At all stages of the public speaking process, students learn how to develop and apply strategies to speaking situations they encounter throughout their lives.

David Zarefsky, one of today's leading scholars in speech communication, encourages students to think through and about the public speaking process. Zarefsky urges students to consider the diversity of audiences, occasions, and speakers and to choose a specific purpose, a relevant topic, and the appropriate material to make their speeches successful.

This new edition focuses on providing students with more diverse and clearer examples, updated information on technology, and useful speech-making guidelines.