Public Speaking and Civic Engagement promotes public speaking as a vehicle for civic engagement by showing the reader how to address issues, think critically, engage in productive dialogue, formulate sound arguments, and develop an ethic of advocacy. The civic engagement theme is unique in that it envisions public speaking as a vehicle for promoting the common good, while also emphasizing its role in personal advancement and fulfillment. By using specific examples—of students, of citizens engaged in community affairs, of historic and contemporary public figures—the book teaches the reader how to address substantive issues that impact their communities at local, state, national, and international levels.