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Publisher's Note
1. Public Speaking as the Intersection of Rhetoric and Democracy
2. Unproductive Public Discourse and the Politics of Polarization
3. Changing Our Public Communication Toward Productive Discourse
4. Productive Discourse Is Responsible, Not Necessarily Polite
5. The Ethics of Public Speaking
6. The Ethics of Listening
7. Standpoint Theory and Ethical Rhetoric
8. Preparing to Conduct Credible Research
9. Finding and Documenting Research Sources
10. Knowing Your Audience
11. Adapting to Your Audience
12. Organizing Your Presentation with a Strong Thesis Statement
13. Organizing Your Main Points
14. Organizing Your Presentation with an Introduction, Conclusion, and Transitions
15. Writing a Preparation Outline
16. Using Style to Harness the Power of Language
17. Engaging Your Audience Through Delivery and Memory
18. Effectively Using Verbal, Nonverbal, and Televisual Delivery
19. Preparing a Presentation Outline or Manuscript for an Effective Delivery
20. Speaking Informatively Through Deliberative Presentations
21. Framing and Organizing Deliberative Presentations
22. Helping Communities Make Difficult Decisions Through Deliberative Discussions
23. Facilitating Deliberative Discussions
24. Persuading an Audience to Modify Their Beliefs, Attitudes, or Courses of Action
25. Developing Your Persuasive Speech Through Invention, Framing, and Refutation
26. Building Sound Arguments Through Quality Evidence
27. Identifying Reasoning Patterns and Fallacies
28. Choosing Visual Aids for Civic Engagement
29. Designing and Using Visual Aids to Reach an Audience
30. Rhetorical Criticism as Civic Engagement
31. Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and Democratic Principles
32. Public Communication Analysis: Rhetorical Artifacts and Historical Context
33. Public Communication Analysis: Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation
34. Ideological Criticism: Rhetorical Artifacts and Historical Context
35. Ideological Criticism: Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation
Appendix A: Sample Preparation Outline for an Informative Speech
Appendix B: Sample Preparation Outline for a Persuasive Speech
Appendix C: Sample Presentation Outline for an Extemporaneous Delivery
Glossary of Key Terms
Contributors
Update History
May 2026: alt text
June 2026: headings, tables
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Public Speaking and Democratic Participation: Speech, Deliberation, and Analysis in the Civic Realm, 2nd ed. by Jennifer Y. Abbott; Todd F. McDorman; David M. Timmerman; and L. Jill Lamberton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.