OER: Open Educational Resources

Public Speaking is the study and application of basic principles of effective extemporaneous speaking, including audience analysis and adaptation, topic selection, research, organization, and presentation skills. Students will deliver, listen to, and critique a variety of speeches.

This advanced public speaking textbook is designed to encourage you as a speaker and to help you sharpen your skills. It is written to feel like you are sitting with a trusted mentor over coffee as you receive practical advice on speaking. Grow in confidence, unleash your personal power and find your unique style as you learn to take your speaking to the next level--polished and professional.

Exploring Public Speaking is a usable, zero-cost textbook for basic public speaking courses or courses that include basic public speaking skills as one of their primary learning outcomes. The free, open nature of the text means that instructors are able to use all or part of it, and add their own materials.
Standout features include coverage of PowerPoint, audience analysis and responsiveness, ethics in public speaking, persuasion, special occasion speeches, and structure of speeches. Because it was written by communication professors with decades of experience in the classroom, Exploring Public Speaking is made to fit the needs of basic public speaking students.

Principles of Public Speaking is a textbook focused on audience-centered communication, aiming to provide you with the concepts and skills necessary to effectively communicate in public. This is an Open Access, Creative Commons licensed textbook. This book functions differently than a traditional print text, so we encourage you to take a moment to familiarize yourself with how it works.
The way to navigate through this book is by using the “Contents” drop-down menu on the left side of the textbook screen. The text is divided into three sections – Speech Preparation, Speech Delivery, and Examples of Student Work.

Public Speaking: A Basic How-To is a primer on writing and delivering a presentation to an audience in varied contexts. It contains information on listening, intercultural communication, audience analysis, organizing and outlining, and delivering a speech. This book is designed to be used as a reinforcement of an instructor’s teaching on the process of speech writing and making.

This textbook is a Fundamentals of Communication Textbook that includes intrapersonal communication, interpersonal communication, group communication, conflict management, and public speaking.

Interpersonal Communication: A Mindful Approach to Relationships helps readers examine their own one-on-one communicative interactions using a mindfulness lens. The writing team of Jason S. Wrench, Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter, and Katherine Thweatt incorporates the latest communication theory and research to help students navigate everyday interpersonal interactions. The 14 chapters in this book cover topics typically taught in an undergraduate interpersonal communication course: family interactions, interpersonal dynamics, language, listening, nonverbal communication, and romantic relationships, as well as exploring emerging areas such as self-compassion, body positivity, friendships, and “the dark side”. The writing takes on a purposefully informal tone to engage readers. Each chapter is broken into different sections that have unique instructional outcomes, key takeaways, and exercises, and concludes with real-world case studies and sample quiz questions. Also included is an extensive glossary with over 350 definitions.

Interpersonal Communication: Context and Connection provides an engaging overview of interpersonal communication grounded in theory, research, and practical application, with an eye to the lived experience of college students. The first three chapters provide the foundation of interpersonal communication with an examination of the theoretical and conceptual background of communication, self, and perception. The next section of the book examines unique features of messaging, with an exploration of listening, verbal, and nonverbal communication. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 explore dynamic factors that shape interpersonal relationships, including emotions, climate, and conflict. The final chapters of the book delve into communication in context through building and maintaining relationships, the dark side of communication, and workplace relationships.

Interpersonal communication skills and, Communication studies

No matter what your job is, you will need to communicate with other people. Your communication skills determine how successfully you receive and transmit information. Communication is arguably the most important of all life skills and plays a significant role in all aspects of work and home life. Communication is verbal, written, and non-verbal, and every gesture, voice inflection, or facial movement speaks volumes and conveys information to others. An effective communicator is also an active listener. Employers actively seek out individuals who are good communicators.

Social media and humans exist in a world of mutual influence, and humans play central roles in how this influence is mediated and transferred. Originally created by University of Arizona Information scholar Diana Daly, this 2024 "living book" edition of Humans R Social Media welcomes additional authors and features contributions by students to help readers understand how we as humans shape social media, and how social media shapes our world in turn.

The Mass Media Landscape is a compilation of lessons to help audiences understand the evolution of U.S. mass media and disruptive media technologies. It includes overviews of media law, media ethics and media literacy.
Chapters contain interactive exercises, review quizzes, writing assignments, and multimedia content.

"Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was written to squarely emphasize media technology. The author believes that an introduction to mass communication text should be a compelling, historical narrative sketching the *ongoing evolution* of media technology and how that technology shapes and is shaped by culture — and that is what he set out to deliver with his new textbook." - works with COM 151