Speech Craft brings purpose and personality to the discussion of traditional public speaking topics:

• The Author: Joshua Gunn, The University of Texas at Austin, is an award winning teacher and highly regarded scholar known for his research on human representation, self-understanding, and self-fashioning through analysis of celebrity culture, music, religion, love, symbolism, and political rhetoric.
• A conversational voice and high-energy examples draw students in. Speech Craft is filled with vivid and energetic examples that cover all of the traditional and the important new speech topics covered in the course. Examples are drawn from history, pop culture, and personal experience including fascinating speeches from the Ancient Greeks, a look at style through the eyes of Tim Gunn (style is more than word choice!), listening skills at a Beyonce concert, and an informative speech on preparing a meal while driving: "car cookery."
• Top scholarship that takes the discipline seriously but is always accessible and never boring. From the Greeks to the most cutting edge new scholarship, Speech Craft roots students in the speech instruction in the vibrant range of research and theory across Rhetoric, Communication, and Social Science.
• A modern look. Speech Craft's design matches the personality of its content--modern, bright, and visually engaging. There's enough space for notes, an accessible layout, and a one-of-a-kind art program that works pedagogically with the text to reinforce concepts.

A focus on public speaking for the community -- personal, local, career. Speech Craft helps students understand that, at its core, meaningful public speaking is about making an ethical connection with the audience and deepening relationships within the local community. It's rare to give a formal speech to thousands of people at a political event. It's more common to give a toast to 100 people at a sibling's wedding or present information at a local community event, club, or business meeting. Thus, Speech Craft starts local. It covers in depth all the traditional speeches taught in the course, like informative and persuasive, while also emphasizing speeches that students are more likely to give in their lives, like toasts, celebratory speeches, eulogies, or speeches to small groups at work or in town. No matter the speech, students learn how to strengthen community bonds through audience analysis, ethical listening, and more.

A unique chapter - Chapter 19, Speaking for Social Change - shows how speaking for social change connects speakers to their communities. This capstone chapter takes students from the personal and community-based focus toward the possibility of using their newly confident voices for civic engagement. The history of activism is presented through examples like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat, to the protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Pedagogy that guides, engages, and helps students apply what they are learning.

• "You will learn to" boxes help students stay grounded and focused on specific learning objectives as they move through the content.
• Innovative Visual Summaries at the end of each chapter help students study and review.
• Sample annotated speeches, including personal speeches, like the author's eulogy for his grandmother.

Affordable and flexible. Speech Craft comes in a variety of formats (digital, loose-leaf, bound book) with considerately priced options that align with financial realities.

LaunchPad for Speech Craft offers powerful media along with ease of use. LaunchPad brings together all student media and instructor resources for teaching into one place. Complete with its own gradebook or integrated into your campus LMS, LaunchPad for Speech Craft makes it easy to assign homework, assess student progress, and manage the course. LaunchPad for Speech Craft includes:

• The Speech Craft e-Book
• LearningCurve adaptive quizzing which gives individualized question sets and feedback based on each student's correct and incorrect responses.
• Digital Dives, a multi-media feature in each chapter, drive students to the LaunchPad to listen to a podcast or watch a video clip from the web, and then answer critical thinking questions.
• Speech Craft Activities created by the author for students to work on in groups or as homework assignments.
• Chapter Quizzes which can be used as review or as pre-lecture activities.
• Speech Craft video collection of professionally-shot, full speech videos and video clips which serve as models for student speeches. "Needs improvement" clips help students learn how to refine their speeches. LaunchPad also includes a large bank of other full-length videos and clips that model speech techniques in action.
• Video assignment tools make it easy to upload and embed video and assess it using time-based comments and rubrics.
• Easy LMS integration into your school's learning management system is available.
• A host of Speech Craft specific ancillaries for instructors like an instructor's manual, test bank, and lecture slides are available inside LaunchPad.