise been developing. New researches have been made; many facts and theories in psychology have been found useful; and by threshing out various problems in conventions and speech publications we have grown in wisdom. This textbook has been prepared in the belief that from these sources it is possible to add considerable new information to those well-tried principles that have been accumulating since the time of Aristotle.<br><br>We must also face the fact that a discipline as old as ours is likely to become burdened with much questionable material. By applying the caustic of vigorous skepticism to the dogma of our field, an attempt has been made to keep this presentation sufficiently conservative and essentially sound.<br><br>This textbook has been designed to cover completely the theory of public speaking. But since the theory of public speaking is not as significant to the student as the practice of principles involved, it is thought that the student should be given all possible assistance in putting theory into practice. For this reason particular attention has been given the exercises, not only in attempting to provide more exercise material, but in attempting to find the best type of exercise to accomplish the desired pedagogical purpose. Moreover, the exercises are frequently interspersed with textual material in order that the student will link theory and practice closely together.<br><br>No effort has been made to force the material into compliance with the dogmas or terminology of any particular psychological sect. Surely there are truths to be found in psychoanalysis, behaviorism, gestaltism, and introspective psychology. Sophisticates in psychological parlance may wonder at the use of "response" and "consciousness" in the same chapter.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.