The Natural Speaker

This thoroughly revised textbook is a friendly step-by-step guide to public speaking that explores the fundamental skills necessary to present a natural and rewarding speech to any audience. By providing an overview of speech construction, practice, and delivery, this book is designed to enhance and improve upon students' natural strengths. Featuring a warm and humorous writing style, The Natural Speaker illustrates the concepts and skills required for enjoyable public speaking as the authors invite readers to view speaking as a life-long journey. It is an easy-to-read book that introduces each chapter with relevant and engaging stories, explains concepts in simple language, and presents practical skills for improving public speaking. Its supportive tone encourages the reader to practice, improve, and use these oral presentation skills in formal and informal settings. This eleventh edition features new sections on topics including social anxiety in public speaking, the role of artificial intelligence in speech research and outline construction, and public speaking as a form of personal growth. This book serves as an accessible core textbook for public speaking courses and provides guidance for individual readers and public speaking workshops. Online resources include an Instructor's Manual, PowerPoint slides, a sample course outline, and sample test questions. They are available at www.routledge.com/9781032826929.